A force acting upon or within a mass or rock, expressed in terms of unit weight per surface area such as tons per square inch. Tensorial quantity with six independent variables describing the orientation and magnitude of force vectors acting on planes of any orientation at a specific point in a volume of rock. A mathematical description of the resultant interaction of all points within a body when forces are applied at its boundaries; that is, how force is distributed throughout a body. This mathematical description is accomplished by the use of tensor mathematics and is independent of the material properties or the coordinate system used to describe it.
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