StructX > Resources > Stress and Strain > Tension and Compression

Stress & Strain

Assumptions and Limitations

Understanding tensile and compressive forces is a must for determining how structural members will behave in different loading scenarios. StructX has provided the basic tools to point you in the right direction

• Tensile Stress is caused by forces trying to stretch or lengthen the material.
• Compressive Stress is caused by forces trying to compress or shorten the material.
• Forces are evenly distributed over the cross-section and act through the centroid.
• The material is homogeneous - the same throughout the member.
• Cross-sections are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the member.
• Plane sections before deformation remain plane after deformation.
• Stress and strain are linearly related and strains are small.
• Stress is measured from the point of application and acts perpendicular to the cross-section and any deformation of the member is uniform throughout.