In materials science, shear modulus, G, or sometimes S, sometimes referred to as the modulus of rigidity, is defined as the ratio of shear stress to the shear strain:

$G\; \backslash equiv\; \backslash frac\{F/A\}\{\backslash Delta\; x/h\}\; =\; \backslash frac\{F\; h\}\{\backslash Delta\; x\; A\}$

where F/A is shear stress and Δx/h is shear strain.

Shear modulus is usually measured in ksi (thousands of pounds per square inch) or GPa (gigapascals).

Typical values

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The following are values of the shear modulus for select isotropic materials at room temperature:

Material	Shear modulus (GPa)
Steel	75.8
Copper	63.4
Titanium	41.4
Glass	26.2
Aluminum	25.5
Polyethylene	0.117
Rubber	0.0003

Explanation

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The shear modulus is one of several quantities for measuring the strength of materials. All of them arise in the generalized Hooke's law. Young's modulus describes the material's response to linear strain (like pulling on the ends of a wire), the bulk modulus describes the material's response to uniform pressure, and the shear modulus describes the material's response to shearing strains. Anisotropic materials such as wood and paper are poorly described by these three moduli.

In solids, there are two kinds of sound waves, pressure waves and shear waves. The speed of sound for shear waves is controlled by the shear modulus.

See also

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• Poisson's ratio
• Young's modulus (modulus of elasticity)

References

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Materials scienceContinuum mechanics

Schubmodul | Glijdingsmodulus | Strižni modul | 剪切模量