Elastic filament

An elastic filament is a slender elastic body modeled by a centerline and bending rigidities. Its elastic energy penalizes curvature. In a small-deflection representation $(x,y(x),z(x))$, the bending energy is quadratic in $y^{\prime \prime }$ and $z^{\prime \prime }$. Compression can cause Euler buckling of an elastic filament.

An elastic rod is a slender elastic body represented by a centreline and an attached orthonormal director frame. Its elastic energy penalizes stretching, bending and twisting relative to a preferred configuration. The director kinematics of a rod describe changes of the frame along the centreline. An unshearable elastic rod has its third director parallel to the centreline tangent vector.

An inextensible rod preserves material arc length, so its stretch ratio is one. In an unshearable elastic rod, $d\mathbf{r}/dS={\mathbf{d}}_3$ for reference arc length $S$.

For planar director kinematics of a rod measured in reference arc length $S$, define the signed bending strain by $d{\mathbf{d}}_3/dS=u{\mathbf{d}}_1$. If $s$ is current arc length and $\alpha =ds/dS>0$ is the stretch ratio, the signed spatial curvature is $u/\alpha$: the chain rule gives $d{\mathbf{d}}_3/ds=(u/\alpha ){\mathbf{d}}_1$. Thus bending strain and spatial curvature coincide for an inextensible rod, but differ in general. An intrinsic value $\hat{u}$ is the preferred reference-length bending strain in an energy density $B(u-\hat{u}{)}^2/2$ per unit reference length.

A right-handed orthonormal frame attached to the cross-sections of an elastic rod. For an unshearable elastic rod, ${\mathbf{d}}_3$ is the unit tangent vector to its centreline, while ${\mathbf{d}}_1$ and ${\mathbf{d}}_2$ follow the orientation of its material cross-section. Unlike a frame constructed only from the centreline curvature, the material frame records the twist of the material about the tangent.

For a differentiable material frame of a rod, there is a unique vector $\mathbf{u}$ such that ${\mathbf{d}}_i^{\prime }=\mathbf{u}\times {\mathbf{d}}_i$. To see this, form the orthogonal matrix $R=({\mathbf{d}}_1,{\mathbf{d}}_2,{\mathbf{d}}_3)$. Differentiation of $R{R}^T=I$ shows that $R^{\prime }{R}^T$ is a skew-symmetric matrix; every three-dimensional skew-symmetric matrix has the unique form $\mathbf{v}\mapsto \mathbf{u}\times \mathbf{v}$. Primes may denote differentiation with respect to reference or current arc length, but that choice must be stated. In a planar bend about ${\mathbf{d}}_2$, reference differentiation gives ${\mathbf{d}}_3^{\prime }=u{\mathbf{d}}_1$ and ${\mathbf{d}}_1^{\prime }=-u{\mathbf{d}}_3$.

For an isotropic elastic rod with shear modulus $G_s$, polar second moment of area $J_p$, and twist rate $\Omega$, the torque is $C\Omega$ and the energy per length is $C{\Omega }^2/2$. For a circular section of radius $r$, $J_p=\pi r^4/2$. This material twist stiffness is distinct from the energy of bending filament centerlines into a helix.

The intrinsic signed curvature is the curvature of a stress-free filament, measured along material arc length. An elastic filament with actual curvature $\kappa$ stores bending energy $\frac{B}{2}\int (\kappa -{\kappa }_0{)}^{2}ds$, with filament bending modulus $B$. In a planar small-slope Monge representation, $\kappa \simeq {\zeta }^{\prime \prime }$ and the leading energy is quadratic in ${\zeta }^{\prime \prime }-{\kappa }_0$.

Moment-free ends require ${\zeta }^{\prime \prime }={\kappa }_0$ there, so a highly stretched finite filament can retain curvature in boundary layers of width $\ell =\sqrt{B/F}$. For constant intrinsic curvature $\kappa$, zero transverse end forces give slope ${\zeta }^{\prime }(x)=\kappa \ell \sinh [(x-L/2)/\ell ]/\cosh [L/(2\ell )]$. Direct integration yieldsIts large-force deficit is ${\kappa }^2{\ell }^3/2$, of order $F^{-3/2}$, even though the smooth bulk curvature derivative vanishes. This shows why endpoint assumptions matter in force-extension of an intrinsically curved filament.

For a planar elastic filament under positive constant extension force $F$, the quadratic force-controlled energy isThe higher-order Euler-Lagrange equation is $B{\zeta }^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }-F{\zeta }^{\prime \prime }=B{\kappa }_0^{\prime \prime }$. On a periodic interval or in a bulk Fourier transform treatment, every nonzero mode obeys the displayed transfer relation. The length deficit is $\frac{1}{2}\int ({\zeta }^{\prime }{)}^{2}dx$, so its ensemble value is determined by the power spectrum of the quenched intrinsic curvature. Boundary conditions must be specified for a finite filament.

For a stationary quenched intrinsic curvature with power spectrum $S_{\kappa }(q)$ and finite second spectral moment, the bulk deficit satisfiesThe moment is $⟨({\kappa }_0^{\prime }{)}^2⟩$ for mean-square differentiable curvature. Infinite-moment disorder and finite endpoint boundary layers can change the exponent, so this is a smooth bulk law rather than a universal law for all random polymers.

Quenched intrinsic curvature of an elastic filament is fixed during a mechanical experiment, although different filaments can have different random intrinsic shapes. Ensemble averaging is then over these shapes after mechanical minimization. It differs from averaging over time-dependent thermal bending fluctuations in a worm-like chain.

Adding $\frac{1}{2}\int \sigma (x)(h^{\prime }{)}^{2}dx$ to the quadratic bending energy of an elastic filament contributes $-(\sigma h^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }$ to its variational derivative. The endpoint term is $A{h}^{\prime \prime }{\eta }^{\prime }+(\sigma h^{\prime }-A{h}^{\prime \prime \prime })\eta$. If the real filament tension vanishes at both ends, the usual self-adjoint endpoint conditions for filament bending remain valid. A complete eigenfunction expansion diagonalizes the energy even when the eigenfunctions have no explicit formula. Thermal equipartition theorem arguments require positive eigenvalues after fixing any kernel; strong compression can violate this requirement.

For a positive quadratic bending operator $K$ with a real orthonormal basis of eigenfunctions, the equipartition theorem gives $C(x,y)=k_{B}T{\sum }_n{W}_n(x)W_n(y)/{\mu }_n$, where $K{W}_n={\mu }_n{W}_n$. This is the inverse-operator Green function multiplied by Boltzmann constant and temperature. Unconstrained zero-energy filament modes prevent a normalizable canonical ensemble, and negative modes signal an unstable quadratic model.

For both ends clamped and $K=A{\partial }_x^4$, the diagonal is $C(x,x)=k_{B}T{x}^3(L-x{)}^3/(3A{L}^3)$. This differs from a clamped-free tip variance. The center variance is $k_{B}T{L}^3/(192A)$.

Free bending has two zero-energy filament modes, so it does not define an unrestricted normalizable thermal height distribution. Fix the mean displacement and linear tilt, or project out that affine kernel. On the positive complement, the equipartition theorem gives independent Gaussian mode variances $k_{B}T/(A{k}_n^4)$ for normalized modes. The resulting covariance is the bending operator pseudoinverse multiplied by $k_{B}T$. It depends on how the rigid motion is fixed.

The quadratic bending energy makes curvature a white noise field in the generalized thermal description. Integrate it twice, then subtract the affine least-squares projection to fix translation and tilt. With $u=x/L$ and $t=s/L$, the dimensionless kernel is $(u-t{)}_{+}-(1-t{)}^2/2-(1-3t^2+2t^3)(u-1/2)$. Its second spatial derivative is the source delta and its mean and first moment are zero. Its squared integral yields the free-filament variance with fixed translation and tilt.

For the frame fixed by zero mean height and zero first height moment, the variance profile is $P(u)=1/105-11u/105+13u^2/35-u^3/3-u^4/3+3u^5/5-u^6/5$. It obeys $P(1-u)=P(u)$, $P(0)=1/105$ and $P(1/2)=1/320$. Integrating a white noise curvature field twice, subtracting its affine projection and integrating the squared kernel proves the profile. These free-end conditions must not be confused with physically clamping the ends.

A zero-energy mode lies in the kernel of the quadratic elastic filament operator. For pure bending, zero curvature makes the displacement affine. Free-free endpoints therefore leave translation and tilt modes, while slope-constrained, force-free endpoints leave only translation. Both clamped-clamped and hinged-hinged endpoints remove these modes. An unrestricted modal amplitude has constant Boltzmann distribution weight, so no normalizable canonical ensemble or finite displacement variance exists. Fixing the rigid degrees of freedom allows the equipartition theorem on the positive complement.

A normal mode of a uniformly bending elastic filament fixed in position and slope at both ends satisfies $W^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }=k^{4}W$. With $\beta =kL>0$, the allowed wavenumbers solve $\cos \beta \cosh \beta =1$. The first root is $4.730040745$ and ${\beta }_n=(n+\frac{1}{2})\pi +O(e^{-(n+1/2)\pi })$ for $n\ge 1$. The apparent root at zero is not an eigenfunction: the zero-eigenvalue cubic polynomial satisfying all four clamped boundary conditions is identically zero. This spectrum differs from that of a filament clamped only at one end.

For the elastic filament operator $K=A{\partial }_x^4$, two integration by parts operations give boundary form $A[\overline{u}{v}^{\prime \prime \prime }-\overline{u^{\prime }}{v}^{\prime \prime }+\overline{u^{\prime \prime }}{v}^{\prime }-\overline{u^{\prime \prime \prime }}v]$. Four elementary homogeneous choices at each endpoint are $h=h^{\prime }=0$ (clamped), $h=h^{\prime \prime }=0$ (hinged), $h^{\prime \prime }=h^{\prime \prime \prime }=0$ (free), and $h^{\prime }=h^{\prime \prime \prime }=0$ (slope-constrained and transverse-force-free). Each defines a self-adjoint operator on a finite interval when imposed at both ends. More general real Robin boundary conditions also give self-adjointness; the four choices are not an exhaustive classification of all boundary subspaces.

Variation of the small-slope bending energy of an elastic filament gives endpoint work $A[h^{(2)}\delta h^{(1)}-h^{(3)}\delta h]$. Arbitrary endpoint displacement and slope variations force the bending moment and transverse force to vanish. These are $h^{(2)}=h^{(3)}=0$. They define a self-adjoint nonnegative fourth-order bending operator on a finite interval; its kernel contains rigid translation and tilt.

Nonzero bending modes have the sine, cosine, hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine form. Free conditions at the first end identify the cosine and hyperbolic cosine coefficients, and likewise the sine coefficients. The remaining boundary determinant is $2(1-\cos q\cosh q)$. Its first positive roots are about $4.73004,7.85320,10.99561$. The complete basis additionally includes two zero-energy filament modes, constant translation and affine tilt; these are absent from the finite-coefficient formula at $k=0$.

Writing the characteristic equation with reciprocal hyperbolic cosine avoids exponentially large products. For the positive roots indexed from one, $q_n=(n+1/2)\pi +2(-1{)}^{n+1}{e}^{-(n+1/2)\pi }+O(e^{-2(n+1/2)\pi })$. The apparent root at zero represents the separate affine kernel, not another positive bending mode. Evaluating hyperbolic pieces of high modes with decaying exponential forms also avoids cancellation.

For a clamped elastic filament of filament bending modulus $A$, a transverse tip force $f$ gives $h(x)=f{x}^2(3L-x)/(6A)$ in the small-slope model. Thus $h(L)/f=L^3/(3A)$. This differs from the effective tip stiffness under a distributed load. The zero-load Gaussian response reproduces the thermal bending fluctuations of a clamped filament, $⟨h(L{)}^2⟩=k_{B}T{L}^3/(3A)$ for one transverse coordinate.