##  [Principle of Minimum Potential Energy](/principle-minimum-potential-energy) 

  ##  [Principle of Minimum Potential Energy](https://engineering.quantumdictionary.io/principle-minimum-potential-energy-0) 

  

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**Engineering & Applied Technologies Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

A stable equilibrium configuration of a (linearly) elastic body under conservative loading is the kinematically admissible displacement field that minimizes the total potential energy (sum of strain energy and potential of external forces) among all admissible displacement fields; existence of a minimum implies stability of that equilibrium.