The transverse elastic modulus, also called shear modulus, is an elastic constant that characterizes the change in shape that an elastic material (linear and isotropic) experiences when shear stresses are applied. This module receives a wide variety of names, among which the following should be highlighted: transverse rigidity modulus, shear modulus, shear modulus, tangential elastic modulus, transverse elasticity modulus, and second Lamé constant.

For a linear elastic #Theory_of_Linear_Elasticity "Elasticity (solid mechanics)") and isotropic material, the transverse modulus of elasticity is a constant with the same value for all directions of space. In anisotropic materials, several moduli of transverse elasticity can be defined, and in nonlinear elastic materials said modulus is not a constant but is a function dependent on the degree of deformation.

Experimentally, the transverse elastic modulus (or shear modulus) can be measured in several ways. Conceptually, the simplest way is to consider a cube like the one in Fig. 1 and subject it to a shear force, for small deformations the ratio between the tension and the angular deformation can be calculated:.

: Shear stress

: Angular deformation.

Experimentally it can also be measured from torsion experiments, so this constant is not only involved in shear processes.

For a linear elastic isotropic material, the transverse elastic modulus is related to Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio through the relationship:.

Where:.

Contenido

Los materiales elásticos lineales anisótropos se caracterizan por presentar diferentes valores de las constantes elásticas según la direccionalidad del material. En general, en un material anisotrópico la ley de Hooke,.