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Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Mechanics and Materials

Deflection

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

/dɪˈflɛkʃən/nounCommon term

In mechanical engineering, deflection means: How far a beam, shaft or other part bends or moves away from its original position when a load is applied, usually measured in millimeters.

In Turkish: sehim, eğilme miktarı, çökme

How it is used

Used in structural and machine design. Engineers calculate, limit and measure deflection; a design may be strong enough but still unusable because it deflects too much. Limits are often written as a fraction of the span, such as L/500.

Example sentences

  1. The maximum deflection of the beam under full load is 1.8 mm.

  2. The shaft deflection is too high, and it is affecting the gear mesh.

Common collocations

  • maximum deflection
  • beam deflection
  • allowable deflection
  • deflection limit
  • calculate deflection
  • stiffnessHow much a part or structure resists bending, stretching or twisting under load. A stiff part deflects only a little; a flexible one deflects a lot.
  • loadA force, weight or pressure that acts on a part or structure. Loads can be steady or changing and are the starting point of most strength calculations.
  • bending momentThe turning effect of the loads that makes a beam or shaft bend at a certain point. It equals force times distance and is given in N·m or kN·m.
  • modulus of elasticityA material property that shows how stiff a material is: the ratio of stress to strain in the elastic range. It is about 200 GPa for steel and 70 GPa for aluminum.
  • stressThe internal force inside a material divided by the area it acts on. It shows how hard a part is being pulled, pushed, bent or twisted and is measured in MPa or psi.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Mechanics and Materials

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