The state of stress at a point in the body is then defined by all the stress vectors
T(
n) associated with all planes (infinite in number) that pass through that point. However, according to ''Cauchy's fundamental theorem
, also called Cauchy's stress theorem'', merely by knowing the stress vectors on three mutually perpendicular planes, the stress vector on any other plane passing through that point can be found through coordinate transformation equations. Cauchy's stress theorem states that there exists a second-order
tensor field σ(
x, t), called the Cauchy stress tensor, independent of
n, such that
T is a linear function of
n: : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf n)}= \mathbf n \cdot\boldsymbol{\sigma}\quad \text{or} \quad T_j^{(\mathbf n)}= \sigma_{ij}n_i. This equation implies that the stress vector
T(
n) at any point
P in a continuum associated with a plane with normal unit vector
n can be expressed as a function of the stress vectors on the planes perpendicular to the coordinate axes,
i.e. in terms of the components
σij of the stress tensor
σ. To prove this expression, consider a
tetrahedron with three faces oriented in the coordinate planes, and with an infinitesimal area d
A oriented in an arbitrary direction specified by a normal unit vector
n (Figure 2.2). The tetrahedron is formed by slicing the infinitesimal element along an arbitrary plane with unit normal
n. The stress vector on this plane is denoted by
T(
n). The stress vectors acting on the faces of the tetrahedron are denoted as
T(
e1),
T(
e2), and
T(
e3), and are by definition the components
σij of the stress tensor
σ. This tetrahedron is sometimes called the
Cauchy tetrahedron. The equilibrium of forces,
i.e. Euler's first law of motion (Newton's second law of motion), gives: : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{n})} \, dA - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)} \, dA_1 - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)} \, dA_2 - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)} \, dA_3 = \rho \left( \frac{h}{3}dA \right) \mathbf{a}, where the right-hand-side represents the product of the mass enclosed by the tetrahedron and its acceleration:
ρ is the density,
a is the acceleration, and
h is the height of the tetrahedron, considering the plane
n as the base. The area of the faces of the tetrahedron perpendicular to the axes can be found by projecting d
A into each face (using the dot product): : dA_1= \left(\mathbf{n} \cdot \mathbf{e}_1 \right)dA = n_1 \; dA, : dA_2= \left(\mathbf{n} \cdot \mathbf{e}_2 \right)dA = n_2 \; dA, : dA_3= \left(\mathbf{n} \cdot \mathbf{e}_3 \right)dA = n_3 \; dA, and then substituting into the equation to cancel out d
A: : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{n})} - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)}n_1 - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)}n_2 - \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)}n_3 = \rho \left( \frac{h}{3} \right) \mathbf{a}. To consider the limiting case as the tetrahedron shrinks to a point,
h must go to 0 (intuitively, the plane
n is translated along
n toward
O). As a result, the right-hand-side of the equation approaches 0, so : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{n})} = \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)} n_1 + \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)} n_2 + \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)} n_3. Assuming a material element (see figure at the top of the page) with planes perpendicular to the coordinate axes of a Cartesian coordinate system, the stress vectors associated with each of the element planes,
i.e. T(
e1),
T(
e2), and
T(
e3) can be decomposed into a normal component and two shear components,
i.e. components in the direction of the three coordinate axes. For the particular case of a surface with normal
unit vector oriented in the direction of the
x1-axis, denote the normal stress by
σ11, and the two shear stresses as
σ12 and
σ13: : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)}= T_1^{(\mathbf{e}_1)}\mathbf{e}_1 + T_2^{(\mathbf{e}_1)} \mathbf{e}_2 + T_3^{(\mathbf{e}_1)} \mathbf{e}_3 = \sigma_{11} \mathbf{e}_1 + \sigma_{12} \mathbf{e}_2 + \sigma_{13} \mathbf{e}_3, : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)}= T_1^{(\mathbf{e}_2)}\mathbf{e}_1 + T_2^{(\mathbf{e}_2)} \mathbf{e}_2 + T_3^{(\mathbf{e}_2)} \mathbf{e}_3=\sigma_{21} \mathbf{e}_1 + \sigma_{22} \mathbf{e}_2 + \sigma_{23} \mathbf{e}_3, : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)}= T_1^{(\mathbf{e}_3)}\mathbf{e}_1 + T_2^{(\mathbf{e}_3)} \mathbf{e}_2 + T_3^{(\mathbf{e}_3)} \mathbf{e}_3=\sigma_{31} \mathbf{e}_1 + \sigma_{32} \mathbf{e}_2 + \sigma_{33} \mathbf{e}_3, In index notation this is : \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_i)}= T_j^{(\mathbf{e}_i)} \mathbf{e}_j = \sigma_{ij} \mathbf{e}_j. The nine components
σij of the stress vectors are the components of a second-order Cartesian tensor called the
Cauchy stress tensor, which can be used to completely define the state of stress at a point and is given by : \boldsymbol{\sigma}= \sigma_{ij} = \left[{\begin{matrix} \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)} \\ \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)} \\ \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)} \\ \end{matrix}}\right] = \left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma _{11} & \sigma _{12} & \sigma _{13} \\ \sigma _{21} & \sigma _{22} & \sigma _{23} \\ \sigma _{31} & \sigma _{32} & \sigma _{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right] \equiv \left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma _{xx} & \sigma _{xy} & \sigma _{xz} \\ \sigma _{yx} & \sigma _{yy} & \sigma _{yz} \\ \sigma _{zx} & \sigma _{zy} & \sigma _{zz} \\ \end{matrix}}\right] \equiv \left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma _x & \tau _{xy} & \tau _{xz} \\ \tau _{yx} & \sigma _y & \tau _{yz} \\ \tau _{zx} & \tau _{zy} & \sigma _z \\ \end{matrix}}\right], where
σ11,
σ22, and
σ33 are normal stresses, and
σ12,
σ13,
σ21,
σ23,
σ31, and
σ32 are shear stresses. The first index
i indicates that the stress acts on a plane normal to the
Xi -axis, and the second index
j denotes the direction in which the stress acts (for example,
σ12 implies that the stress is acting on the plane that is normal to the 1st axis i.e.,
X1, and acts along the 2nd axis i.e.,
X2). A stress component is positive if it acts in the positive direction of the coordinate axes, and if the plane where it acts has an outward normal vector pointing in the positive coordinate direction. Thus, using the components of the stress tensor : \begin{align} \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{n})} &= \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_1)}n_1 + \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_2)}n_2 + \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_3)}n_3 \\ & = \sum_{i=1}^3 \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{e}_i)}n_i \\ &= \left( \sigma_{ij}\mathbf{e}_j \right)n_i \\ &= \sigma_{ij}n_i\mathbf{e}_j \end{align} or, equivalently, : T_j^{(\mathbf n)}= \sigma_{ij}n_i. Alternatively, in matrix form we have : \left[{\begin{matrix} T^{(\mathbf n)}_1 & T^{(\mathbf n)}_2 & T^{(\mathbf n)}_3\end{matrix}}\right]=\left[{\begin{matrix} n_1 & n_2 & n_3 \end{matrix}}\right]\cdot \left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma _{11} & \sigma _{12} & \sigma _{13} \\ \sigma _{21} & \sigma _{22} & \sigma _{23} \\ \sigma _{31} & \sigma _{32} & \sigma _{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right]. The
Voigt notation representation of the Cauchy stress tensor takes advantage of the
symmetry of the stress tensor to express the stress as a six-dimensional vector of the form: : \boldsymbol{\sigma} = \begin{bmatrix}\sigma_1 & \sigma_2 & \sigma_3 & \sigma_4 & \sigma_5 & \sigma_6 \end{bmatrix}^\textsf{T} \equiv \begin{bmatrix}\sigma_{11} & \sigma_{22} & \sigma_{33} & \sigma_{23} & \sigma_{13} & \sigma_{12} \end{bmatrix}^\textsf{T}. The Voigt notation is used extensively in representing stress–strain relations in
solid mechanics and for computational efficiency in numerical
structural mechanics software.
Transformation rule of the stress tensor It can be shown that the stress tensor is a
contravariant second order tensor, which is a statement of how it transforms under a change of the coordinate system. From an
xi-system to an '' xi'
-system, the components σij
in the initial system are transformed into the components σij''′ in the new system according to the tensor transformation rule (Figure 2.4): : \sigma'_{ij} = a_{im}a_{jn}\sigma_{mn} \quad \text{or} \quad \boldsymbol{\sigma}' = \mathbf A \boldsymbol{\sigma} \mathbf A^\textsf{T}, where
A is a
rotation matrix with components
aij. In matrix form this is : \left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma'_{11} & \sigma'_{12} & \sigma'_{13} \\ \sigma'_{21} & \sigma'_{22} & \sigma'_{23} \\ \sigma'_{31} & \sigma'_{32} & \sigma'_{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right]=\left[{\begin{matrix} a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} \\ a_{21} & a_{22} & a_{23} \\ a_{31} & a_{32} & a_{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right]\left[{\begin{matrix} \sigma_{11} & \sigma_{12} & \sigma_{13} \\ \sigma_{21} & \sigma_{22} & \sigma_{23} \\ \sigma_{31} & \sigma_{32} & \sigma_{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right]\left[{\begin{matrix} a_{11} & a_{21} & a_{31} \\ a_{12} & a_{22} & a_{32} \\ a_{13} & a_{23} & a_{33} \\ \end{matrix}}\right]. Expanding the
matrix operation, and simplifying terms using the
symmetry of the stress tensor, gives : \begin{align} \sigma_{11}' ={} &a_{11}^2\sigma_{11}+a_{12}^2\sigma_{22}+a_{13}^2\sigma_{33}+2a_{11}a_{12}\sigma_{12}+2a_{11}a_{13}\sigma_{13}+2a_{12}a_{13}\sigma_{23}, \\ \sigma_{22}' ={} &a_{21}^2\sigma_{11}+a_{22}^2\sigma_{22}+a_{23}^2\sigma_{33}+2a_{21}a_{22}\sigma_{12}+2a_{21}a_{23}\sigma_{13}+2a_{22}a_{23}\sigma_{23}, \\ \sigma_{33}' ={} &a_{31}^2\sigma_{11}+a_{32}^2\sigma_{22}+a_{33}^2\sigma_{33}+2a_{31}a_{32}\sigma_{12}+2a_{31}a_{33}\sigma_{13}+2a_{32}a_{33}\sigma_{23}, \\ \sigma_{12}' ={} &a_{11}a_{21}\sigma_{11}+a_{12}a_{22}\sigma_{22}+a_{13}a_{23}\sigma_{33} \\ &+(a_{11}a_{22}+a_{12}a_{21})\sigma_{12}+(a_{12}a_{23}+a_{13}a_{22})\sigma_{23}+(a_{11}a_{23}+a_{13}a_{21})\sigma_{13}, \\ \sigma_{23}' ={} &a_{21}a_{31}\sigma_{11}+a_{22}a_{32}\sigma_{22}+a_{23}a_{33}\sigma_{33} \\ &+(a_{21}a_{32}+a_{22}a_{31})\sigma_{12}+(a_{22}a_{33}+a_{23}a_{32})\sigma_{23}+(a_{21}a_{33}+a_{23}a_{31})\sigma_{13}, \\ \sigma_{13}' ={} &a_{11}a_{31}\sigma_{11}+a_{12}a_{32}\sigma_{22}+a_{13}a_{33}\sigma_{33} \\ &+(a_{11}a_{32}+a_{12}a_{31})\sigma_{12}+(a_{12}a_{33}+a_{13}a_{32})\sigma_{23}+(a_{11}a_{33}+a_{13}a_{31})\sigma_{13}. \end{align} The
Mohr circle for stress is a graphical representation of this transformation of stresses.
Normal and shear stresses The magnitude of the
normal stress component
σn of any stress vector
T(
n) acting on an arbitrary plane with normal unit vector
n at a given point, in terms of the components
σij of the stress tensor
σ, is the
dot product of the stress vector and the normal unit vector: : \begin{align} \sigma_\mathrm{n} &= \mathbf{T}^{(\mathbf{n})}\cdot \mathbf{n} \\ &=T^{(\mathbf n)}_i n_i \\ &=\sigma_{ij}n_i n_j. \end{align} The magnitude of the shear stress component
τn, acting orthogonal to the vector
n, can then be found using the
Pythagorean theorem: : \begin{align} \tau_\mathrm{n} &=\sqrt{ \left( T^{(\mathbf n)} \right)^2-\sigma_\mathrm{n}^2} \\ &= \sqrt{T_i^{(\mathbf n)}T_i^{(\mathbf n)}-\sigma_\mathrm{n}^2}, \end{align} where : \left( T^{(\mathbf n)} \right)^2 = T_i^{(\mathbf n)} T_i^{(\mathbf n)} = \left( \sigma_{ij} n_j \right) \left(\sigma_{ik} n_k \right) = \sigma_{ij} \sigma_{ik} n_j n_k. == Balance laws – Cauchy's equations of motion ==