LESSION 1 STRESS AND STRAIN The fundamental concepts of stress and strain can be illustrated by considering a prismatic bar that is loaded by axial forces F at the ends, as shown in Fig
A prismatic bar is a straight structural member having constant cross section throughout its length
In this illustration ,the axial forces produce a uniform stretching of the bar, hence, the bar is said to be in tension
To investigate the internal stresses produced in the bar by the axial forces, we make an imaginary cut at section mn(Fig
This section is taken perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bar; hence, it is known as a cross section
We now isolate the part of the bar to the right of the cut as a free body(Fig
The tensile load F acts at the right end of the free body; at