Strain at a point

When the relative position of any two points in a continuous body is changed the body is said to
deformed or strained. The analysis of strain is essentially a geometric problem and is unrelated to
the material properties. The specification of strain at a point is thus the same for elastic and
plastically deformed bodies.
Kinematics
Displacement

Strain

Figure 2.1: Kinematic description of a continuum body

Any configuration of the material particles can be used as a reference configuration. The
displacement is the vector by which a material particle moves relative to its position in the
reference configuration. If all the material particles in the body move by the same displacement
vector, the body as a whole moves by a rigid-body translation. If the material particles in the
body move relative to one another, the body deforms. For example, in a bending beam, material
particles on one face of the beam move apart from one another (tension), and material particles
on the other face of the beam move toward one another (compression). In a vibrating rod, the
displacement of each material particle is a function of time.
Normal and Shear Strains
y

x
D1

D
C
y

u A
v
A

B1

Figure 2.2: Deformation of a continuum body under external stimuli.

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When a body is loaded and deforms, elements of that body elongate or contract and are distorted.
The quantity that we use to measure the changes of length occurring in the body is called the
normal strain. Under the external forces, displacement at every point with in the body constitutes
the displacement field,

and

in x and y directions for two dimensional

(see Figure 2.2). In the case of a three dimensional body, we have

in x, y, and z directions
Let the distances between points A and B and points A and D be

and

respectively. During

deformation (due to external loads), the point A deformed with displacement components u and
v in x and y directions respectively. The relative displacement of new deformed body can be
calculated using Taylor series expansion, as
(We assume small strain approximation
where

is the slope of u surface in the

direction

The axial strain in the x-direction is, by definition the strain = change in original length/original
length
for small angle approximation

we know that

and

where

The axial strain in the y-direction is,

for small angle approximation

we know that

and

where

In addition to changes of length occurring in the body, there are distortions (changes of angle,
see Figure 2.3) which also must be characterized. The shear strain will be the quantity we use to
define these changes.

D1 D2 D
D
y

D
1

A
A

D1 D2 D

C
B y
B2
B

B1

A
A

C
B
B2
B

B1

Figure 2.3: Shear deformation of a continuum body

Change in two orthogonal directions

For small angle

Since

and

Sum of cross derivatives

Base on geometry of deformation, we can say that the shear strain

. The shear strain is

positive when the right angle between two positive (or negative) axes decreases

So in 2-D

The engineering shear strain is related to the longitudinal shear strain as

.With this

new definition, we can write the six strain-displacement relations neatly as

For a body in the three-dimensional space, the strain state of a material particle is described by a
total of six components. The strains relate to the displacements as

The strain tensor,

, is also symmetric

Finally in a tensorial notation

Lagrangian strain is computed from deformation by using the original undeformed geometry as
the reference geometry. Eulerian strain is computed from deformation by using the final
deformed geometry as the reference geometry.
Example 2.1: Calculate the strain tensor at a point P, using displacement field given by a vector

Assumptions:
1) small strain approximation
2) isotropic material
3) continuous displacement field

Let us evaluate at point

Engineering strains

Longitudinal strains

Equation of Compatibility
The concept of compatibility has both mathematical and physical significance. Mathematically,
displacement fields,

and

are single-valued and

continuous functions. Physically, the body must be pieced together; no voids are created in the
deformed body. The strain tensor,

In the case of plane strain condition, the strain tensor is

These can be viewed as a system of 3 equations for the 2 unknown functions

when the s trains are given functions of , and . With three equations for the two unknowns ,
and

, we need additional conditions imposed on the strain components if we are to have a

unique u, and v. If we differentiate

with respect to
,

and

twice with respect to ,

twice with respect to , and

results in
and

Relative displacement tensor and rotation tensor

During deformation body experiences both stretching and rigid body motion. We wish to isolate
this rigid body motion as it plays no part in the analysis of strain.
y

x
z

Figure 2.4: Deformation of a continuum body under external loads.

The strain tensor,

We will now decomposed the strain tensor into deformation tensor and rigid body rotation
Distance between PQ is
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Displacement components at any point the body is

Displacement of point P

and

and

We can write displacement of point Q with respect to P as

Using Taylor series expansion

We assume small strain approximation

Change in displacement

Relative displacement tensor

Affine transformation

P moves in

direction by

Q moves in

direction by

If we just have rigid body rotation

We have

For rigid body rotation we have

Since

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We know that
That implies, rigid body rotation conditions are

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