Residual Stress

Residual stress is a stress that persists in a material after the original cause of the stress (such as external force or thermal gradient) has been removed. Residual stresses may be desirable or undesirable, and may originate due to thermal load (such as welding) or mechanical loads causing plastic strains. They are also referred to internal stresses.

This page is part of The Encyclopedia of Stresses in Solids