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Tension is the pulling or stretching force transmitted axially along an object such as a string, rope, chain, rod, truss member, or other object, so as to stretch or pull apart the object. In terms of force, it is the opposite of compression. Tension might also be described as the action-reaction pair of forces acting at each end of an object.
If the load is compression on the bar, rather than stretching it, the analysis is the same except that the force F and the stress change sign, and the stress is called compressive stress. The ratio σ = F / A {\displaystyle \sigma =F/A} may be only an average stress.
In physics, Hooke's law is an empirical law which states that the force (F) needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance (x) scales linearly with respect to that distance—that is, F s = kx, where k is a constant factor characteristic of the spring (i.e., its stiffness), and x is small compared to the total possible deformation of the spring.
Compression of solids has many implications in materials science, physics and structural engineering, for compression yields noticeable amounts of stress and tension. By inducing compression, mechanical properties such as compressive strength or modulus of elasticity, can be measured. [5]
The amount of stretch or compression along material line elements or fibers is the normal strain, and the amount of distortion associated with the sliding of plane layers over each other is the shear strain, within a deforming body. [2] This could be applied by elongation, shortening, or volume changes, or angular distortion. [3]
There is some interaction, however. For example, for some solid objects, twisting, bending, and other distortions may generate thermal energy, causing the material's temperature to rise. Thermal energy in solids is often carried by internal elastic waves, called phonons. Elastic waves that are large on the scale of an isolated object usually ...
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A simple case of compression is the uniaxial compression induced by the action of opposite, pushing forces. Compressive strength for materials is generally higher than their tensile strength. However, structures loaded in compression are subject to additional failure modes, such as buckling, that are dependent on the member's geometry.