List of definitions of terms and concepts commonly used in mechanical engineering
Most of the terms listed in Wikipedia glossaries are already defined and explained within Wikipedia itself. However, glossaries like this one are useful for looking up, comparing and reviewing large numbers of terms together. You can help enhance this page by adding new terms or writing definitions for existing ones.
This glossary of mechanical engineering terms pertains specifically to mechanical engineering and its sub-disciplines. For a broad overview of engineering, see glossary of engineering.
Y
- Yield point – In materials science and engineering, the yield point is the point on a stress-strain curve that indicates the limit of elastic behavior and the beginning of plastic behavior. Below the yield point, a material will deform elastically and will return to its original shape when the applied stress is removed. Once the yield point is passed, some fraction of the deformation will be permanent and non-reversible and is known as plastic deformation.
- Yield strength – or yield stress, is a material property and is the stress corresponding to the yield point at which the material begins to deform plastically. The yield strength is often used to determine the maximum allowable load in a mechanical component, since it represents the upper limit to forces that can be applied without producing permanent deformation. In some materials, such as aluminium, there is a gradual onset of non-linear behavior, making the precise yield point difficult to determine. In such a case, the offset yield point (or proof stress) is taken as the stress at which 0.2% plastic deformation occurs. Yielding is a gradual failure mode which is normally not catastrophic, unlike ultimate failure.
- Young's modulus – Young's modulus
, the Young modulus or the modulus of elasticity in tension, is a mechanical property that measures the tensile stiffness of a solid material. It quantifies the relationship between tensile stress
(force per unit area) and axial strain
(proportional deformation) in the linear elastic region of a material and is determined using the formula:[63]
![{\displaystyle E={\frac {\sigma }{\varepsilon ))}](https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/6e550b558c0d862ab9e0367371e726a0793aeb44)
Young's moduli are typically so large that they are expressed not in pascals but in gigapascals (GPa).