Stress is defined as the force acting per unit area. It is computed from strain (elongation or compression per unit length) and the material stiffness. The solver outputs six individual components (stress tensors) and three combined stress results, as follows:
| Result view | Information provided |
|---|---|
| von Mises | The effective total stress magnitude from the combination of the six stress tensor components. This value is always positive. |
| Normal XX | Stress tensor component showing the normal stress in the global X direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Normal YY | Stress tensor component showing the normal stress in the global Y direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Normal ZZ | Stress tensor component showing the normal stress in the global Z direction. Positive (+) indicates tension; negative (-) indicates compression. |
| Shear XY | Stress tensor component showing the shear stress in the global XY direction. (X indicates the direction normal to the face, and Y indicates the direction of the shear stress vector.) |
| Shear YZ | Stress tensor component showing the shear stress in the global YZ direction. (Y indicates the direction normal to the face, and Z indicates the direction of the shear stress vector.) |
| Shear ZX | Stress tensor component showing the shear stress in the global ZX direction. (Z indicates the direction normal to the face, and X indicates the direction of the shear stress vector.) |
| 1st Principal | The maximum principal stress (σ1). Here, the term maximum does not necessarily mean the stress 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 stresses are negative). In this case, the 1st Principal stress is the principal stress with the least negative value, which has the smallest magnitude. For a material subjected to only tensile loads, the 1st Principal stress is positive and has the greatest magnitude of the three principal stresses. |
| 2nd Principal | The intermediate principal stress (σ2). |
| 3rd Principal | The minimum principal stress (σ3). Here, the term minimum does not necessarily mean the stress 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 stresses are negative). In this case, the 3rd Principal stress is the principal stress with the most negative value, which has the greatest magnitude. For a material subjected to only tensile loads, the 3rd Principal stress is positive and has the smallest magnitude of the three principal stresses. |