| THEORY & FORMULAE |
Consider a plane stress problem, with three known stress components: normal stresses σx and σy, and shear stress τxy. The resultant maximum normal stress called the principal stress σ1, and minimum stress (principal stress σ2) are given by the equations below. The principal axes are the 2 mutually perpendicular axes where the state of stress in each surface normal to the axes contains a tensile or compressive stress and zero shear stress. Also given below is the equation for the special angle for the rotated element on which these principal stresses act.
    
where
     σx = normal stress in x direction
     σy = normal stress in y direction
     τxy = shear stress in xy-plane
     σ1 = maximum principal stress
     σ2 = minimum principal stress
     θ = angle of rotation to the principal stress axes
     τmax = maximum shear stress
All stress values are given here in the same units.
The Mohr's circle is a graphical representation of the analytical equations above. From it, the characteristics and extremas of the stresses on the element can be determined. In the implementation here, the shear stress is positive upwards, and rotation is clockwise positive.
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