Main menu

Search

• Donate

• Create account

• Log in

Personal tools

Contents

hide

(Top)

Infinitesimal strain tensor

Toggle Infinitesimal strain tensor subsection

o
Geometric derivation

Physical interpretation

Strain transformation rules

Strain invariants

Principal strains

Volumetric strain

Strain deviator tensor

Octahedral strains

Equivalent strain

Compatibility equations

Special cases
Toggle Special cases subsection

Plane strain

Antiplane strain

Relation to infinitesimal rotation tensor

Toggle Relation to infinitesimal rotation tensor subsection

The axial vector

Relation between the strain tensor and the rotation vector

Relation between rotation tensor and rotation vector

Strain tensor in non-Cartesian coordinates

Toggle Strain tensor in non-Cartesian coordinates subsection

Strain tensor in cylindrical coordinates

Strain tensor in spherical coordinates

See also
 •

References

External links

Infinitesimal strain theory

4 languages

• Article

• Talk

• Read

• Edit

• View history

Tools

Appearance

hide

Text

•
Small

Standard

Large

Width

Standard

Wide

Color (beta)

Automatic

Light

Dark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks

sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help
to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August
2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on

Continuum mechanics

Fick's laws of diffusion

show

Laws

hide

Solid mechanics

• Deformation

• Elasticity

o linear

• Plasticity

• Hooke's law
 • Stress

• Strain

o Finite strain

o Infinitesimal strain

• Compatibility

• Bending

• Contact mechanics

o frictional

• Material failure theory

• Fracture mechanics

show

Fluid mechanics

show

Rheology

show

Scientists

• v

• t

• e

In continuum mechanics, the infinitesimal strain theory is a mathematical approach to the

description of the deformation of a solid body in which the displacements of the
material particles are assumed to be much smaller (indeed, infinitesimally smaller) than any
relevant dimension of the body; so that its geometry and the constitutive properties of the
material (such as density and stiffness) at each point of space can be assumed to be
unchanged by the deformation.

With this assumption, the equations of continuum mechanics are considerably simplified. This
approach may also be called small deformation theory, small displacement theory, or small
displacement-gradient theory. It is contrasted with the finite strain theory where the opposite
assumption is made.

The infinitesimal strain theory is commonly adopted in civil and mechanical engineering for
the stress analysis of structures built from relatively stiff elastic materials
like concrete and steel, since a common goal in the design of such structures is to minimize
their deformation under typical loads. However, this approximation demands caution in the
case of thin flexible bodies, such as rods, plates, and shells which are susceptible to significant
rotations, thus making the results unreliable.[1]
Infinitesimal strain tensor

[edit]

For infinitesimal deformations of a continuum body, in which the displacement gradient

tensor (2nd order tensor) is small compared to unity, i.e. , it is possible to perform a
geometric linearization of any one of the finite strain tensors used in finite strain theory, e.g.

the Lagrangian finite strain tensor , and the Eulerian finite strain tensor . In such a
linearization, the non-linear or second-order terms of the finite strain tensor are neglected. Thus
we have

or and or

This linearization implies that the Lagrangian description and the Eulerian description are
approximately the same as there is little difference in the material and spatial coordinates of a
given material point in the continuum. Therefore, the material displacement gradient
tensor components and the spatial displacement gradient tensor components are

approximately equal. Thus we have or where are the components of

the infinitesimal strain tensor , also called Cauchy's strain tensor, linear strain tensor,
or small strain tensor.

or using different notation:

Furthermore, since the deformation gradient can be expressed as where is the

second-order identity tensor, we have

Also, from the general expression for the Lagrangian and Eulerian finite strain tensors we have

Geometric derivation

[edit]
 Figure 1. Two-dimensional
geometric deformation of an infinitesimal material element.

Consider a two-dimensional deformation of an infinitesimal rectangular material element with

dimensions by (Figure 1), which after deformation, takes the form of a rhombus.
From the geometry of Figure 1 we have

For very small displacement gradients, i.e., , we have

The normal strain in the -direction of the rectangular element is defined by and

knowing that , we have

Similarly, the normal strain in the -direction, and -direction, becomes

The engineering shear strain, or the change in angle between two originally orthogonal material

lines, in this case line and , is defined as

From the geometry of Figure 1 we have

For small rotations, i.e., and are we have and, again, for small

displacement gradients, we have thus By

interchanging and and and , it can be shown that .

Similarly, for the - and - planes, we have

It can be seen that the tensorial shear strain components of the infinitesimal strain tensor can

then be expressed using the engineering strain definition, , as

Physical interpretation

[edit]

From finite strain theory we have

For infinitesimal strains then we have

Dividing by we have

For small deformations we assume that , thus the second term of the left hand side

becomes: .

Then we have where , is the unit vector in the direction of , and the left-hand-side

expression is the normal strain in the direction of . For the particular case of in

the direction, i.e., , we have

Similarly, for and we can find the normal strains and , respectively.
Therefore, the diagonal elements of the infinitesimal strain tensor are the normal strains in the
coordinate directions.

Strain transformation rules

[edit]

If we choose an orthonormal coordinate system ( ) we can write the tensor in terms of

components with respect to those base vectors as In matrix form, We can easily

choose to use another orthonormal coordinate system ( ) instead. In that case the

components of the tensor are different, say The components of the strain in the two

coordinate systems are related by where the Einstein summation convention for repeated

indices has been used and . In matrix form or

Strain invariants
[edit]

Certain operations on the strain tensor give the same result without regard to which
orthonormal coordinate system is used to represent the components of strain. The results of
these operations are called strain invariants. The most commonly used strain invariants are

In terms of components

Principal strains

[edit]

It can be shown that it is possible to find a coordinate system ( ) in which the components

of the strain tensor are The components of the strain tensor in the ( ) coordinate

system are called the principal strains and the directions are called the directions of
principal strain. Since there are no shear strain components in this coordinate system, the
principal strains represent the maximum and minimum stretches of an elemental volume.

If we are given the components of the strain tensor in an arbitrary orthonormal coordinate
system, we can find the principal strains using an eigenvalue decomposition determined by

solving the system of equations This system of equations is equivalent to finding the

vector along which the strain tensor becomes a pure stretch with no shear component.

Volumetric strain

[edit]

The volumetric strain, also called bulk strain, is the relative variation of the volume, as arising

from dilation or compression; it is the first strain invariant or trace of the tensor: Actually, if
we consider a cube with an edge length a, it is a quasi-cube after the deformation (the

variations of the angles do not change the volume) with the dimensions and V0 = a3, thus

as we consider small deformations, therefore the formula.

In case of pure shear, we can see that there is no change of the volume.

Strain deviator tensor

[edit]

The infinitesimal strain tensor , similarly to the Cauchy stress tensor, can be expressed as
the sum of two other tensors:

1. a mean strain tensor or volumetric strain tensor or spherical strain tensor, ,

related to dilation or volume change; and

2. a deviatoric component called the strain deviator tensor, , related to distortion.

where is the mean strain given by

The deviatoric strain tensor can be obtained by subtracting the mean strain tensor from the

infinitesimal strain tensor:

Octahedral strains

[edit]
Let ( ) be the directions of the three principal strains. An octahedral plane is one whose
normal makes equal angles with the three principal directions. The engineering shear strain on

an octahedral plane is called the octahedral shear strain and is given by where are
the principal strains.[citation needed]

The normal strain on an octahedral plane is given by [citation needed]

Equivalent strain

[edit]

A scalar quantity called the equivalent strain, or the von Mises equivalent strain, is often used
to describe the state of strain in solids. Several definitions of equivalent strain can be found in

the literature. A definition that is commonly used in the literature on plasticity is This

quantity is work conjugate to the equivalent stress defined as

Compatibility equations

[edit]

Main article: Compatibility (mechanics)

For prescribed strain components the strain tensor equation represents a system of

six differential equations for the determination of three displacements components , giving
an over-determined system. Thus, a solution does not generally exist for an arbitrary choice of
strain components. Therefore, some restrictions, named compatibility equations, are imposed
upon the strain components. With the addition of the three compatibility equations the number
of independent equations are reduced to three, matching the number of unknown displacement
components. These constraints on the strain tensor were discovered by Saint-Venant, and are
called the "Saint Venant compatibility equations".

The compatibility functions serve to assure a single-valued continuous displacement

function . If the elastic medium is visualised as a set of infinitesimal cubes in the

unstrained state, after the medium is strained, an arbitrary strain tensor may not yield a
situation in which the distorted cubes still fit together without overlapping.

In index notation, the compatibility equations are expressed as

In engineering notation,

•
 •

•
Special cases

[edit]

Plane strain

[edit]

Plane strain
state in a continuum.

In real engineering components, stress (and strain) are 3-D tensors but in prismatic structures
such as a long metal billet, the length of the structure is much greater than the other two

dimensions. The strains associated with length, i.e., the normal strain and the shear

strains and (if the length is the 3-direction) are constrained by nearby material and
are small compared to the cross-sectional strains. Plane strain is then an acceptable

approximation. The strain tensor for plane strain is written as: in which the double
underline indicates a second order tensor. This strain state is called plane strain. The

corresponding stress tensor is: in which the non-zero is needed to maintain the

constraint . This stress term can be temporarily removed from the analysis to leave only the
in-plane terms, effectively reducing the 3-D problem to a much simpler 2-D problem.

Antiplane strain

[edit]
Main article: Antiplane shear

Antiplane strain is another special state of strain that can occur in a body, for instance in a

region close to a screw dislocation. The strain tensor for antiplane strain is given by

Relation to infinitesimal rotation tensor

[edit]

See also: Spin tensor (mechanics)

The infinitesimal strain tensor is defined as Therefore the displacement gradient can be

expressed as where The quantity is the infinitesimal rotation

tensor or infinitesimal angular displacement tensor (related to the infinitesimal rotation
matrix). This tensor is skew symmetric. For infinitesimal deformations the scalar components

of satisfy the condition . Note that the displacement gradient is small only if both the
strain tensor and the rotation tensor are infinitesimal.

The axial vector

[edit]

A skew symmetric second-order tensor has three independent scalar components. These three

components are used to define an axial vector, , as follows where is

the permutation symbol. In matrix form The axial vector is also called the infinitesimal

rotation vector. The rotation vector is related to the displacement gradient by the relation

In index notation If and then the material undergoes an approximate rigid body

rotation of magnitude around the vector .

Relation between the strain tensor and the rotation vector

[edit]

Given a continuous, single-valued displacement field and the corresponding infinitesimal

strain tensor , we have (see Tensor derivative (continuum mechanics)) Since a change

in the order of differentiation does not change the result, . Therefore Also Hence

Relation between rotation tensor and rotation vector

[edit]
From an important identity regarding the curl of a tensor we know that for a continuous, single-

valued displacement field , Since we have

Strain tensor in non-Cartesian coordinates

[edit]

Strain tensor in cylindrical coordinates

[edit]

In cylindrical polar coordinates ( ), the displacement vector can be written as The

components of the strain tensor in a cylindrical coordinate system are given by:[2]

Strain tensor in spherical coordinates

[edit]

Spherical coordinates (r, θ, φ) as commonly used

in physics: radial distance r, polar angle θ (theta), and azimuthal angle φ (phi). The
symbol ρ (rho) is often used instead of r.

In spherical coordinates ( ), the displacement vector can be written as The

components of the strain tensor in a spherical coordinate system are given by [2]

See also

[edit]

• Deformation (mechanics)

• Compatibility (mechanics)

• Stress tensor

• Strain gauge

• Elasticity tensor

• Stress–strain curve
 • Hooke's law

• Poisson's ratio

• Finite strain theory

• Strain rate

• Plane stress

• Digital image correlation

References

[edit]

1. ^ Boresi, Arthur P. (Arthur Peter), 1924– (2003). Advanced mechanics of

materials. Schmidt, Richard J. (Richard Joseph), 1954– (6th ed.). New York: John
Wiley & Sons. p. 62. ISBN 1601199228. OCLC 430194205.

2. ^ Jump up to:a b Slaughter, William S. (2002). The Linearized Theory of Elasticity.

New York: Springer Science+Business Media. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-0093-
2. ISBN 9781461266082.

External links

[edit]

anches of physics

imals

• Adequality

• Leibniz's notation

• Integral symbol

• Criticism of nonstandard analysis

• The Analyst
 • The Method of Mechanical Theorems

• Cavalieri's principle

• Nonstandard analysis

• Nonstandard calculus

• Internal set theory

• Synthetic differential geometry

s
• Smooth infinitesimal analysis

• Constructive nonstandard analysis

• Infinitesimal strain theory (physics)

• Differentials

• Hyperreal numbers
zations
• Dual numbers

• Surreal numbers

• Standard part function

• Transfer principle

• Hyperinteger

• Increment theorem

• Monad

al • Internal set
s • Levi-Civita field

• Hyperfinite set

• Law of continuity

• Overspill

• Microcontinuity

• Transcendental law of homogeneity

• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

• Abraham Robinson
aticians
• Pierre de Fermat

• Augustin-Louis Cauchy
 • Leonhard Euler

• Analyse des Infiniment Petits

ks • Elementary Calculus

• Cours d'Analyse

Categories:

• Physical quantities

• Elasticity (physics)

• Materials science

• Solid mechanics

• Mechanics

• This page was last edited on 12 June 2024, at 05:02 (UTC).

• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License;

additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-
profit organization.

• Privacy policy

• About Wikipedia

• Disclaimers

• Contact Wikipedia

• Code of Conduct

• Developers

• Statistics

• Cookie statement

• Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation

•
Powered by MediaWiki

•
Search

Infinitesimal strain theory

4 languagesAdd topic