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I am trying to determine the flow of mechanical power through a structure like a drive shaft or even a simple lever. The components of the Cauchy stress tensor, ##\sigma_{ij}##, have units of force/area, so if I multiply by the velocity, then ##\sigma_{ij} v_j## would have units of power/area. And since it is a vector I would interpret it as the mechanical power density crossing a surface normal to the vector.
Is this correct? If anyone has taken some mechanical engineering courses that discussed this quantity or another quantity which can describe the flow of mechanical power within a structure, I would greatly appreciate any insight.
Is this correct? If anyone has taken some mechanical engineering courses that discussed this quantity or another quantity which can describe the flow of mechanical power within a structure, I would greatly appreciate any insight.