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An Introduction to Stress and Strain

 MECHANICS OF MATERIALS LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 13, 2023

Stress and strain are fundamental concepts in engineering, and in strength of materials in
particular, that describe how an object responds to applied loads. This page covers the
basics, which are also summarised in the following video:

WHAT IS STRESS?
When a body like the bar shown below is loaded by external forces, internal forces develop
within it to resist the applied forces. We can visualise these forces by making an imaginary
cut through the object. The internal forces develop in such a way that they balance the
external forces, to maintain equilibrium.
 The internal forces (yellow) for any imaginary cut along the bar develop to balance the external forces
(green)
Instead of discussing the magnitude of these imaginary internal forces, it’s more useful to
talk about how the internal forces are distributed over a surface, using a parameter called
stress, that quantifies the internal force per unit area. Stress describes the distribution of
internal forces within a body.
The concept of stress gives us a way of describing the internal state that develops within a
body as it responds to externally applied loads. This is important because it allows us to
predict when an object will fail. By comparing the stress in a body with the yield or ultimate
strengths of the material, obtained from tests, we can estimate how close an object is to
deforming permanently or to fracturing. Using stress to predict failure is covered in more
detail in the page on failure theories.
Stress is split into two different types, normal stress and shear stress, that depends on
whether the internal forces are perpendicular or parallel to the surface of interest.

NORMAL STRESS
The type of stress where the internal forces act perpendicular to a surface, like for the bar
shown above, is called normal stress. This type of stress is denoted using the symbol (the σ

greek letter sigma), and is calculated as the force divided by the area over which it acts.
NORMAL STRESS
F
σ =
A
Stress is a measure of the internal force per unit area, so it has units of Newtons per square
meter ( ) in SI units and pounds per square inch in US units. Units of
N/m
2
N /m are also
2

called Pascals ( ).
Pa

Normal stresses can be either tensile, when the object is getting stretched, or compressive,
when it is getting compressed.

SHEAR STRESS
The type of stress where the internal forces act parallel to a surface is called shear stress.

Shear stresses act parallel to a surface

It can be calculated in a similar way to normal stress, as the applied force divided by the
F

cross-sectional area . Shear stress is denoted using the symbol (the greek letter tau).
A τ

SHEAR STRESS
F
τ =
A
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STRESS AS A TENSOR
You might be wondering why the stress at a single point should change from a shear stress
to a normal stress or the other way around depending on how we choose to orient our
imaginary cut through the bar.
The truth is that it doesn’t. The stress state at a single point within a body will actually have
components in the normal and shear directions. The magnitude of the normal and shear
components depends on the angle of the plane being used to observe the stresses, as
illustrated below.

The magnitude of the normal and shear stress components depends on the
orientation of the surface being used to determine the stress components
This is because stress is actually a tensor quantity – at each point within a body the stress
state can be represented by three normal stresses and six shear stresses. These stress
components are shown on the stress element, a small cube that is used to represent the
stress state at a single point within a larger body. You can learn more about the stress
tensor and stress element by having a read of our page on stress transformation and
Mohr’s circle.

Stress element illustrating the different stress components at a single point

WHAT IS STRAIN?
Strain is a quantity that describes the deformations that occur within a body. Like with
stress, we can differentiate between normal strain and shear strain.

NORMAL STRAIN
Normal strain is defined as a change in length divided by the original length . This
ΔL L0

makes it a dimensionless quantity, that is often expressed as a percentage.

NORMAL STRAIN
ΔL
ε =
L0

SHEAR STRAIN
Shear strain is a measure of the deformation caused by a shear stress. It corresponds to the
change in angle between two lines that are initially perperpendicular to one another, as
shown in the image below. Like normal strain, shear strain is a dimensionless quantity that is
usually expressed as a percentage.
SHEAR STRAIN
Δx
γ =
h

THE STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Stress and strain are two closely linked parameters – it makes sense that the internal forces
that develop within a body (stress) depend on how much the body is being deformed
(strain).
The relationship between these two parameters can be described using a stress-strain
diagram. Stress-strain diagrams are different for different materials. The image below shows
typical diagrams for glass, steel and rubber.
 Examples of stress-strain curves for glass, steel and rubber
The diagram for a specific material can be obtained by performing a tensile test, which
involves applying a known force to a test piece and measuring the normal stress and normal
strain in the test piece as the applied force is increased.
For many materials the relationship between stress and strain is linear for relatively low
values of stress and strain. In this region the linear relationship between normal stress and
normal strain is defined by Hooke’s law, where is Young’s modulus, a material property
E

that defines the stiffness of a material.

HOOKE’S LAW
σ = Eε

Other important material properties that can be determined from the stress-strain curve
include strength, ductility and toughness.

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING

A steel bar is being designed to support a suspended 2000 kg mass, as
illustrated below. The bar is 1 m in length and has a circular cross-
section. The maximum allowable stress in the bar is 80% of the material
yield strength and the selected steel has a yield strength of 300 MPa.
What is the minimum allowable radius of the bar, to the nearest 0.1 mm?

0.4 mm
1.1 mm
5.1 mm
6.4 mm
 More quiz questions 

RELATED TOPICS
YOUNG'S MODULUS
Young's modulus is a measure of the stiffness of a
material – it describes the relationship between stress
and strain.
Learn more 

STRENGTH, DUCTILITY & TOUGHNESS

Strength, ductility and toughness are three important
material properties that can be determined from a
stress-strain curve.
Learn more 

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