The plastic strain energy during deformation of a material is defined as energy

stored in
the material when it gets plastically deformed. The work done during the deforma
tion is
stored as strain energy. For plastic deformation under uniaxial deformation, it
is given
by the expression:
dW = Force X change in length of the specimen = Stress X Initial Area X Strain
X Initial
length
This can be written as:
dW/Volume = stress X strain increment