Duality (mechanical engineering)

In mechanical engineering, many terms are associated into pairs called duals. A dual of a relationship is formed by interchanging force (stress) and deformation (strain) in an expression.

Here is a partial list of mechanical dualities:

• force — deformation
• stress — strain
• stiffness method — flexibility method

Examples

Constitutive relation

• stress and strain (Hooke's law.)

$\sigma = E \varepsilon \iff \varepsilon = \frac{1}{E} \sigma \,$

See also

• Duality (electrical circuits)

References

• Fung, Y. C., A First Course in CONTINUUM MECHANICS, 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1977