The Attainable Region of strain-invariant space for elastic materials

Within the theory of isothermal isotropic non-linear elasticity, the selection of the appropriate form for the strain energy function W in terms of the strain invariants is still an issue. The purpose of this paper is to introduce ideas and techniques which it is hoped will contribute to the task of finding an appropriate form for the strain energy. Three principal ideas are developed in this paper. Firstly, not all of invariant-space corresponds to real deformations. Constitutive equations only need to match real behaviour over a restricted part of invariant space, called the Attainable Region, bounded by states of deformation corresponding to uniaxial and equi-biaxial extension. Secondly, examples are given of how to exploit the fact that the Attainable Region is restricted. Mapping a deformation onto this region allows visualization of how close the deformation is to the well-understood uniaxial, equi-biaxial and simple shear deformations, and how this varies in space or time. Thirdly, acceptable strain invariants do not have to be obviously symmetric functions of the principal stretches. The ordered principal stretches are themselves invariants, and explicit unique algebraic expressions can be given through which the greatest, middle or least stretch can be calculated in terms of the usual invariants. Thus invariants can be chosen which are apparently non-symmetric functions of the ordered stretches.