Shear modulus

Shear modulus
Common symbols
G, S, μ
SI unitPa
Derivations from
other quantities
G = τ / γ = E / [2(1 + ν)]
Shear strain

In materials science, shear modulus or modulus of rigidity, denoted by G, or sometimes S or μ, is a measure of the elastic shear stiffness of a material and is defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain:[1]

where

= shear stress
is the force which acts
is the area on which the force acts
= shear strain. In engineering , elsewhere
is the transverse displacement
is the initial length of the area.

The derived SI unit of shear modulus is the pascal (Pa), although it is usually expressed in gigapascals (GPa) or in thousand pounds per square inch (ksi). Its dimensional form is M1L−1T−2, replacing force by mass times acceleration.

  1. ^ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "shear modulus, G". doi:10.1351/goldbook.S05635