Definition:Breaking Stress

Definition

Let a body $\BB$ be deformed under stress.

Consider the following stress-strain diagram.

The breaking stress is the stress at which $\BB$ eventually fractures.

This breaking stress is indicated on the stress-strain diagram as point $E$.

Note that the breaking stress in this case is actually less than the stress needed to take $\BB$ to the end of the plastic region.

At this point $\BB$ has already started to break down internally, and it is no longer able to sustain that level of stress placed upon it.

Also see

• Results about breaking stress can be found here.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law