Which of the following types of stress involves twisting?

The type of stress that involves twisting is torsion. Torsion occurs when an object is subjected to a twisting motion around its longitudinal axis. This type of stress is crucial in understanding how materials behave under mechanical loads, particularly for components like drive shafts, beams, or any cylindrical structures where twisting forces can be applied.

In a practical context, torsion is relevant in scenarios where torque is applied, such as in car driveshafts, where the rotation creates twisting forces. When a material is twisted, it experiences shear stress across its cross-section; the outer fibers of the material will undergo tension while the inner fibers will experience compression.

This is distinct from other types of stress. Compression involves pushing forces that compress a material, tension refers to pulling forces that stretch it, and bending combines compressive and tensile stresses across a member due to moments applied perpendicular to its length. Each of these stress types influences how a material would fail or deform differently than torsion, which specifically focuses on twisting motion. Understanding torsion is essential for engineers and technicians in predicting material behavior and ensuring structural integrity in various applications.