Direct stress
Axial force over area. No bending.
Method
σ = F/A. Worked case: 100 kN on 2,000 mm² is 50 N/mm².
What to write beside the result
A review can only check this figure if the inputs sit next to it. Write the value, the unit and the assumption the form used. A diameter in millimetres and a diameter in metres are not the same reading. A force in kilonewtons divided as if it were newtons is a thousand-fold error.
The result is the arithmetic on this page. It is not a utilisation, not a selected product, and not a clause from a standard. If the number is going into a shared container, name the page, the date and the inputs. The file-name checker does not read the calculation.
Logic: how this figure is built.
How to read a direct stress
Direct stress is force divided by area. 100 kN on 2,000 mm² is 50 N/mm². The force is axial and the area is the area that carries it. A hole, a moment or a buckle breaks that reading.
100 kN is 100,000 N. Dividing by 2,000 mm² gives 50 N/mm². Dividing 100 by 2,000 and calling it N/mm² is a unit error of a thousand. The page expects the units on the form.
The area is the net area if a hole is what you meant, and the gross area if it is not. The page does not subtract holes.
Use it as the axial stress beside a model. It is not a combined-stress check and not a code utilisation.
- Related: Young's modulus
- structural logic
Last checked 3 October 2026. See the common-calculations note and the disclaimer.