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I'm trying to understand material selection better and I keep running into tensile and compressive strength. I get the general idea - one's about pulling, the other's about pushing - but I'm wondering how that actually impacts the choices engineers make.
For example, if I'm designing a support beam for a bridge, I'm going to be worried about both, right? The weight of the cars compresses the top while together putting tension on the bottom.Does this mean I need a material with both high tensile and compressive strength, or are there clever design solutions that might prioritize one over the other depending on the request? And are there materials that are naturally strong in one but weak in the other - like, is concrete great at compression but needs reinforcement for tension?
Beyond bridges, what are some other everyday examples where understanding the difference is really critical in ensuring something doesn't break or fail prematurely? I'm looking to wrap my head around how these principles actually play out in the real world.