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N

Necking

is a condition that occurs during deformation of a specimen in response to an applied load in which localized deformation occurs within the gauge of the specimen, forming a region with reduced dimensions compared to the original gauge dimensions.

Neutral Axis

A beam in flexure has tension on one side (e.g., the bottom face) and compression on the other (e.g., the top face). Somewhere between these two, there is a location of zero strain and this is the location of the neutral axis. If the section is symmetric (in both geometry and materials) the neutral axis is at the geometric centroid.