Equation 2 · Part 1 · Why Materials Fail: Fracture, Flaws and the Inspection Interval
Symbol ρ
What this part means
ρ is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Its job in the formula
ρ is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Full expression→Symbol ρ→Article meaning
The passage around this formula
The first half of the argument is purely elastic and predates Griffith. An elliptical hole in a stressed plate does not merely remove load-bearing material; it redistributes the stress that would have passed through that material into the region around the hole’s sharpest curvature. For an elliptical flaw of half-length a and tip radius of curvature in a plate under remote tension , the peak stress at the tip is approximately
Learn the underlying idea
A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.
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