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Physical compression
 
 
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Physical compression is the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress
Compressive stress

Compressive stress is the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction . When a material is subjected to compressive stress, then this material is under physical compression....
, resulting in reduction of volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
. The opposite of compression is tension.

Explanation
Compression has many implications in material science, physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 and structural engineering
Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist structural loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
, for compression yields noticeable amounts of stress
Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces....
 and tension
Tension (mechanics)

In physics, tension is the magnitude of the pulling force exerted by a string, cable, chain, or similar object on another object. Tension is measured newtons or pounds-force and is always parallel to the string on which it applies....
.

By inducing compression, mechanical properties such as compressive strength
Compressive strength

Compressive strength is the capacity of a material to withstand axially directed pushing forces. When the limit of compressive strength is reached, materials are crushed....
 or modulus of elasticity, can be measured.






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Encyclopedia


Physical compression is the result of the subjection of a material to compressive stress
Compressive stress

Compressive stress is the stress applied to materials resulting in their compaction . When a material is subjected to compressive stress, then this material is under physical compression....
, resulting in reduction of volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
. The opposite of compression is tension.

Explanation


Compression has many implications in material science, physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 and structural engineering
Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist structural loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
, for compression yields noticeable amounts of stress
Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the average amount of force exerted per unit area. It is a measure of the intensity of the total internal forces acting within a body across imaginary internal surfaces, as a reaction to external applied forces and body forces....
 and tension
Tension (mechanics)

In physics, tension is the magnitude of the pulling force exerted by a string, cable, chain, or similar object on another object. Tension is measured newtons or pounds-force and is always parallel to the string on which it applies....
.

By inducing compression, mechanical properties such as compressive strength
Compressive strength

Compressive strength is the capacity of a material to withstand axially directed pushing forces. When the limit of compressive strength is reached, materials are crushed....
 or modulus of elasticity, can be measured. Scientist
Scientist

A scientist, in the broadest sense, refers to any person that engages in a system activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy....
s may utilize press machines to induce compression.

In engines


Internal combustion engine


In internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs in a combustion chamber inside and integral to the engine. In an internal combustion engine it is always the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases that are produced by the combustion which apply force to the movable component of the engine, such as...
s it is a necessary condition of economy to compress the explosive mixture before it is ignited: in the Otto cycle, for instance, the second stroke of the piston effects the compression of the charge which has been drawn into the cylinder by the first forward stroke.

Steam engines


The term is applied to the arrangement by which the exhaust valve of a steam engine
Steam engine

File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
 is made to close, shutting a portion of the exhaust steam in the cylinder
Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically casting from aluminum or cast iron before precision features are machined into it....
, before the stroke of the piston is quite complete. This steam being compressed as the stroke is completed, a cushion is formed against which the piston
Piston

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, pumps and gas compressors. It is located in a Cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings....
 does work while its velocity is being rapidly reduced, and thus the stresses in the mechanism due to the inertia of the reciprocating parts are lessened. This compression, moreover, obviates the shock which would otherwise be caused by the admission of the fresh steam for the return stroke.

See also

Buckling
Buckling

In engineering, buckling is a structural failure characterized by a sudden failure of a structural member subjected to high compressive stresses, where the actual compressive stress at the point of failure is less than the ultimate compressive stresses that the material is capable of withstanding....
 Strength of materials
Strength of materials

In materials science, the strength of a material refers to the material's ability to withstand an applied stress without failure. Yield strength refers to the point on the engineering stress-strain curve beyond which the material begins deformation that cannot be reversed upon removal of the loading....
 Compression member
Compression member

A compression member is a general class of structural elements of which a column is the most common specific example....
 Rarefaction
Rarefaction

Rarefaction is the reduction of a medium's density, or the opposite of Physical compression.A natural example of this is as a Phase in a sound wave or phonon....