shear stress

[ sheer-stres ]

nounPhysics.
  1. the external force acting on an object or surface parallel to the slope or plane in which it lies; the stress tending to produce shear.

Origin of shear stress

1
First recorded in 1870–75
  • Also shear·ing stress [sheer-ing stres] /ˈʃɪər ɪŋ ˌstrɛs/ .

Words Nearby shear stress

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shear stress in a sentence

  • shear stress is such that, when material collapses under it, one part slides over the other.

  • On the lower rivets the shear stress becomes 9·7 tons, and the bearing pressure 27·4 tons, per square inch.

    The Anatomy of Bridgework | William Henry Thorpe

British Dictionary definitions for shear stress

shear stress

noun
  1. the form of stress in a body, part, etc, that tends to produce cutting rather than stretching or bending

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for shear stress

shear stress

  1. A form of stress that subjects an object to which force is applied to skew, tending to cause shear strain. For example, shear stress on a block of wood would arise by fixing one end and applying force to this other; this would tend to change the block's shape from a rectangle to a parallelogram. See also strain.

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