Finite strain theory

Finite strain theory

In continuum mechanics, the finite strain theoryalso called large strain theory, or large deformation
theorydeals with deformations in which both rotations and strains are arbitrarily large, i.e. invalidates the
assumptions inherent in infinitesimal strain theory. In this case, the undeformed and deformed configurations of the
continuum are significantly different and a clear distinction has to be made between them. This is commonly the case
with elastomers, plastically-deforming materials and other fluids and biological soft tissue.

Displacement
A change in the configuration of a
continuum body results in a
displacement. The displacement of a
body has two components: a
rigid-body displacement and a
deformation.
A
rigid-body
displacement
consists
of
a
simultaneous translation and rotation
of the body without changing its shape
or size. Deformation implies the
change in shape and/or size of the body
from an initial or undeformed
configuration
to a current or
deformed

configuration

(Figure 1).

Figure 1. Motion of a continuum body.

If after a displacement of the

continuum there is a relative displacement between particles, a deformation has occurred. On the other hand, if after
displacement of the continuum the relative displacement between particles in the current configuration is zero i.e. the
distance between particles remains unchanged, then there is no deformation and a rigid-body displacement is said to
have occurred.
The vector joining the positions of a particle
called the displacement vector
Eulerian description, where

and

in the undeformed configuration and deformed configuration is

in the Lagrangian description, or

in the

are the unit vectors that define the basis of the material (body-frame) and

spatial (lab-frame) coordinate systems, respectively.

A displacement field is a vector field of all displacement vectors for all particles in the body, which relates the
deformed configuration with the undeformed configuration. It is convenient to do the analysis of deformation or
motion of a continuum body in terms of the displacement field. In general, the displacement field is expressed in
terms of the material coordinates as

or in terms of the spatial coordinates as

where

are the direction cosines between the material and spatial coordinate systems with unit vectors

, respectively. Thus
and the relationship between

and

is then given by

and

Finite strain theory

Knowing that

then

It is common to superimpose the coordinate systems for the undeformed and deformed configurations, which results
in
, and the direction cosines become Kronecker deltas, i.e.

Thus, we have

or in terms of the spatial coordinates as

Displacement gradient tensor

The partial derivative of the displacement vector with respect to the material coordinates yields the material
displacement gradient tensor
. Thus we have,

where

is the deformation gradient tensor.

Similarly, the partial derivative of the displacement vector with respect to the spatial coordinates yields the spatial
displacement gradient tensor
. Thus we have,

Finite strain theory

Deformation gradient tensor

Consider a particle or material point
with position vector
in the undeformed configuration
(Figure 2). After a displacement of the
body, the new position of the particle
indicated
by
in
the
new
configuration is given by the vector
position
. The coordinate
systems for the undeformed and
deformed configuration can be
superimposed for convenience.
Consider now a material point
neighboring

, with position vector

. In

the deformed configuration this

particle has a new position given by
the

position

vector

Assuming that the line segments

and

joining the particles

and

Figure 2. Deformation of a continuum body.

in both the undeformed and

deformed configuration, respectively,
to be very small, then we can express them as

where

and

. Thus from Figure 2 we have

is the relative displacement vector, which represents the relative displacement of

with respect to

in the deformed configuration.

For an infinitesimal element
series expansion around point

, and assuming continuity on the displacement field, it is possible to use a Taylor

, neglecting higher-order terms, to approximate the components of the relative

displacement vector for the neighboring particle

Thus, the previous equation

as

can be written as

The material deformation gradient tensor

gradient of the mapping function or functional relation

is a second-order tensor that represents the

, which describes the motion of a continuum. The

material deformation gradient tensor characterizes the local deformation at a material point with position vector

i.e. deformation at neighbouring points, by transforming (linear transformation) a material line element emanating

Finite strain theory

from that point from the reference configuration to the current or deformed configuration, assuming continuity in the
mapping function
, i.e. differentiable function of and time , which implies that cracks and voids do not open or close
during the deformation. Thus we have,

The deformation gradient tensor

configuration, as seen by the unit vectors
and
Due to the assumption of continuity of

is related to both the reference and current

, therefore it is a two-point tensor.
,
has the inverse
, where

is the spatial

deformation gradient tensor. Then, by the implicit function theorem (Lubliner), the Jacobian determinant
must be nonsingular, i.e.

Time-derivative of the deformation gradient

Calculations that involve the time-dependent deformation of a body often require a time derivative of the
deformation gradient to be calculated. A geometrically consistent definition of such a derivative requires an
excursion into differential geometry[1] but we avoid those issues in this article.
The time derivative of

where

is

is the velocity. The derivative on the right hand side represents a material velocity gradient. It is

common to convert that into a spatial gradient, i.e.,

where

is the spatial velocity gradient. If the spatial velocity gradient is constant, the above equation can be

solved exactly to give

assuming

at

. There are several methods of computing the exponential above.

Related quantities often used in continuum mechanics are the rate of deformation tensor and the spin tensor
defined, respectively, as:

The rate of deformation tensor gives the rate of stretching of line elements while the spin tensor indicates the rate of
rotation or vorticity of the motion.

Transformation of a surface and volume element

To transform quantities that are defined with respect to areas in a deformed configuration to those relative to areas in
a reference configuration, and vice versa, we use Nanson's relation, expressed as

where
and

is an area of a region in the deformed configuration,

is the same area in the reference configuration,

is the outward normal to the area element in the current configuration while

reference configuration,

is the deformation gradient, and

The corresponding formula for the transformation of the volume element is

is the outward normal in the

Finite strain theory

Derivation of Nanson's relation

To see how this formula is derived, we start with the oriented area elements in the reference and current configurations:

The reference and current volumes of an element are

where

Therefore,

or,

so,

So we get

or,

Polar decomposition of the deformation gradient tensor

The deformation gradient

, like any

second-order
tensor,
can
be
decomposed,
using
the
polar
decomposition theorem, into a product
of two second-order tensors (Truesdell
and Noll, 1965): an orthogonal tensor
and a positive definite symmetric
tensor, i.e.

where the tensor

is a proper

orthogonal tensor, i.e.

and

, representing a

rotation; the tensor

stretch tensor; and

is the right
the left stretch

tensor. The terms right and left means

that they are to the right and left of the
rotation tensor
, respectively.
and

are both positive definite, i.e.

and

Figure 3. Representation of the polar decomposition of the deformation gradient

and symmetric tensors, i.e.

and

, of second order.

This decomposition implies that the deformation of a line element

the deformed configuration, i.e.
, followed by a rotation
first, i.e.
It can be shown that,

in the undeformed configuration onto

, may be obtained either by first stretching the element by

, i.e.

, followed later by a stretching

; or equivalently, by applying a rigid rotation

, i.e.

(See Figure 3).

in
, i.e.

Finite strain theory

so that
and

and

6
have the same eigenvalues or principal stretches, but different eigenvectors or principal directions

, respectively. The principal directions are related by

This polar decomposition is unique as

is non-symmetric.

Deformation tensors
Several rotation-independent deformation tensors are used in mechanics. In solid mechanics, the most popular of
these are the right and left Cauchy-Green deformation tensors.
Since a pure rotation should not induce any stresses in a deformable body, it is often convenient to use
rotation-independent measures of deformation in continuum mechanics. As a rotation followed by its inverse rotation
leads to no change (
) we can exclude the rotation by multiplying by its transpose.

The Right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor

In 1839, George Green introduced a deformation tensor known as the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor or
Green's deformation tensor, defined as[2][3]:

Physically, the Cauchy-Green tensor gives us the square of local change in distances due to deformation, i.e.
Invariants of

are often used in the expressions for strain energy density functions. The most commonly used

invariants are

The Finger deformation tensor

The IUPAC recommends[3] that the inverse of the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor (called the Cauchy tensor
in that document), i. e.,
, be called the Finger tensor. However, that nomenclature is not universally accepted
in applied mechanics.

The Left Cauchy-Green or Finger deformation tensor

Reversing the order of multiplication in the formula for the right Green-Cauchy deformation tensor leads to the left
Cauchy-Green deformation tensor which is defined as:

The left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor is often called the Finger deformation tensor, named after Josef Finger
(1894).[3][4][5]
Invariants of
defined as

are also used in the expressions for strain energy density functions. The conventional invariants are

Finite strain theory

where

is the determinant of the deformation gradient.

For nearly incompressible materials, a slightly different set of invariants is used:

The Cauchy deformation tensor

Earlier in 1828,[6] Augustin Louis Cauchy introduced a deformation tensor defined as the inverse of the left
Cauchy-Green deformation tensor,
. This tensor has also been called the Piola tensor[3] and the Finger
tensor[7] in the rheology and fluid dynamics literature.

Spectral representation
If there are three distinct principal stretches

, the spectral decompositions of

and

is given by

Furthermore,

Observe that

Therefore the uniqueness of the spectral decomposition also implies that

also called the spatial stretch tensor while the right stretch (
The effect of

acting on

In a similar vein,

is to stretch the vector by

. The left stretch (

) is called the material stretch tensor.

and to rotate it to the new orientation

, i.e.,

) is

Finite strain theory

Examples
Uniaxial extension of an incompressible material
This is the case where a specimen is stretched in 1-direction with a stretch ratio of
other two directions is such that
or
. Then:

. If the volume remains constant, the contraction in the

Simple shear

Rigid body rotation

Derivatives of stretch
Derivatives of the stretch with respect to the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor are used to derive the
stress-strain relations of many solids, particularly hyperelastic materials. These derivatives are

and follow from the observations that

Physical interpretation of deformation tensors

Let

be a Cartesian coordinate system defined on the undeformed body and let

another system defined on the deformed body. Let a curve

. Its image in the deformed body is
The undeformed length of the curve is given by

After deformation, the length becomes

be

in the undeformed body be parametrized using

Finite strain theory

Note that the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor is defined as

Hence,

which indicates that changes in length are characterized by

Finite strain tensors

The concept of strain is used to evaluate how much a given displacement differs locally from a rigid body
displacement (Ref. Lubliner). One of such strains for large deformations is the Lagrangian finite strain tensor, also
called the Green-Lagrangian strain tensor or Green St-Venant strain tensor, defined as

or as a function of the displacement gradient tensor

or

The Green-Lagrangian strain tensor is a measure of how much

differs from . It can be shown that this tensor is

a special case of a general formula for Lagrangian strain tensors (Hill 1968):

For different values of

we have:

The Eulerian-Almansi finite strain tensor, referenced to the deformed configuration, i.e. Eulerian description, is
defined as

or as a function of the displacement gradients we have

Finite strain theory

10

Derivation of the Lagrangian and Eulerain finite strain tensors

A measure of deformation is the difference between the squares of the differential line element
undeformed configuration, and

, in the

, in the deformed configuration (Figure 2). Deformation has occurred if the

difference is non zero, otherwise a rigid-body displacement has occurred. Thus we have,

In the Lagrangian description, using the material coordinates as the frame of reference, the linear transformation
between the differential lines is

Then we have,

where

are the components of the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor,

. Then, replacing this

equation into the first equation we have,

or

where

, are the components of a second-order tensor called the Green St-Venant strain tensor or the

Lagrangian finite strain tensor,

In the Eulerian description, using the spatial coordinates as the frame of reference, the linear transformation between
the differential lines is

where

are the components of the spatial deformation gradient tensor,

where the second order tensor

is called Cauchy's deformation tensor,

. Thus we have

. Then we have,

Finite strain theory

11

or

where

, are the components of a second-order tensor called the Eulerian-Almansi finite strain tensor,

Both the Lagrangian and Eulerian finite strain tensors can be conveniently expressed in terms of the displacement
gradient tensor. For the Lagrangian strain tensor, first we differentiate the displacement vector
with
respect to the material coordinates

to obtain the material displacement gradient tensor,

Replacing this equation into the expression for the Lagrangian finite strain tensor we have

or

Similarly, the Eulerian-Almansi finite strain tensor can be expressed as

Finite strain theory

12

Stretch ratio
The stretch ratio is a measure of the extensional or normal strain of a differential line element, which can be defined
at either the undeformed configuration or the deformed configuration.
The stretch ratio for the differential element
material point

where

(Figure) in the direction of the unit vector

at the

, in the undeformed configuration, is defined as

is the deformed magnitude of the differential element

Similarly, the stretch ratio for the differential element

the material point

The normal strain

.
(Figure), in the direction of the unit vector

at

, in the deformed configuration, is defined as

in any direction

can be expressed as a function of the stretch ratio,

This equation implies that the normal strain is zero, i.e. no deformation, when the stretch is equal to unity. Some
materials, such as elastometers can sustain stretch ratios of 3 or 4 before they fail, whereas traditional engineering
materials, such as concrete or steel, fail at much lower stretch ratios, perhaps of the order of 1.001 (reference?)

Physical interpretation of the finite strain tensor

The diagonal components

where

is the normal strain or engineering strain in the direction

The off-diagonal components

where
and

of the Lagrangian finite strain tensor are related to the normal strain, e.g.

of the Lagrangian finite strain tensor are related to shear strain, e.g.

is the change in the angle between two line elements that were originally perpendicular with directions
, respectively.

Under certain circumstances, i.e. small displacements and small displacement rates, the components of the
Lagrangian finite strain tensor may be approximated by the components of the infinitesimal strain tensor
Derivation of the physical interpretation of the Lagrangian and Eulerian finite strain tensors
The stretch ratio for the differential element
material point

where

(Figure) in the direction of the unit vector

at the

, in the undeformed configuration, is defined as

is the deformed magnitude of the differential element

Similarly, the stretch ratio for the differential element

the material point

, in the deformed configuration, is defined as

The square of the stretch ratio is defined as

.
(Figure), in the direction of the unit vector

at

Finite strain theory

13

Knowing that

we have

where

and

are unit vectors.

The normal strain or engineering strain

Thus, the normal strain in the direction

solving for

in any direction

can be expressed as a function of the stretch ratio,

at the material point

we have

The shear strain, or change in angle between two line elements

in the principal directions

and

and

initially perpendicular, and oriented

, respectivelly, can also be expressed as a function of the stretch ratio. From the

dot product between the deformed lines

where

may be expressed in terms of the stretch ratio as

is the angle between the lines

and

and

we have

in the deformed configuration. Defining

strain or reduction in the angle between two line elements that were originally perpendicular, we have

thus,

then

or

as the shear

Finite strain theory

14

Deformation tensors in curvilinear coordinates

A representation of deformation tensors in curvilinear coordinates is useful for many problems in continuum
mechanics such as nonlinear shell theories and large plastic deformations. Let
be a given
deformation where the space is characterized by the coordinates
curve

at

. The tangent vector to the coordinate

is given by

The three tangent vectors at

form a basis. These vectors are related the reciprocal basis vectors by

Let us define a field

The Christoffel symbols of the first kind can be expressed as

To see how the Christoffel symbols are related to the Right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor let us define two sets
of bases

The deformation gradient in curvilinear coordinates

Using the definition of the gradient of a vector field in curvilinear coordinates, the deformation gradient can be
written as

The right Cauchy-Green tensor in curvilinear coordinates

The right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor is given by

If we express

in terms of components with respect to the basis {

} we have

Therefore

and the Christoffel symbol of the first kind may be written in the following form.

Finite strain theory

15

Some relations between deformation measures and Christoffel symbols

Let us consider a one-to-one mapping from

to

there exist two positive definite, symmetric second-order tensor fields

Then,

Noting that

and

we have

Define

Hence

Define

Then

Define the Christoffel symbols of the second kind as

Then

and let us assume that

and

that satisfy

Finite strain theory

16

Therefore

The invertibility of the mapping implies that

We can also formulate a similar result in terms of derivatives with respect to

. Therefore

Compatibility conditions
The problem of compatibility in continuum mechanics involves the determination of allowable single-valued
continuous fields on bodies. These allowable conditions leave the body without unphysical gaps or overlaps after a
deformation. Most such conditions apply to simply-connected bodies. Additional conditions are required for the
internal boundaries of multiply connected bodies.

Compatibility of the deformation gradient

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a compatible

field over a simply connected body are

Finite strain theory

17

Compatibility of the right Cauchy-Green deformation tensor

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a compatible

field over a simply connected body are

We can show these are the mixed components of the Riemann-Christoffel curvature tensor. Therefore the necessary
conditions for
-compatibility are that the Riemann-Christoffel curvature of the deformation is zero.

Compatibility of the left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor

No general sufficiency conditions are known for the left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor in three-dimensions.
Compatibility conditions for two-dimensional
fields have been found by Janet Blume.[8][9]

References
[1] A. Yavari, J.E. Marsden, and M. Ortiz, On spatial and material covariant balance laws in elasticity, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 47,
2006, 042903; pp. 1-53.
[2] The IUPAC recommends that this tensor be called the Cauchy strain tensor.
[3] A. Kaye, R. F. T. Stepto, W. J. Work, J. V. Aleman (Spain), A. Ya. Malkin (1998). "Definition of terms relating to the non-ultimate
mechanical properties of polymers" (http:/ / old. iupac. org/ reports/ 1998/ 7003kaye/ index. html). Pure & Appl. Chem 70 (3): 701754. .
[4] Eduardo N. Dvorkin, Marcela B. Goldschmit, 2006 Nonlinear Continua (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=MVqa05_2QmAC&
pg=PA25), p. 25, Springer ISBN 3-540-24985-0.
[5] The IUPAC recommends that this tensor be called the Green strain tensor.
[6] Jirsek,Milan; Baant, Z. P. (2002) Inelastic analysis of structures (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=8mz-xPdvH00C& pg=PA463),
Wiley, p. 463 ISBN 0-471-98716-6
[7] J. N. Reddy, David K. Gartling (2000) The finite element method in heat transfer and fluid dynamics (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=sv0VKLL5lWUC& pg=PA317), p. 317, CRC Press ISBN 1-4200-8598-0.
[8] Blume, J. A. (1989). "Compatibility conditions for a left Cauchy-Green strain field". J. Elasticity 21: 271308. doi:10.1007/BF00045780.
[9] Acharya, A. (1999). "On Compatibility Conditions for the Left CauchyGreen Deformation Field in Three Dimensions" (http:/ / imechanica.
org/ files/ B-compatibility. pdf). Journal of Elasticity 56 (2): 95105. doi:10.1023/A:1007653400249. .

Further reading
Dill, Ellis Harold (2006). Continuum Mechanics: Elasticity, Plasticity, Viscoelasticity (http://books.google.
com/?id=Nn4kztfbR3AC). Germany: CRC Press. ISBN0-8493-9779-0.
Dimitrienko, Yuriy (2011). Nonlinear Continuum Mechanics and Large Inelastic Deformations (http://books.
google.com/books?as_isbn=9789400700338). Germany: Springer. ISBN978-94-007-0033-8.
Hutter, Kolumban; Klaus Jhnk (2004). Continuum Methods of Physical Modeling (http://books.google.com/
?id=B-dxx724YD4C). Germany: Springer. ISBN3-540-20619-1.
Lubarda, Vlado A. (2001). Elastoplasticity Theory (http://books.google.com/?id=1P0LybL4oAgC). CRC
Press. ISBN0-8493-1138-1.
Lubliner, Jacob (2008). Plasticity Theory (Revised Edition) (http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/plas/pdf/
book.pdf). Dover Publications. ISBN0-486-46290-0.
Macosko, C. W. (1994). Rheology: principles, measurement and applications. VCH Publishers.
ISBN1-56081-579-5.
Mase, George E. (1970). Continuum Mechanics (http://books.google.com/?id=bAdg6yxC0xUC).
McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN0-07-040663-4.
Mase, G. Thomas; George E. Mase (1999). Continuum Mechanics for Engineers (http://books.google.com/
?id=uI1ll0A8B_UC) (Second ed.). CRC Press. ISBN0-8493-1855-6.
Nemat-Nasser, Sia (2006). Plasticity: A Treatise on Finite Deformation of Heterogeneous Inelastic Materials
(http://books.google.com/?id=5nO78Rt0BtMC). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Finite strain theory

ISBN0-521-83979-3.
Rees, David (2006). Basic Engineering Plasticity An Introduction with Engineering and Manufacturing
Applications (http://books.google.com/?id=4KWbmn_1hcYC). Butterworth-Heinemann.
ISBN0-7506-8025-3.

External links
Prof. Amit Acharya's notes on compatibility on iMechanica (http://www.imechanica.org/node/3786)

18

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Finite strain theory Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=532985035 Contributors: 1ForTheMoney, Alex Bakharev, Bbanerje, BenFrantzDale, CBM, Charles Matthews,
Davidtwu, Dhollm, Dustimagic, Ejwong, Ferriwheel, Giftlite, GoingBatty, Hillman, Huphelmeyer, Jbergquist, Jeberth, Lantonov, Luc.stpierre, M-le-mot-dit, Mackheln, Mad scientist03, Mark
viking, Materialscientist, Mbell, Mebmeprof, Michael Hardy, Michaelthomaspetralia, Nachiketgokhale, Nicoguaro, Orubt, Pearle, RDT2, Rich Farmbrough, Roche398, Sanpaz, SchreiberBike,
Siddhant, Sxp151, Venkatezh, Wn0g, 61 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Displacement of a continuum.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Displacement_of_a_continuum.svg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors: Displacement_of_a_continuum.png: Sanpaz derivative work: Nicoguaro (talk)
File:Deformation.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Deformation.png License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Sanpaz
File:Polar decomposition of F.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Polar_decomposition_of_F.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Sanpaz

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

19