= Dead loading
= Dead load
{synonym}
In an elastic <boundary value problem>, a dead load is a prescribed force independent of the incremental displacement. A dead reference <traction> has $\delta t^0=0$, even when the current face changes orientation. This differs from a follower load, whose direction follows the moving body, and from the structural-engineering use of the same phrase for permanent self-weight. Under pure dead <tractions>, a constant incremental translation remains a zero-frequency mode unless a displacement condition fixes it.
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