Strength

A material's strength is the maximum stress to which a given cross-section of that Material can be subjected. It therefore indicates the material's Resistance to deformation. A maximum Force on the material's non-deformed cross-sectional area for a specific elongation or specific flow characteristics is used to define the strength. Strength values are not the stresses that actually occur. In most cases, they are calculated from the nominal stresses, i.e. from the test force and the cross-sections prior to the start of the test.

Different strengths are defined depending on the type of stress. They include:

• Tensile strength
• Compressive strength
• Bulk strength
• Buckling strength
• Torsional strength
• Shear strength

A further distinction is made according to whether the stress is uniaxial or multiaxial and whether a static or dynamic stress is applied to the component. This results in a differentiation between e.g.:

• Static strength
• Increasing strength
• Finite-life fatigue strength
• Fatigue limit
• Fatigue strength