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compressive stress

American  

noun

  1. axial stress that tends to shorten the affected body; compare tensile stress.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The outside cools much faster than the inside, creating compressive stress on the material and tempering it — making it stronger — by creating a structure in which the center is in tension but the exterior is being compressed.

From Salon

As these irregularities move, they induce a compressive stress that triggers the rebonding effect.

From Scientific American

By soaking glass in a chemical salt bath, the company also introduces compressive stress into the inside of the glass.

From The Verge

The extraordinary strength of the head, they reported in Applied Physics Letters, comes not from tensile, or pulling, stress—as researchers have long believed—but from compressive stress.

From Science Magazine

Tensile stresses, which exist in the tail and interior of the drop, tend to propagate cracks, but the overlying compressive stress in the head suppresses them.

From Science Magazine