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Glossary
G
The terms defined here are those that will be seen in the books posted on the website. It is not a complete compendium of all mechanics
terms.
Term Definition
Airy stress function A function that satisfies stress equilibrium equations in two dimension and whose second deriva-
tives give the stresses.
Anisotropic material A material that has a stress-strain relationships that changes with orientation of the coordinate sys-
tem at a point.
Axial displacement Displacement caused by axial forces.
Axial force Normal force acting on a surface in the direction of the axis of the body.
Axial force diagram A plot of the internal axial force versus x.
Axial member A long straight body on which the forces are applied along the longitudinal axis.
Axial rigidity The product of modulus of elasticity and cross-sectional area.
Axial strain energy Energy stored during axial deformation
Axial stress The normal stress acting in the direction of the axis of a slender member.
Axial template An infinitesimal segment of an axial bar constructed by making an imaginary cuts on either side of a
supposed external axial force.
Axisymmetric body A body whose geometry, material properties, and loading are symmetric with respect to an axis.
Bauschinger effect Material breaking at stress levels smaller than the ultimate stress due to load cycle reversal in the
plastic region.
Beam A long structural member on which loads are applied perpendicular to the axis.
Beam template An infinitesimal segment of a beam constructed by making an imaginary cuts on either side of a sup-
posed external force or moment.
Bearing stress The compressive normal stress that is produced when one surface presses against another.
Bending moment Moments about an axis tangent to a surface of a body.
Bending rigidity The product of modulus of elasticity and the second area moment of inertia about the bending axis.
Bending strain energy Energy stored during bending deformation
Bifurcation point The point at which more then one equilibrium configuration may exist.
Bi-linear material A material whose stress-strain curve in tension (and compression) is represented by a straight line
after yield stress. Also called linear strain-hardening material.
2 Glossary
Body forces External forces that act at every point on the body.
Boundary conditions Conditions on displacements, rotations, internal forces and moments at boundary points.
Boundary value problem The mathematical statement listing of all the differential equations and all the necessary conditions
to solve them.
Brittle failure Material failure with little or no plastic deformation.
Brittle material A material that exhibits little or no plastic deformation at failure.
Buckling An instability of equilibrium in structures that occurs from compressive loads or stresses.
Buckling load The force (or moment) at which buckling occurs. Also called critical load.
Buckling modes The deformed shape at buckling load.
Castiglianos theorem The partial derivative of complementary strain energy of a structure with respect to a force is equal
to the displacement at the point of application of the force, and partial derivative of complementary
strain energy with respect to a moment is equal to the rotation at the point of application of the
moment.
Central forces Forces acting along the lines joining two particles.
Centroid An imaginary point on a body about which the first area moment is zero.
Characteristic equation The equation whose roots are the eigenvalues of the problem.
Collapse load Load at which the structure collapses. Used in analysis of elastic-perfectly plastic material approxi-
mations.
Collapse moment Moment at which the structure collapses. Used in analysis of elastic-perfectly plastic material
approximations.
Columns Axial members that support compressive axial loads.
Compatibility equations Equations that ensure displacements and strains are single valued at a point. Geometric relationships
between the deformations are also called compatibility equations.
Complimentary strain
energy
Energy stored in a body due to forces acting on it.
Complimentary strain
energy density
Complimentary strain energy per unit volume. It is the area between the stress axis and the stress-
strain curve at a given value of stress or strain.
Compressive stress Normal stress that pushes the imaginary surface into the rest of the material.
Concentrated forces
(moment).
Surface forces (moments) applied at a point.
Conservative Work Work done by a force is independent of the path.
Continuity conditions Conditions that ensure continuity of deformations.
Creep Increase in material deformation over time under constant load.
Creep Test A test used to determine constants of a viscoelastic material that is conducted by applying stress sud-
denly and holding it constant and measuring the change in strain.
Critical Load The force (or moment) at which buckling occurs. Also called buckling load.
Critical slenderness
ratio
The slenderness ratio at which material failure and buckling failure can occur simultaneously. Sepa-
rates the long from the short columns.
Deformation The relative movement of a point with respect to another point on the body.
Term Definition
Glossary 3
Degree of freedom The minimum number of displacements / rotations that are necessary to describe the deformed
geometry.
Degree of static redun-
dancy
The number of unknown reactions minus the number of equilibrium equations.
Degree of static redun-
dancy
The difference between number of unknown reactions and number of equilibrium equations.
Delta function A function that is zero everywhere except in a small interval where it tends to infinity in such a man-
ner that the area under the curve is one. It is also called the Dirac delta function.
Discontinuity functions A class of functions that are zero before a point and are non-zero after a point or are singular at the
point.
Displacement The total movement of a point on a body with respect to fixed reference coordinates.
Distortion strain energy
density
The strain energy from which strain energy due to hydrostatic state of stress has been subtracted.
Distributed forces
(moments)
Surface forces (moments) applied along a line or over a surface.
Doublet function A function obtained by placing two sources of equal magnitude but opposite direction at infinitesi-
mal distance from each other. Also used to describe of a type of discontinuity function.
Ductile failure Material failure that is preceded by large plastic deformation.
Ductile material A material that can undergo a large plastic deformation before fracture.
Dummy unit load
method
Method of calculating displacement by applying a dummy unit load.
Eccentric loading Compressive axial force that is applied at a point that is not on the axis of the column.
Elastic curve Curve describing the deflection of the beam.
Elastic region The region of the stress-strain curve in which the material returns to the undeformed state when
applied forces are removed.
Elastic-perfectly plastic
material models
A material whose stress-strain curve in tension (and compression) is represented by constant stress
value after yield stress.
Elastic-plastic boundary The set of points forming the boundary between the elastic and plastic regions.
Endurance limit The highest stress level for which the material would not fail under cyclic loading. Also called
fatigue strength.
Endurance limit
Eulerian strain Strain computed from deformation by using the final deformed geometry as the reference geometry.
Failure A component or a structure does not perform the function for which it was designed.
Failure envelope The surface (or curve) that separates the acceptable design space from the unacceptable values of the
variables affecting design.
Failure theory A statement on the relationship of the stress components to the characteristic value of material fail-
ure
Fatigue Failure due to cyclic loading at stress levels significantly lower than the static ultimate stress.
Fatigue strength The highest stress level for which the material would not fail under cyclic loading. Also called
endurance limit.
Term Definition
4 Glossary
Finite difference approx-
imation
Approximation of derivatives by difference of finite values.
Finite Element Method A numerical method used in stress analysis in which the body is divided into finite size elements.
First moment of the area An integral in which a coordinate is integrated over the area which is same as the product of the cen-
troid and the area.
Flexibility coefficient The coefficient multiplying internal forces / moments in an algebraic equation.
Flexibility matrix The matrix multiplying the unknown internal forces / moments in a set of algebraic equations.
Fracture stress The stress at the point where material breaks.
Free surface A surface on which there are no forces. Alternatively, a surface which is stress free.
Free-body diagram Diagram showing all the forces acting on a free body.
Gage length Length between two marks on a tension test specimen in the central region of uniform axial stress.
Generalized displace-
ment
Any variable used for describing deformation.
Generalized force Any variable used for describing the cause that produces deformation.
Generalized Hookes law The equations relating stresses and strains in three dimensions.
Global coordinate sys-
tem
A fixed reference coordinate system in which the entire problem is described.
Hardness The resistance of material to indentation and scratches.
Homogeneous material A material that has same the material properties at all points in the body.
Homogenous solution Solution of a differential equation in which the forcing function is set equal to zero.
Hookes Law Equation relating normal stress and strain in the linear region of a tension test.
In-plane maximum
shear strain
The maximum shear strain in coordinate systems that can be obtained by rotating about the z axis.
In-plane maximum
shear stress
The maximum shear stress on a plane that can be obtained by rotating about the z axis.
Inverse rule of mixtures A rule in which the sum of the volume fractions divided by a material constants is equated the recip-
rocal of the average value of the constant of the material mixture.
Isotropic material A material that has a stress-strain relationships independent of the orientation of the coordinate sys-
tem at a point.
Kelvin model A model used in obtaining viscoelastic material constants in which a dashpot and spring are used in
parallel.
Kinematic boundary
conditions
Conditions on displacements and rotations at boundary points
Kinematically admissi-
ble displacement
Displacement functions that are continuous and satisfy all the kinematic boundary conditions.
Lagrangian strain Strain computed from deformation by using the original undeformed geometry as the reference
geometry.
Linear strain energy
density
The strain energy density before proportional limit.
Term Definition
Glossary 5
Linear strain-hardening
material model.
A material whose stress-strain curve in tension (and compression) is represented by a straight line
after yield stress. Also called bi-linear material.
Load Cells Any device that measures, controls or applies a force or moment.
Load-deflection curve The plot of load and the deflection at the point of load application.
Loads External forces and moments that are applied to the body.
Local buckling Buckling that occurs in thin plates or shells due to compressive stresses.
Local coordinate system A coordinate system that can be fixed at any point on the body and has an orientation that is defined
with respect to the global coordinate system.
Maximum normal stress
theory
A material will fail when the maximum normal stress at a point exceeds the ultimate normal stress
obtained from a uniaxial tension test.
Maximum octahedral
shear stress theory
A material will fail when the maximum octahedral shear stress exceeds the octahedral shear stress at
the yield obtained from a uniaxial tensile test.
Maximum shear strain The maximum shear strain at a point in any coordinate system.
Maximum shear stress The maximum shear stress at a point that acts on any plane passing through the point.
Maximum shear stress
theory
A material will fail when the maximum shear stress exceeds the shear stress at yield that is obtained
from a uniaxial tensile test.
Maxwell model A model used in obtaining viscoelastic material constants in which a dashpot and spring are used in
series.
Membrane analogy for
torsion of non-circular
shafts.
An analogy based on the observation that the same form of boundary value problem governs the
deflection of a membrane and Prandt'l stress function representation for torsion of non-circular
shafts.
Method of joints Analysis is conducted by making imaginary cuts through all the members a the joint.
Method of sections Analysis is conducted by making an imaginary cut (section) through a member or a structure.
Minimum potential
energy theorem
A theorem that states that a structure is at equilibrium when the potential energy is at minimum.
Mode I fracture Growth of crack due tensile principal stress one.
Mode II fracture Growth of crack due maximum shear stress.
Mode III fracture Growth of crack due to out of plane stress.
Modified Mohrs theory Mohr's theory of failure in which shear strength is ignored and a failure envelope is drawn using ten-
sile and compressive strength only.
Modulus of elasticity The slope of the normal stress-strain line in the linear region of a tension test. Also called Youngs
modulus.
Modulus of resilience Strain energy density at the yield point.
Modulus of rigidity Same as shear modulus of elasticity.
Modulus of toughness The strain energy density at rupture.
Mohrs failure theory A material will fail if a stress state is on the envelope that is tangent to the three Mohrs circles cor-
responding to uniaxial ultimate stress in tension, uniaxial ultimate stress in compression, and pure
shear.
Moment diagram: A plot of the internal bending moment versus x.
Moment of inertia An integral over the area of the square of the coordinate. Also called second area moment of inertia.
Term Definition
6 Glossary
Monoclinic materials A material that has the same stress-strain relationship in the positive and negative z direction.
Monotonic functions Functions that either continuously increases or decreases.
Necking The sudden decrease in cross-sectional area after ultimate stress.
Negative normal strains Normal strains from contraction of a line.
Negative shear strain Shear strain due to a increase of angle between orthogonal lines.
Neutral axis The line on the cross section where the bending normal stress is zero.
Nominal Stress The stress predicted by theoretical models away from the regions of stress concentration.
Nonlinear material mod-
els
Models in which stress-strain are non-linearly related.
Normal stress Internal distributed forces that are normal to an imaginary cut surface.
Octahedral planes The eight planes that make equal angles to the three principal planes.
Octahedral stresses The stresses on the octahedral planes.
Offset yield stress Stress that would produce a plastic strain corresponding to the specified offset strain.
Orthotropic materials Materials that have a symmetric stress-strain equations about two orthogonal axis.
Particular solution Solution of a differential equation that corresponds to just the forcing function. It does not satisfies
the boundary conditions.
Pitch The distance between two adjoining peaks on the threads of a bolt. It is the distance moved by the
nut in one full rotation.
Plane stress A state of stress in which all stress components on the z-plane are zero.
Plastic region The region in which the material deforms permanently.
Plastic strain The permanent strain when stresses are zero.
Poissons ratio The negative ratio of lateral normal strain to longitudinal normal strain.
Polar moment of the
area
An integral over the area of the square of the radial distance from the axis around which the polar
moment is to be defined.
Positive normal strains Normal strains from elongation of a line.
Positive shear strain Shear strain due to a decrease of angle between orthogonal lines.
Potential Energy The difference between strain energy and work potential.
Power law material
model
A material whose stress-strain curve in tension (and compression) is represented by an equation in
which strain is raised to a power of a number.
Prandtls method A method in which shear stresses in torsion are obtain from a the stress function satisfies the Pois-
son's equation.
Principal angle 1 Angle principal direction one makes with the global coordinate direction x. Counterclockwise rota-
tion from the x axis is defined as positive.
Principal angles The angles the principal directions makes with the global coordinate system.
Principal axes for strain The coordinate axes in which the shear strain is zero.
Principal axis for stress The normal direction to the principal planes. Also referred to as the principal direction.
Principal direction The normal direction to the principal planes. Also referred to as the principal axis.
Term Definition
Glossary 7
Principal moments of
inertia
The maximum and minimum moment of inertia for a cross section.
Principal planes Planes on which the shear stresses are zero.
Principal strain 1 The greatest principal strain.
Principal strains Normal strains in the principal directions.
Principal stress Normal stress on a principal plane. Also referred to as maximum or minimum normal stress at a
point.
Principal stress 1 The greatest principal stress.
Principal stress element A properly oriented wedge constructed from the principal planes and the plane of maximum shear
stress showing all the stresses acting on the respective planes.
Proportional limit The point up to which stress and strain are related linearly.
Quasi static The variation over time is so slow that inertial effects can be neglected and problem analyzed like a
static problem.
Ramp function A function whose value is zero before a point and is a linear function after the point.
Rayleigh-Ritz Method A method based on minimum potential energy by which the constants in a series of kinematically
admissible functions are determined.
Reaction forces Forces developed at the supports that resist translation in a direction.
Reaction moment Moments developed at the support that resist rotation about an axis.
Relaxation Test A test used to determine constants of a viscoelastic material that is conducted by applying strain sud-
denly and holding it constant and measuring the change in stress.
Relaxation time The ratio of the viscosity parameter to the elasticity parameter describing a viscoelastic material in a
relaxation test.
Residual stress Stress left in the material after all external loads have been removed.
Retardation time The ratio of the viscosity parameter to the elasticity parameter describing a viscoelastic material in a
creep test.
Rule of mixtures A rule in which the sum of the volume fractions multiplied by a material constants is equated the
average value of the constant of the material mixture.
Rupture stress The stress at the point where material breaks.
Saint-Venants Method A method used in torsion of non-circular shafts in which a displacement field is assumed that
accounts for warping of the cross section but produces only torsional shear stresses.
Saint-Venants Principle A principle that says that perturbations die out rapidly as we move away from the source creating the
perturbations.
Secant modulus The slope of the line that joins the origin to the point on the normal stress-strain curve at a given
stress value.
Second area moment of
inertia.
An integral over the area of the square of the coordinate. Also called area moment of inertia.
Second order tensor A quantity that requires two directions and obeys certain coordinate transformation properties.
Section modulus The ratio of the second area moment of inertia about bending axis to the maximum distance from the
neutral axis.
Shaft A long structural member that transmits torque from one plane to another parallel plane.
Term Definition
8 Glossary
Shape factor Ratio of collapse moment to moment at which a point on cross-section just reaches yield stress.
Shear center A point in space such that if the line of action of the external forces passes through the point, the
cross section will not twist.
Shear flow The product of thickness and tangential shear stress along the center line of a thin cross section.
Shear force Tangential force acting on a surface of a body.
Shear force diagram A plot of the internal shear force versus x.
Shear modulus of elas-
ticity
The slope of the shear stress-strain line in the linear region of a torsion test. Also called modulus of
rigidity.
Shear stress Internal distributed forces that are parallel to an imaginary cut surface.
Singularity functions A class of functions that are zero every where except in a small region where they tend towards
infinity (singular).
Slenderness ratio The ratio of the effective column length to the radius of gyration of the cross section about the buck-
ling axis.
SN curve A plot of stress versus the number of cycles to failure.
Snap Buckling: A structure suddenly jumps (snaps) from one equilibrium position to another very different equilib-
rium position.
Static Boundary condi-
tions
Conditions on internal forces and moments at boundary points
Statically admissible
force (or moment)
Force (or moment) functions that satisfy all the static boundary conditions, satisfy equilibrium equa-
tions at all points, and are continuous at all points except where a concentrated force or moment is
applied.
Statically equivalent
load systems
Two systems of forces that generate the same resultant force and moment.
Statically indeterminate
structure
A structure on which the number of unknown reaction forces and moments are greater than the num-
ber of equilibrium equations.
Step function A function whose value is zero before a point and equal to one after the point.
Stiffness coefficient The coefficient multiplying displacements / rotations in an algebraic equation.
Stiffness matrix The matrix multiplying the unknown displacements / rotations in a set of algebraic equations.
Strain energy Energy stored in a body due to deformation.
Strain energy density Strain energy per unit volume. It is the area under the stress-strain curve at a given value of stress or
strain.
Strain hardening The increase of yield point each time the stress value exceeds the yield stress.
Strain invariants The coefficients of the characteristic equation in the eigenvalue problem of determining principal
strains. These coefficients are invariants with respect to coordinate transformation.
Stress concentration Large stress gradients in a small region.
Stress element An imaginary object representing a point that has surfaces with outward normals in the coordinate
directions.
Stress intensity factor A factor
Stress invariants The coefficients of the characteristic equation in the eigenvalue problem of determining principal
stresses. These coefficients are invariants with respect to coordinate transformation.
Term Definition
Glossary 9
Stress transformation The transformation of stress with coordinate system transformation.
Stress vector The vector obtained by post multiplying the stress matrix with the unit normal vector to a surface.
Also called traction.
Tangent modulus The slope of the tangent drawn to the normal stress-strain curve at a given stress value.
Tensile stress Normal stress that pulls the imaginary surface away from the rest of the material.
Tension test Test conducted to determine mechanical properties by applying tensile forces on a specimen.
Theorem of minimum
potential energy
Of all the kinematically admissible displacement functions the actual displacement function is the
one that minimizes the potential energy function at stable equilibrium
Thin body The thickness of the body is an order of magnitude (factor of 10) smaller than the other dimensions.
Timoshenko beam Beam in which shear is accounted for by dropping the assumption that planes originally perpendicu-
lar remain perpendicular.
Torque Moment about an axis normal to a surface of a body.
Torque Diagram A plot of the internal torque T versus x.
Torsion template An infinitesimal segment of a shaft constructed by making an imaginary cuts on either side of a sup-
posed external torque.
Torsional rigidity The product of shear modulus of elasticity (G) and the polar moment of inertia (J) of a shaft.
Torsional strain energy Energy stored during torsional deformation
Traction The vector obtained by post multiplying the stress matrix with the unit normal vector to a surface.
Also called stress vector
Transversely isotropic
materials
A material that is isotropic in a plane.
Trescas yield criterion A criterion that states the material will yield when the maximum shear stress is equal the shear stress
at yield in a tension test.
Truss A structure made up of two-force members.
Two-force member A structural member on which there is no moment couple and forces act at two points only.
Ultimate stress The largest stress in the stress-strain curve.
Unsymmetric Bending of
Beams
Bending in any direction. This is in contrast to symmetric bending which can only occur in plane of
symmetry.
Virtual displacement An infinitesimal imaginary kinematically admissible displacement field imposed on a body.
Virtual force An infinitesimal imaginary statically admissible force field imposed on a body.
Virtual work Work done by virtual forces. Or work done by forces on a body to move through the virtual displace-
ment.
Virtual work principle The total virtual work done on a body at equilibrium is zero.
Viscoelasticity The phenomenon of viscous fluid seen in solid materials.
Von Mises stress A stress measure by which a three dimensional stress can be compared to the uni-axial stress in a
tension test.
Warping Axial deformation of shaft cross section due to torque.
Yield point The point demarcating the elastic from the plastic region.
Yield stress The stress at yield point.
Term Definition
10 Glossary
Youngs modulus Same as modulus of elasticity.
Zero-force member A two-force member that carries no internal force.
Term Definition