Reuss elastic approximation 2026-10-14
The Reuss elastic approximation assumes uniform stress. The local strain is the derivative of the convex conjugate ; its mean is . Under invertible differentiable duality, this mean determines . For positive linear elasticity, . Uniform stress is generally not accompanied by a compatible local displacement field, so this approximation is distinguished from an exact heterogeneous solution.
Second moment of area 2026-10-06
The second moment of area of a cross-section about an axis is , where is the perpendicular distance from that axis. Its dimensions are length to the fourth power. For a circular section of radius , polar integration gives . A slender rod with Young's modulus has filament bending modulus : the axial strain caused by curvature is , and integrating the linear elasticity energy density over the section gives per unit length.
Spectral strain measure 2026-10-14
For a right stretch tensor , define . A standard normalized choice has , , and strictly increasing; requiring gives a nonsingular stretch-to-strain parameterization. This strain vanishes exactly for a rigid rotation, is independent of superposed spatial rotations, and agrees to first order with the infinitesimal symmetric displacement gradient. Indeed gives , and Taylor expansion of proves the last statement.
Twofold elastic symmetry 2026-10-14
A rotation through about the third coordinate axis preserves the strain components and reverses . A symmetry-invariant elastic stiffness tensor cannot couple the two parity spaces. Its independent symmetric blocks therefore contain coefficients. A twofold axis alone does not impose invariance under every rotation about that axis.
Voigt elastic approximation 2026-10-14
The Voigt elastic approximation assumes uniform strain. Differentiating its averaged strain energy density gives the averaged local stress. For linear elasticity the predicted elastic stiffness tensor is . The uniform strain is an admissible affine displacement trial field, so this gives an upper elastic energy bound for convex local energy.
Work-conjugate stress and strain 2026-10-14
A stress measure is work-conjugate to a strain measure when their contraction gives the mechanical power per specified volume for every admissible deformation rate. The reference-volume power is , with Kirchhoff stress tensor and rate-of-strain tensor . A strain constraint can leave the conjugate stress undetermined by a reaction component that does no admissible work; uniqueness should therefore not be assumed on a restricted set of rates.
Young's modulus 2026-10-05
Young's modulus is the ratio of axial stress to axial strain in uniaxial linear elasticity. For an isotropic plate, the bending rigidity is , with thickness and Poisson's ratio .