All bulk materials can be characterized in terms of their elasticity. Some materials, such as rubber have a high elasticity, whereas others such as wood have much lower values. The modulus of resilience is a quantity that describes the maximum amount of energy a material absorbs when a load (force) is applied.
Determine the material for which you require the modulus of resilience. The following properties will be required for this material:
You will need to know Young's modulus, which quantifies the amount a material stretches when a given force is applied, along with yield strength -- the stress that is required to produce elastic deformation within a material.
For the sake of this example, lets use aluminium material:
Yield strength = 93 x 10^6 Newton's per square meter
Young's modulus = 69 x 10^9 Newton's per square meter
Write down the equation for modulus of resilience:
Modulus of resilience = (Yield strength)^2 / ( 2 x Young's Modulus)
Plug the numbers into the equation. Following the example for aluminium, the modulus of resilience is:
Modulus of resilience = (93 x 10^6)^2 / (2 x 69 x 10^9) = 62673.9 Newtons per square meter (8.7 psi).
