Lecture 06: Traction Vector and

Stress Tensor
Jayadeep U. B.
Dept. of Mechanical Engg., NIT Calicut.
 Introduction
Having looked at the kinematics of deformation, we consider the
forces causing the deformation (kinetics) in this lecture.
It is clear that any part of an elastic body in equilibrium must be in
equilibrium. This necessitates that there must be internal forces
transmitted across any imaginary section of the body in general.
Similar arguments can be extended to the case of bodies which are
not in equilibrium also; accelerations must be considered in these
cases (we will not pursue such cases in this course).
The internal force distribution may not be uniform across any
finite area the maximum intensity of such transmitted forces are
usually of significance in connection with material failure etc.

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 Body Forces and Surface Forces
Forces distributed over the volume (could be over parts of it) are
called as body forces.
Forces which are distributed over the surface of the object are
called as surface forces or surface tractions.
Examples of body forces include gravitational force, magnetic
force and inertial forces corresponding to acceleration.
Body forces are commonly specified per unit mass of the object.
Surface forces (or tractions) are due to physical contact with other
bodies which could be a fluid medium also and are usually
specified per unit surface area.
Point forces commonly used in Engg. Mechanics are idealizations,
and requires special handling in TOE (we will not pursue it).
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 Body and Surface Forces contd.
If the resultants are required, they are obtained as follows:
Body forces: FB = F ( x ) dV
V

Surface forces: FS = T ( x ) dS
S
Symbol b also is used for representing the body forces.
Distributed body or surface couples are not usually included in
classical elasticity.

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 Traction Vector
Since the intensity of the internal force distribution is important, it
becomes convenient to define a traction vector for representing
the internal forces as: n F
T ( x, n ) = lim
A 0 A
Traction vector depends on the section (denoted by the normal to
it) considered, along with the spatial location of the point.

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 Traction Vector contd.
Using Newtons third law, we get:
T n ( x, n ) = T n ( x, n )
Using the traction vector to characterize the internal force
distribution has two major difficulties:
There is no direct way to relate the traction vector for different planes
passing through the same point.
The normal and tangential components of the traction vector has
distinctly different effects on the material.
These two difficulties have prompted the definition of the stress at
a point, which is a second order tensor. Hence, we can use all the
properties of a second order tensor for stress at a point.

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 Stress Tensor
The basic step in defining the stress tensor is to make an
infinitesimal cubical element by using three pairs of imaginary
planes, each perpendicular to a coordinate direction.
The traction vector on these planes may be written in the
component form as: T n ( x, n = e ) = T 1 = T 1e + T 1e + T 1e
1 1 1 2 2 3 3

T n ( x, n = e2 ) = T 2 = T12 e1 + T22 e2 + T32 e3

T n ( x, n = e3 ) = T 3 = T13e1 + T23e2 + T33e3

Using the index notation: T i = T ji e j

We define the stress tensor using the components above: ij = T ji

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 Stress Tensor contd.
In this stress tensor, the first index specifies the plane on which it
is acting, and the second index specifies the direction of the
component itself.
If both the indices are same, the component gives a normal stress,
while if the indices are different, we get a shear stress.
A stress component acting in the positive coordinate direction on
a positive plane (with outward normal in positive direction) or in
the negative direction on a negative plane are considered positive.
In large deformation problems, when we define it based on the
deformed configuration, this tensor is called Cauchy stress tensor.
This term Cauchy stress tensor can be used in small
deformation problems, even when the undeformed configuration
is used.
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 Stress Tensor contd.
In the conventional notation, the stress
tensor is commonly written as:
x xy xz

= [ ] = yx y yz
zx zy z

H.W.: Using angular momentum

conservation equations, show that the
cross (or complementary) shear stresses
are equal (2D case may be used).
Therefore, stress tensor is symmetric: ij = ji

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 Traction Vector on Oblique Planes
Consider an oblique plane with unit area x2
with the normal: n = n1e1 + n2 e2 + n3e3 = ni ei C
Using the force equilibrium equation in
x1 direction for tetrahedron OABC, we
can write:
T1n 1 = T11 n1 + T12 n2 + T13 n3 = j1n j B
O
In general: Ti n = ji n j x1
When the stress tensor is symmetric, A
we can also write: Ti n = ij n j x3
Some authors define the stress tensor to
be transpose of that above, which gives
the last equation directly.
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 Concluding Remarks
In this lecture we started the discussion of kinetics of a general
problem in TOE, i.e., the forces causing the deformation.
Traction vector on any imaginary plane passing through the point
of interest gives the intensity of the internal forces at that point.
However, the traction vector is not suitable for direct use as there
are infinite number of planes passing through any point.
This lead to the definition of stress tensor, which is a second order
tensor characterizing the stress at a point.
It is a symmetric tensor, owing to the absence of body couples.
The stress tensors have independent existence, but for working
with any particular stress tensor, a coordinate system is needed.
The traction vector on any arbitrary plane can be obtained using
the stress tensor and the normal to the plane.
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 References
Sadd, M.H., Elasticity: Theory, Applications and Numerics,
Academic Press.

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