Hyperelastic energy well 2026-10-31
A hyperelastic energy well is a set of deformation gradients minimizing the stored-energy function at a fixed temperature. Material frame indifference makes each well invariant under left multiplication by proper rotations. A phase-changing crystal can have a single austenitic rotational well at high temperature and several martensitic wells below a transition. Continuous deformations cannot freely join arbitrary wells: planar interfaces require a rank-one connection between the selected gradients.
Use a temperature-dependent strain energy density with different minimizing deformation gradients in the two crystal phases. Above the transition temperature its wells describe austenite; below it the wells are unions of martensitic variants. Left rotational orbits reflect material frame indifference, while the crystal's discrete material symmetries relate the variants. Minimizing the integral of this elastic energy, together with loading and boundary constraints, models the change of lattice shape. Compatibility restricts which low-energy gradients can meet continuously; fine compatible mixtures can accommodate macroscopic boundary shapes.
For the jump condition, write the two affine pieces as and . Continuity on the interface means
Taking differences along the interface gives for every tangent vector with . Decompose any vector as . Then
With this proves
Conversely this rank-one connection permits continuity by choosing . A coherent twin interface is such a compatible planar boundary between different martensitic variants, possibly after a rigid rotation of one variant. The rank-one condition is therefore the geometric compatibility condition for a simple twin.
For the unrotated pair, direct subtraction gives
so is one solution, with reference interface normal .
Put , and . Since , the stated is a proper rotation. Multiplication gives
Here and . Consequently
This is the second rank-one connection, now with normal . Because , the two rotations are distinct. The permitted assertion that there are at most two proves completeness.
Finally suppose is rank-one connected to , with . Left multiplication of their difference by preserves rank and gives . The classification just proved forces to be either or , hence or . The two requested matrices are therefore
Their connections are explicit: the first was calculated above, and . If desired the second matrix is
Figure 1.
The two compatible twin interfaces have reference normals in different directions
. Details.
On each half-space the deformation is affine. Continuity on the separating plane makes the two affine constants equal and gives for every tangent vector . Decomposing any into its tangential part and gives
This is the Hadamard jump condition. Since , the matrix determinant lemma gives
Both determinants are positive, hence .
Write , , and . The two proposed angles have and , and . Therefore the displayed rotations lie in . Direct multiplication gives
This is a rank-one connection for each sign. With a unit normal one may choose and jump vector . The two rotations are distinct because ; the permitted at-most-two result therefore proves these are all solutions. Flipping both and changes no connection.
It remains to test the material plane. Because , the affine constants vanish. Let , so the plane is spanned by and . Both deformation gradients send to . If the plane is not the twin plane, it cuts the two half-spaces; its two image halves are coplanar exactly when the in-plane vectors and are parallel. Put and in their two-dimensional sections. Then
Its prefactor is nonzero, so coplanarity requires , precisely . Conversely, on that twin plane , so the two affine maps agree and its image is a plane. Thus . All other allowed planes acquire a kink along their intersection with the twin. This is the planarity test across a cubic-to-tetragonal twin.
Twin plane 2026-10-31
A twin plane is a compatible planar interface between differently oriented crystal variants. In a piecewise homogeneous elastic deformation its reference normal is the in a rank-one connection between the two variant deformation gradients. Continuity of the deformation holds along this plane even though its derivative changes. Other material planes crossing the interface can kink after deformation.