Design engineers are often given requirements such as maximum allowable stress in a body to ensure that it does not fail during operation. But a stress tensor, even in its principal state, has more than one value to compare against. So how do engineers use stress data to assess their designs?
Equivalent stress is one popular analysis option. It has a mathematical definition and physical relevance. Let's learn about this term in this lesson.
Here are the accompanying handout slides for this lesson.