TENSILE STRENGTH

maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched, divided by the original cross-sectional area of the material. Tensile strengths have dimensions of force per unit area and in the English system of measurement are commonly expressed in units of pounds per square inch, often abbreviated to psi. When stresses less than the tensile strength are removed, a material returns either completely or partially to its original shape and size. As the stress reaches the value of the tensile strength, however, a material, if ductile, that has already begun to flow plastically rapidly forms a constricted region called a neck, where it then fractures.