Generalized Hooke's LawStaff posted on November 10, 2006 |
Generalized Hooke's Law
The generalized Hooke's Law can be used to predict the deformations caused in a given material by an arbitrary combination of stresses.
The linear relationship between stress and strain applies for 
where: |
E is the Young's Modulus
n is the Poisson Ratio |
The generalized Hooke's Law also reveals that strain can exist without stress. For example, if the member is experiencing a load in the y-direction (which in turn causes a stress in the y-direction), the Hooke's Law shows that strain in the x-direction does not equal to zero. This is because as material is being pulled outward by the y-plane, the material in the x-plane moves inward to fill in the space once occupied, just like an elastic band becomes thinner as you try to pull it apart. In this situation, the x-plane does not have any external force acting on them but they experience a change in length. Therefore, it is valid to say that strain exist without stress in the x-plane.
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