thermal stress
Temperature-induced material tension
Thermal stress is the mechanical strain that develops in a material when temperature changes cause it to expand or contract, especially when that movement is restricted.
Engineers account for thermal stress when designing bridges, pipelines, and buildings that must withstand temperature swings: The cracks in the concrete were caused by thermal stress.
The term also applies to living organisms stressed by heat or cold: Coral reefs are dying from thermal stress as ocean temperatures rise.
- conductionHeat transfer through contact
- heat toleranceResistance to high temperatures
- bucklingBending from compression
- hot spotsAreas of intense activity
- heat treatmentThermal processing of materials
cold tolerance · deformation · cracked windshield · convection · quenching · engine block · creep · acclimatization · cooling down · brittleness · thermoregulation · fatigue · rupture · structural failure · distortion · ceramic · gradient · material
- heatheat transfer, heatwave, radiation, convection, insulators
- thermal processesheating, burning, cooling, boiling, melting
- farm weatherweather, climate, precipitation, rainfall, humidity levels
- spaceflight hazardsmicrogravity, weightlessness, zero gravity, space debris, cosmic rays
- thermal disordersheatstroke, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, hypothermia, hyperthermia
- material mechanicstensile strength, elasticity, strain, ductility, deformation