In long, slender structural elements — such as columns or
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
bars — an increase of compressive force ''F'' leads to
structural failure due to
buckling
In structural engineering, buckling is the sudden change in shape ( deformation) of a structural component under load, such as the bowing of a column under compression or the wrinkling of a plate under shear. If a structure is subjected to a ...
at lower stress than the
compressive strength.
Compressive stress has stress units (force per unit area), usually with
negative values to indicate the compaction. However, in
geotechnical engineering, compressive stress is represented with
positive
Positive is a property of positivity and may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Positive formula, a logical formula not containing negation
* Positive number, a number that is greater than 0
* Plus sign, the sign "+" used to indicate a posi ...
values.
Compressive stress is defined in the same way as the tensile stress but it has negative values so as to express the compression since dL has the opposite direction. ( L is the length of the object.)
Compression stress= -( F/A)
Where F= Force applied on the object.
A= Area of cross section of the object.
Materials science
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