Thermal stress refers to the stress that develops in a material due to a change in temperature. When a material is subjected to non-uniform temperature changes, different parts of the material expand or contract at different rates, leading to internal stresses.
Thermal stress is calculated using the formula:
where:
- = Thermal stress (in pascals, Pa or N/m²)
- = Coefficient of thermal expansion of the material (in per kelvin, K⁻¹)
- = Young’s Modulus of the material (in pascals, Pa or N/m²)
- = Change in temperature (in kelvin, K)