Cauchy stress tensor

In continuum mechanics, the Cauchy stress tensor , true stress tensor, or simply called the stress tensor is a second order tensor named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy. The tensor consists of nine components that completely define the state of stress at a point inside a material in the deformed state, placement, or configuration. The tensor relates a unit-length direction vector n to the stress vector T⁽ⁿ⁾ across an imaginary surface perpendicular to n:

where,