Definition of "Major principal value"

Question

I see that I can plot the ​"major principal value of Cauchy stress" (axisymmetric structural analysis), as opposed to the min/inter/max principal value, but I cannot find a definition of this result. Can anyone point me to one?

I've seen major used as a synonym for maximum, but here that doesn't make much sense... From what I can see, the major value seems to be the value of maximum magnitude (among max and min); is this correct?

Kiranraj Shetty · Accepted Answer

Hi Espen,

Major principal stress will be the "largest numerical value" among the min / max & int values.

For example,

If you consider a node where the following principal stresses exists:

Node 1: Pmax = 5.0 Pint = -2.0 & Pmin = -9.0

Then maximum principal will be 5.0 And,

The principal major will be -9.0