Browse By Letter

Search engineering dictionary:

Definition:

Poisson?S Ratio

If a square bar is stressed in a testing machine in the direction of its length increases, there is a contraction in each opposite direction, which produces a decrease in the thickness of the bar. The ratio between the contraction at right angles to a stress and the direct extension is called the Poisson?s ratio. Its value in steel is in the order of 0.28.