2. Stress and Strain Analysis and Measurement

The engineering design of structures using polymers requires a thorough knowledge of the basic principles of stress and strain analysis and measurement. Readers of this book should have a fundamental knowledge of stress and strain from a course in elementary solid mechanics and from an introductory course in materials. Therefore, we do not rigorously derive from first principles all the necessary concepts. However, in this chapter we provide a review of the fundamentals and lay out consistent notation used in the remainder of the text. It should be emphasized that the interpretations of stress and strain distributions in polymers and the properties derived from the standpoint of the traditional analysis given in this chapter are approximate and not applicable to viscoelastic polymers under all circumstances. By comparing the procedures discussed in later chapters with those of this chapter, it is therefore possible to contrast and evaluate the differences.