Tensile strength

Stress-strain curve

Description

The maximum amount of longitudinal stress that a material can withstand before breaking. The tensile strength is usually measured in pounds per square inch or kilograms per square centimeter. A high tensile strength indicates that a material is very strong.

Synonyms and Related Terms

"Zugfestigkeit (Deut.); límite de elasticidad (Esp.); force de traction (Fr.); treksterkte (Ned.);

Authority

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971

• Theodore J. Reinhart, 'Glossary of Terms', Engineered Plastics, ASM International, 1988

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• Boise Cascade Paper Group, The Paper Handbook, Boise Cascade, Portland OR, 1989

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "tensile strength" Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [Accessed 28 Sept. 2005].

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_strength (Accessed Sept. 28, 2005)