Breaking stress definition
Breaking stress here means the maximum tension applied divided by the original area of the test-piece; and extension per cent, is taken as the percentage increase due to the strain, in the distance between two marks, one at either end of the test-piece, whose unstrained distance is known. The use of the term “ breaking stress ” in the above sense is convenient, from an engineer’s point of view, as showing what force a bar, etc., of given sectional area will stand before giving way. The true breaking stress of a material, however, is the actual intensity of the stress at