What is Tensile: Definition and 168 Discussions

In physics, tension is described as the pulling force transmitted axially by the means of a string, a cable, chain, or similar object, or by each end of a rod, truss member, or similar three-dimensional object; tension might also be described as the action-reaction pair of forces acting at each end of said elements. Tension could be the opposite of compression.
At the atomic level, when atoms or molecules are pulled apart from each other and gain potential energy with a restoring force still existing, the restoring force might create what is also called tension. Each end of a string or rod under such tension could pull on the object it is attached to, in order to restore the string/rod to its relaxed length.
In physics, tension, as a transmitted force, as an action-reaction pair of forces, or as a restoring force, may be a force and has the units of force measured in newtons (or sometimes pounds-force). The ends of a string or other object transmitting tension will exert forces on the objects to which the string or rod is connected, in the direction of the string at the point of attachment. These forces due to tension are also called "passive forces". There are two basic possibilities for systems of objects held by strings: either acceleration is zero and the system is therefore in equilibrium, or there is acceleration, and therefore a net force is present in the system.

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  1. N

    Engineering Split Tensile Strength Explained: Benefits for Concrete

    I know tensile test consist for direct tension, splitting tension, and flexural tension. Tensile test known as to know how the material behaves under the tension and to know how much of load the material can bear it before fracture. But for the splitting tensile test, i still confused. Why do we...
  2. A

    Acrylic (PMMA) rotating disc tensile strength calculation

    Hey folks, I've been looking around but can't piece this together as there are more than one equation and variable to take into account. My situation - I have a pmma material disc on an axis , the center hole (axis hole) is 20mm wide so a radius of 10mm, while the outer edge is at a radius of...
  3. L

    Tensile and shear capacity of metals

    Steel and other metals data sheets and mill specs most commonly quote some tensile strength metric, like Proof, Yield or Ultimate Tensile Stress. Less common is the value for shear strength. Often as rule of thumb the allowable shear stress is taken as half the allowable tensile stress but, when...
  4. S

    Ultimate tensile stress of material

    My answer is A but the answer key is B. I don't understand why B. I would think B is the breaking point. Thanks
  5. Anmol Dubey

    Determining the Yield strength and Ultimate tensile strength of HDPE

    Help would very appreciated. Also I am new to this website so if something seems wrong please tell me :)
  6. Sophrosyne

    Medical Tensile strength of cell membranes

    The structure of the cell membrane is depicted as being formed from a bilayer of phospholipids with their hydrophilic portions pointing outwards and their hydrophilic portions facing each other. But as I look at the histology of the epithelial layer of the epidermis or mucous membranes, I am...
  7. E

    Tensile test machine and Extensometer -- connection problems

    Dear friends i am using tensile test machine, tinius olsen 602 to conduct a tensile test for Glass-fiber composite. i am facing problem of using an extensometer from Epsilon (gage length is 25 mm). I have connected the extensometer to the tensile test machine(tinius olsen 602) through the...
  8. person123

    Energetic Size Effect for Tensile Loading

    For quasi-brittle materials, there is an energetic size effect as well as a statistical size effect, as described here. However, it seems to require a stress gradient for it to play a role, as in the example given with a 3-point bending test. The stress at the middle of the fracture process...
  9. Glype11

    How to Estimate Tensile Force on a Pre-Tensioned Rope?

    I figure that there is a connection with how much a given forces displaces the rope in the perpendicularly direction. Obviously the more tension on the rope then there will be less displacement with a given force. I'm not sure how to progress from that point. Any other ideas on how to estimate...
  10. F

    Wedge Tensile Grip Design - UTM Testing Machine

    Hello to all. I am new at PF. I am very happy to be here now that I know you. I am at the middle of a UTM (universal tensile machine) design. My machine is going to be a simple testing machine in which I only intent to measure the ultimate tensile strenght. That been said, I want to be as clear...
  11. R

    Can anyone help with strange deflection in ANSYS 15 tensile test simulation?

    Hello everyone! I am trying to modelate a tensile test of dumbbell-shaped specimen under ACP PrePost and Static Structural modules. The laminate I am configuring consists of 6 laminas of E FiberGlass orientated +/-45°. For simplicity I am working with 1/4 of the geometry and the boundary...
  12. E

    Shear and Tensile Strength of Bones

    Hello there, I'm currently studying shear and compression. I am wondering, in my textbook, it says that most bone fractures are not caused by compression but by twisting or bending?? I mean bone's shear modulus is as great as that of a steel's, but its young modulus is far smaller than its...
  13. Carbretta

    Engineering Calculating Shear and Tensile force in a rivet at an angle

    Hi all! I have used this forum a few times and it has been very helpful, however now I am stuck. I have completed the question above however I have conflicting information regarding the Tensile and Shear force being applied to the rivet. I use the following calculation for this: Shear Force...
  14. J

    1018 carbon steel tensile test explanation

    Tensile tested 2 samples of 1018 unheat treated carbon steel, assumed to be very similar steel (bought from same place, same order, ect) but very different tensile test results. The results of the tensile test can be seen below as well as a few calculated values. I do not know what this would be...
  15. A

    Signs of Tensile and Compressive Stresses

    I have recently learned that, by convention, axial tensile stresses are positive and axial compressive stresses are negative. I am having some trouble incorporating this information into my FBDs that are used to find the axial forces leading to these stresses. For instance, from the attached...
  16. H

    Why true strain is always smaller than nominal strain in tensile test?

    Hi everyone. I'm studying Mechanics of Materials and I got some question about 'nominal/true strain'. First of all, I agree that in tensile test, nominal stress is always smaller than true stress σt > σn cause when the material specimen is being stretched, then the actual area of the...
  17. weezy

    Measuring Tensile Strength in an alternative way

    So I've been looking at a few material tests and they all start with a rectangular sample of the material, loaded into a machine which extends them by increasing load at a constant rate and measures the strain/stress till the point of material fracture. The yield stress is measured in usually...
  18. T

    Tensile Test Results: Adhesion of Tape to Plastic Surface

    Hello, I am currently writing my thesis, where I have to investigate if a surface treatment increases the adhesion (between tape and a plastic surface). For this purpose, I have among other tests, performed a tensile test between the tape and plastic surface. The tensile test can be separated...
  19. Tiqo

    Electrical Repair of an old JJ LlOYD T20K tensile machine

    Hello, I am currently a mechatronics engineering student, I am working on a school project: retrofitting a tensile machine. The goal of the project is to improve the human-machine interface as it is a very old machine, it is a JJ LOYD T20K, my problem is that the machine no longer works(it...
  20. D

    Tensile yield strength of fiber reinforced plastic

    Hello! I am in a student-run engineering team that heavily utilizes fiber reinforced plastics, and I am just trying to get a better understanding of FRPs. I am wondering how exactly the fiber reinforces the plastic. Let's say the yield strength of the fiber in the 0 degree tensile direction is...
  21. Death eater

    Theories of failure and tensile testing

    Why theories of failure have been developed from 1-D tensile testing. Why can't we go 2-D testing or 3-D testing?
  22. D

    Tensile Test of Slip Ring - Working out Tensile Strength

    All, Through work, I've recently been tasked with investigating a very old tensile test technique, according to BS HC 403:1977 (now withdrawn). Essentially, you take a ring. Anywhere along it you make a slit all the way through. You then pull that ring in a tensile machine, ensuring that the...
  23. blainiac

    Wood/Glass/Metal DIY Paper Yield & Tensile Strengths

    Hey there! I'm about to do some tests with rotating boundary layers and wanted to use rotating sheets of paper (cut into circles) as this would be ideal for my experiments. I was researching various materials but couldn't find yield and tensile strengths for different types of paper (printer...
  24. K

    Residual tensile stresses due to high compressive loading

    I have been trying to understand the physical reason for this I had been reading about shelling in rails: https://patents.google.com/patent/US2853775 Here you can see (as stated): Shelling occurs near the upper gage corner of the rail and is the result of cold working of the rail steel by...
  25. jonnybmac

    Why Do Tensile Cables Differ in Thickness?

    Homework Statement Why are cables thin when used as ties? Why are they not equally as thick as say struts? Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution Is it because when in tension the tie cannot buckle? or because when in tension it cannot shear? Steel has the same compressive strength as...
  26. B

    Tensile strength and pull out force of a bolt

    Hi, I'm looking for some help regarding working out the tensile strength of a M8, grade 8.8 bolt and the pull out force. What information do I need to gather regarding the bolt and the material the bolt is engaging in to? Thanks,
  27. C

    Tensile Strength of reduced graphene oxide?

    Does anyone know the tensile strength and other mechanical properties of reduced graphene oxide? I know that it has some similarities to both graphene and graphene oxide, but I can't find any data on its tensile strength.
  28. H

    B Black Hole Tensile Strength: What Happens at Planck's Length?

    Forgive the title. Long ago I was told that if two black hole traveling rapidly relative to each other "brushed" past each other they'd pull each other in. I find it odd that a massive object traveling near the speed of light would suddenly stop dead in its track. Instead consider two black...
  29. E

    Does Surface Preparation Affect Tensile Strength in ASTM E8 Tests?

    Hi, I'm performing tension tests using a dog-bone specimen conforming to ASTM E8 on 6061-T6 extruded aluminum alloy. ASTM E8 says the surface preparation should be as the product specified. The material I ordered is low grade bar stock 2" wide by 0.25" thick. If I am going to reduce the...
  30. S

    What is Tensile Force? - Researching Pantheon of Rome

    I am doing a bit of fun research about the Pantheon of Rome and I ran into the term tensile force and I can't get a clear definition anywhere.
  31. DevonZA

    Tensile stress in perforated steel plate

    Homework Statement Two lengths of steel plate 100mm wide and 15mm thick are riveted together by a single 18mm diameter rivet. If the joint carries a tensile load of 8kN calculate: a) The shear stress in the rivet b) The tensile stress in the perforated plate Homework Equations stress = force...
  32. C

    I have a question about building a tensile tester

    For the sake of knowledge, I'd like to ask few questions. Although not now, I'm thinking of building my own cheap tensile testing machine that isn't used for testing on ones with such heavy loads like commercial machine. 1. For the uper body, I'm just planning to start by connecting with...
  33. C

    Shear and Tensile force with factor of safety

    1. Homework Statement A load p of 5kn is applied to the tensile member shown and carried at the joint by a single 20mm diameter rivet.The angle of the shear joint is 60 degrees to the axis of the load. calculate the tensile stress in the rivet calculate the shear stress in the rivet given...
  34. C

    Tensile and shear stress in 10mm rivet

    Homework Statement A load P of 3kN is applied to the tensile member shown and is carried at the joint by a single rivet. The angle of the shear joint is 45 degrees to the axis of the load. Calculate the tensile and shear stresses in a 10mm diameter rivet Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a...
  35. Al_Pa_Cone

    Determining yield stress via a bar subjected to tensile force

    Homework Statement Homework Equations All Equations Below The Attempt at a Solution [/B]
  36. A

    What is the tensile strength of polyhedrons?

    Hello All, First off great forum; lots of useful info on here. I was wondering if anyone had any experience or could refer me to a text regarding the tensile strength of polyhedrons? I am experimenting using various types for a super strong mechanism to aide manufacturers during metal...
  37. S

    Max Bending Stress: Find from Second Moment of Area

    Homework Statement The second moment of area of the beam shown about the neutral axis X X is 4x10^6mm^4 Find the maximum bending stresses, tensile and compressive, set up in a beam of this section 2.6m long and simply supported at its ends and carrying a concentrated load of 4.8kn at its mid...
  38. L

    Two Springs & Hooke's Law: Effect on Elastic Electrical Lead

    So I am doing tensile testing on an elastic electrical lead for biomedical purposes. The lead is encapsulated in an elastic tubing. Now the lead acts like a weak spring itself (coiled wire). I'm curious, if there are two springs with different k constants "within" each-other (one inside the...
  39. Tris Fray Potter

    Tensile strength of Nickel-iron

    Hi! I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but what the tensile strength of Nickel-iron, or where would I be able to find it?
  40. Elitisi Piuela

    Designing a Tensile Test for an Aluminum Rod to Withstand 200kN Force

    I'm asked to design a rod, it is aluminium and it is to withstand force of 200kN. maximum allowable stress is 170MPa with a strain of 0.0025mm.mm^-1 rod must be at least 3.8m long but must deform elastically no more than 6mm when the force is applied. UTS = 170 MPa e = 0.0025mm.mm^-1 F = 200kN...
  41. C

    Tensile Stress: Understanding Its Effects on Materials and Structures

    Homework Statement can someone explain about part b (tensile stress) here? in which way does the stress act? Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution FromW wikipedia, tensile stress refres to the stress to break a rope...How does it related to the case above?
  42. Ravi Singh choudhary

    Reliability of Upper/lower yield point in tensile test.

    Some metal give two yield point in stress strain diagram. One is called Upper yield point and Lower yield point. Why lower yield point is considered as more reliable. I can think of Upper yield point is much more dependent upon experimental apparatus settings. So why lower yield point is much...
  43. Nemo1

    MHB Solving Max Distance Between Supports for 2m Beam w/ Yield & Tensile Strengths

    Hi Community, I have this question which I have been able to partially answer. Part 1: From samples, we measured the Flexure Modulus of a material and was asked to solve for the deflection of the material at a $1m$ span and $1kg$ which I used Maximum Deflection = \frac{wl^{3}}{48EI} $W$ $=$...
  44. B

    Tensile test failure velocity

    Hi, so when doing a tensile test let's say on a threaded bar and a nut. The nut thread reaches failure and shoots off. How would you calculate that velocity and the actual force that it would hit say a wall 20cm away. just for information the failure point was at about 300kN
  45. M

    Tensile and compressive forces

    Example of a tightrope walker: Now, the weight force acts at a point. The rope is stretched. Compressive forces act inwards towards that point (opposite to TL and TR, the tensile forces). The resultant of the compressive forces equals the weight and is in the same direction – the weight force...
  46. S

    Tensile Stress at Mid-span of Beam

    Hi, I'm struggling with finding the tensile stress at the mid-span of this beam. I've done the previous questions but have no idea how to begin with this one as I've never dealt with this question before. What is the general method? Correct answer is 1.66MPa. Thanks.
  47. R

    How to work out the tensile strength in pounds

    Hi to all. I have a raw material certificate of drilling pipe - there is a YS=863 N/mm2. I would like to know what is the maximum weight in pounds this pipe can withstand.
  48. J

    Is Tensile Force the Same as Tension in Physics Calculations?

    This question is confusing me, trying to find an equation for "tensile force" has left me confused since I've found no equation for it just for tension, tensile stress and tensile strain, just wanting to make sure I've not missed anything or done it incorrectly 1. Homework Statement At a...
  49. H

    Displacement controlled tensile test

    Hi, I'm looking for the result of displacement controlled tensile test. I want to know about the x-axis component and y-axis component of the result, not the whole data. I read about some articles about these and they said displacement control is most common. I've searched a lot but all I found...
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