The following strain results are available as color contour plots for all structural stress analyses:
| Result view | Information provided |
|---|---|
| Equivalent | The effective total strain magnitude from the combination of the six strain tensor components. This value is always positive. |
| Normal XX | Strain tensor component showing the normal strain in the global X direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Normal YY | Strain tensor component showing the normal strain in the global Y direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Normal ZZ | Strain tensor component showing the normal strain in the global Z direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Shear XY | Strain tensor component showing the shear strain in the global XY direction. (X indicates the direction normal to the face, and Y indicates the direction of the shear strain vector.) |
| Shear YZ | Strain tensor component showing the shear strain in the global YZ direction. (Y indicates the direction normal to the face, and Z indicates the direction of the shear strain vector.) |
| Shear ZX | Strain tensor component showing the shear strain in the global ZX direction. (Z indicates the direction normal to the face, and X indicates the direction of the shear strain vector.) |
| 1st Principal | The maximum principal strain (ε1). Here, the term maximum does not necessarily mean the strain with the greatest magnitude. It means the most positive value. Consider a material that is in compression in all three directions (that is, all principal strains are negative). In this case, the 1st Principal strain is the principal strain with the least negative value, which has the smallest magnitude. For a material subjected to only tensile loads, the 1st Principal strain is positive and has the greatest magnitude of the three principal strains. |
| 2nd Principal | The intermediate principal strain (ε2). |
| 3rd Principal | The minimum principal strain (ε3). Here, the term minimum does not necessarily mean the strain with the least magnitude. It means the most negative value. Consider a material that is in compression in all three directions (that is, all principal strains are negative). In this case, the 3rd Principal strain is the principal strain with the most negative value, which has the greatest magnitude. For a material subjected to only tensile loads, the 3rd Principal strain is positive and has the smallest magnitude of the three principal strains. |