The behaviour of metals under stress has long been the subject of investigation, both by mathematicians and physicists, so that the laws of strength are tolerably complete. Owing to the importance of iron and steel in construction, these materials have been subjected to very extensive tests, particularly in simple tension and compression.

Numerous tests of cylindrical iron and steel bars in torsion are also available, the bulk of these being tests to destruction of samples of material used in actual machines and structures designed by engineers. In such tests scientific accuracy is not of much importance, the chief consideration being the obtaining of sufficient data for use in design. The most accurate torsional work upon iron and steel has been the work of physicists, and nearly all their investigations have been conducted upon specimens of very small sectional area; the reasons for this, no doubt, being that such specimens in the form of wires are easily obtainable, and of great uniformity in size and quality, while large test pieces are costly to prepare, and, moreover, cause considerable difficulty in testing, because of the magnitude of the forces involved. Owing to the mode of manufacture, the physical properties of wire often differ to a considerable extent from turned specimens of iron and steel. These differences may be caused by the hardening effect of the drawing, minute cracks in the wires, want of roundness, and the like. It therefore appeared probable that experiments on the lines indicated by physicists would be of some service, and it was with this idea that the investigation was commenced.