Cartesian Stress Components

The Cartesian stress components can be found by considering a single, infinitesimally small cube within the analyzed member. The goal is typically to identify the stress element with the highest stress levels.

There are nine components:

• Normal stress
  • ${\sigma }_x,{\sigma }_y,{\sigma }_z$
• Tangential shear stress
  • ${\tau }_{xy},{\tau }_{xz},{\tau }_{yx},{\tau }_{yz},{\tau }_{zx},{\tau }_{zy}$

The normals to each surface define the $x,y,z$ axes.