shear force

American  

[sheer fawrs] / ˈʃɪər ˈfɔrs /

noun

1. Civil Engineering. a force that acts parallel or tangential to a structural surface, causing it to deform in opposite directions, an example of which is a knife cutting through a box, which separates and pushes the surface apart.

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shear force Scientific  

1. A force acting in a direction parallel to a surface or to a planar cross section of a body, as for example the pressure of air along the front of an airplane wing. Shear forces often result in shear strain. Resistance to such forces in a fluid is linked to its viscosity.

2. Also called shearing force

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Example Sentences

However, when the capsules are collapsed, the suspension transforms into a non-Newtonian fluid, meaning that its viscosity will change in response to shear force -- the greater the shear force, the more fluid it becomes.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2024

Scientifically, a Newtonian fluid is one in which the shear force varies in direct proportion with the stress it puts on the material, known as the shearing strain.

From Scientific American • May 9, 2023

It is possible that water pressure gradually built up within the slope, weakening the rock mass to the extent that the shear strength was no longer greater than the shear force.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

This is the shear strength, and in Figure 15.2a, it greater than the shear force, so the block should not move.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

This creates a shear force, like the blades of scissors sliding past each other, that Harvey suspects distorts the magnetic field, giving rise to the solar cycle.

From Time Magazine Archive