Difficult without more context 03:29 Aug 23, 2017
This is difficult to translate without seeing more of the context. From just that one sentence, what I surmise the writer is trying to say is something like this:
“Thermal stress, although closer in nature to strain than applied stress, still remains distinct from strain in that there is no directional vector involved.”
Note that the term “strain” could be replaced by “mechanical deformation”; however in the context of a stress-strain textbook the meaning ought to be clear.
Only the French would dream of introducing such an abstract concept into a text on stress-strain calculations; such a discussion would hardly be entertained in an English textbook. As such, whether it would be more accurate to simply omit this whole sentence in an English translation is open for discussion. However, before coming to a conclusion, one would need to know more about the general nature of the source text.
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