 Quadratic longitudinal displacement of an inextensible planar filament

Write a small planar displacement in arclength coordinates as $X=s+X_2$ and $Y=y$. The inextensibility relation $X_s^2+Y_s^2=1$ gives $X_{2,s}=-y_s^2/2$ to quadratic order. Thus longitudinal material velocity enters one order later than the transverse velocity. For a periodic material stroke with no mean axial drift, its mean velocity vanishes, although its instantaneous contribution is needed for exact local force balance.