Plane stress or Plane strain?

- April 25, 2018 at 9:20 am
  
  Md Ahad
  Subscriber
  
  How can i determine that i should use plane stress or plane strain? If i want to get residual stress on the cylindrical model then which things i consider to determine that i should use plane stress or plane strain.
  
  Thanks in Advance
- April 25, 2018 at 4:01 pm
  
  eufrat
  Subscriber
  
  Hi,
  
  it depends on your structure. Plane Stress and Plane Strain are simplifying assumptions which allow to reduce the simulation effort by denying the stress/strain in the particular direction, whose value is negligible compared to the others.
  
  A typical example for Plane Stress is a tube with thin walls which is under pressure from its inside. The stress normal to the tubs surface exists, but is small in comparision to the plane directions. The thicker its walls, the less correct is the assumption as a Plane Stress case.
  
  A typical example for Plane Strain is a railway. When the rail gets hot, it would expand in its length-direction. This is prevented because the rail is fixed on the railroad ties, so strain would only occur in the other directions.
  
  Maybe you could post a screenshot of your model with further explanations on what you are trying to simulate?
- July 1, 2018 at 2:40 am
  
  Sandeep Medikonda
  Ansys Employee
  
  Hi Md Ahad,
  
  To add to what eufrat already explained check out this useful article on plane stress vs plane strain.
  
  Regards,
  
  Sandeep