Remarks on ellipticity for the generalized Blatz-Ko constitutive model for a compressible nonlinearly elastic solid

One of the most widely used constitutive models for compressible isotropic nonlinearly elastic solids is the generalized Blatz-Ko material for foam-rubber and its various specializations. For this model, a unified derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for ellipticity of the governing three-dimensional displacement equations of equilibrium is provided. When the parameterf occurring in the generalized Blatz-Ko model is in the range 0f<1, it is shown that ellipticity is always lost at sufficiently large stretches, while forf=1, the equilibrium equations are globally elliptic. The implications of these results for a variety of physical problems are discussed.     

End effects for plane deformations of an elastic anisotropic semi-infinite strip

In the linear theory of elasticity, Saint-Venant's principle is used to justify the neglect of edge effects when determining stresses in a body. For isotropic materials, the validity of this is well established. However for anisotropic and composite materials, experimental results have shown that edge effects may persist much farther into the material than for isotropic materials and as a result cannot be neglected. This paper further examines the effects of material anisotropy on the exponential decay rate for stresses in a semi-infinite elastic strip. A linearly elastic semi-infinite strip in a state of plane stress/strain subject to a self-equilibrated end load is considered first for a specially orthotropic material and then for the general anisotropic material. The problem is governed by a fourth-order elliptic partial differential equation with constant coefficients. In the former case, just a single dimensionless material parameter appears, while in the latter, only three dimensionless parameters are required. Energy methods are used to establish lower bounds on the actual stress decay rate. Both analytic and numerical estimates are obtained in terms of the elastic constants of the material and results are shown for several contemporary engineering materials. When compared with the exact stress decay rate computed numerically from the eigenvalues of a fourth-order ordinary differential equation, the results in some cases show a high degree of accuracy. In particular, for strongly orthotropic materials, an asymptotic estimate provides extremely accurate estimates for the decay rate. Results of the type obtained here have several important practical applications. For example, they provide physical insight into the mechanical testing of anisotropic and laminated composite structures (including the off-axis tension test), are useful in assessing the influence of fasteners, joints, etc. on the behavior of composite structures and allow for tailoring a material with specific properties to ensure that local stresses attenuate at a desired rate.     

Conservation properties for plane deformations of anisotropic linearly elastic curved strips

Plane deformations of a curved strip, composed of an homogeneous cylindrically anisotropic linearly elastic material, are considered. The strip is in equilibrium under the action of end loads, with the lateral sides traction-free. Two conservation properties for certain cross-sectional stress measures are established, generalizing previously known results for the case of a rectangular strip. Such conservation properties are useful in assessing the influence of material anisotropy on Saint-Venant's principle, as well as in establishing convexity properties for cross-sectional stress measures. In particular, it is anticipated that the results should be useful in determining the extent of edge effects in the testing of anisotropic and composite curved strips.     

On Stroh orthogonality relations: An alternative proof applicable to Lekhnitskii and Eshelby theories of an anisotropic body

This paper establishes that the Stroh orthogonality relations for an anisotropic body are a direct consequence of the fact that the system of equations of equilibrium is self-adjoint and positive definite. It is demonstrated that, assuming a complex representation of displacements and boundary tractions, the Betti theorem of reciprocity implies the orthogonality, and positive definiteness of strain energy implies the full rank of the normalization matrix, in the Stroh orthogonality relations. The presented proof is applicable to both the Lekhnitskii and Eshelby theories of an anisotropic body.     

Conservation properties for plane deformations of isotropic and anisotropic linearly elastic strips

Plane deformations of a rectangular strip, composed of an homogeneous fully anisotropic linearly elastic material, are considered. The strip is in equilibrium under the action of end loads, with the lateral sides traction-free. Two conservation properties for certain cross-sectional stress measures are established, generalizing previously known results for the isotropic case. It is noteworthy that in the first of these conservation laws only one of the off-axis elastic constants appears explicitly while in the second only the opposite off-axis constant appears explicitly. Such conservation properties are useful in assessing the influence of material anisotropy on Saint-Venant's principle, as well as in establishing convexity properties for cross-sectional stress measures. In particular, it is anticipated that the results should be useful in determining the extent of edge effects in the off-axis testing of anisotropic and composite materials.     

On minimal representations for constitutive equations of anisotropic elastic materials

The problem of determining minimal representations for anisotropic elastic constitutive equations is proposed and investigated. For elastic constitutive equations in any given case of anisotropy, it is shown that there exist generating sets consisting of six generators and such generating sets are minimal in all possible generating sets. This fact implies that most of the established results for representations of elastic constitutive equations are not minimal and remain to be sharpened. For elastic constitutive equations in some cases of anisotropy, including orthotropy, transverse isotropy, the trigonal crystal class S ₆, and the classes C _2mh , m=1, 2, 3,..., etc., representations in terms of minimal generating sets are presented for the first time.     

Coaxiality of strain and stress in anisotropic linear elasticity

For a linearly elastic anisotropic body there are at least two rotations of the principal axes of strain such that the stress and strain tensors become coaxial. These rotations correspond to critical points for the stored energy, viewed as a function of the relative orientation between the body and the strain tensor.Supported by Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica Matematica of C.N.R. (Italy).     

Effects of material anisotropy and inhomogeneity on cavitation for composite incompressible anisotropic nonlinearly elastic spheres

The effects of material anisotropy and inhomogeneity on void nucleation and growth in incompressible anisotropic nonlinearly elastic solids are examined. A bifurcation problem is considered for a composite sphere composed of two arbitrary homogeneous incompressible nonlinearly elastic materials which are transversely isotropic about the radial direction, and perfectly bonded across a spherical interface. Under a uniform radial tensile dead-load, a branch of radially symmetric configurations involving a traction-free internal cavity bifurcates from the undeformed configuration at sufficiently large loads. Several types of bifurcation are found to occur. Explicit conditions determining the type of bifurcation are established for the general transversely isotropic composite sphere. In particular, if each phase is described by an explicit material model which may be viewed as a generalization of the classic neo-Hookean model to anisotropic materials, phenomena which were not observed for the homogeneous anisotropic sphere nor for the composite neo-Hookean sphere may occur. The stress distribution as well as the possible role of cavitation in preventing interface debonding are also examined for the general composite sphere.     

Equilibrium of elastic rectangle: Mathieu-Inglis-Pickett solution revisited

This paper addresses a general analytical method for investigating the two-dimensional distributions of stresses set up in a rectangular plate by a load applied along its sides in any arbitrary manner. Proposed independently by Mathieu (1890), Inglis (1921) and Pickett (1944), and later named the superposition method, it has been applied with success to the study of distribution of stresses inside a rectangle. The object of this paper is to prove the advantages of that approach when studying a stress field near the boundaries, including specific cases of discontinuous and concentrated normal and shear loadings. The method is illustrated by several numerical examples, the rapidity of convergence and the accuracy of results are investigated. The distribution of stresses along some typical lines in the plate are computed and shown graphically.     

Saint-Venant's problem with Voigt's hypotheses for anisotropic solids

We seek for a solution of Saint-Venant's problem for inhomogeneous and anisotropic materials under the assumptions, introduced by Voigt, that the stress is either constant along the axis of the cylinder or depends linearly on the axial coordinate. We first prove the uniqueness of the solution in terms of resultants, then we exhibit an explicit formula for such a solution; we show finally how Clebsch's hypothesis, that the stress vector on axial planes is parallel to the axis, is compatible with Voigt's hypotheses provided that the symmetry group of the material comprising the cylinder contains the reflections on the cross-section.     

A class of similarity solutions for radial motions of compressible hyperelastic spheres and cylinders

A class of similarity solutions is obtained for radial motions of spherical and cylindrical bodies made of a certain type of compressible hyperelastic materials. The equations satisfied by the infinitesimal generators of the symmetry group of the unified governing first order field equations for spheres and cylinders are found. It is shown that these equations admit a special class of solutions which generate a five-parameter group of transformations. The form of the strain energy function corresponding to the resulting symmetry group is evaluated. The similarity variable is determined and ordinary differential equations satisfied by similarity solutions are obtained. Numerical solutions are given for a Ko material which falls into the class of admissible materials.     

A properly invariant theory of small deformations superposed on large deformations of an elastic rod

In the context of the direct or Cosserat theory of rods developed by Green, Naghdi and several of their co-workers, this paper is concerned with the development of a theory of small deformations which are superposed on large deformations. The resulting theory is properly invariant under all superposed rigid body motions. Furthermore, it is also valid for elastic rods which are subject to kinematical constraints, and it specializes to a linear theory of an elastic rod which is invariant under superposed rigid body motions. The construction of these theories is based on the method developed by Casey & Naghdi [1] who established similar theories for unconstrained nonpolar elastic bodies.     

The spreading of nonlinear elastic surface waves

A theory for the lateral spreading of a beam of nonlinear surface acoustic waves across the surface of an arbitrary, homogeneous, elastic half-space is developed. The resulting evolution equation generalizes that obtained for uni-directional waves by replacing an ordinary derivative by a diffusion operator of Schrödinger type. The coefficients arising in the evolution equation are related to partial derivatives of the dispersion relation for linearized surface waves on the half space. Details are given for isotropic materials and for two special cases of beams travelling along axes of high elastic symmetry.     

Variational approach to non-linear boundary value problems for elasto-plastic incompressible bending plate

Non-linear boundary value problems for inelastic isotropic homogeneous incompressible bending plate, within the range of J₂-deformation theory, are considered. An existence of the weak solution of the non-linear problem with clamped boundary condition is obtained in H²(Ω) by using monotone operator theory and Browder-Minty theorem. For linearization of the non-linear problem a monotone iteration scheme is constructed. It is shown that the sequence of potentials obtained from the sequence of approximate solutions (i.e. iterations), is a monotone decreasing one. Convergence of the iteration process in H²-norm is proved by using the convexity argument. Numerical solutions, based on finite-difference scheme, are given for linear bending problems with rigid clamped as well as simply supported boundary conditions. Further numerical examples are presented to illustrate the convergence of approximate solutions and monotonicity of the potentials as applied to the non-linear problems.     

On the Saint-Venant principle in the case of infinite energy

Estimates on the distribution of the elastic energy in a cylindrical domain in the context of linear elasticity are obtained. The estimates remain valid when the total elastic energy is infinite, and they can be used to establish Saint-Venant's principle without an assumption about finiteness of the total energy.Examples of boundary conditions resulting in infinite energy are constructed in the context of both linear elastostatics and special finite elastostatics, where a quadratic strain energy density function is assumed. The examples show that estimates of the type obtained are sometimes necessary.The results obtained are valid with obvious modifications in a space of any dimension n2.The results in this paper represent a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University by Y.S. under the guidance of J.J.R.     

End effects for anti-plane shear deformations of sandwich structures

The purpose of this research is to further investigate the effects of material inhomogeneity and the combined effects of material inhomogeneity and anisotropy on the decay of Saint-Venant end effects. Saint-Venant decay rates for self-equilibrated edge loads in symmetric sandwich structures are examined in the context of anti-plane shear for linear anisotropic elasticity. The problem is governed by a second-order, linear, elliptic, partial differential equation with discontinuous coefficients. The most general anisotropy consistent with a state of anti-plane shear is considered, as well as a variety of boundary conditions. Anti-plane or longitudinal shear deformations are one of the simplest classes of deformations in solid mechanics. The resulting deformations are completely characterized by a single out-of-plane displacement which depends only on the in-plane coordinates. They can be thought of as complementary deformations to those of plane elasticity. While these deformations have received little attention compared with the plane problems of linear elasticity, they have recently been investigated for anisotropic and inhomogeneous linear elasticity. In the context of linear elasticity, Saint-Venant's principle is used to show that self-equilibrated loads generate local stress effects that quickly decay away from the loaded end of a structure. For homogeneous isotropic linear elastic materials this is well-documented. Self-equilibrated loads are a class of load distributions that are statically equivalent to zero, i.e., have zero resultant force and moment. When Saint-Venant's principle is valid, pointwise boundary conditions can be replaced by more tractable resultant conditions. It is shown in the present study that material inhomogeneity significantly affects the practical application of Saint-Venant's principle to sandwich structures.     

Two illustrations of rapid crack growth in a pre-stressed compressible neo-Hookean material

An unbounded isotropic compressible neo-Hookean solid is initially in equilibrium under uniform tensile (possibly large) pre-stress. In one case, plane strain conditions generate slit crack growth at a constant sub-critical rate; in the other, axial symmetry produces penny-shaped crack growth. The procedure of superposing infinitesimal deformations upon those that are large is carried out in terms of tractable exact full-field solutions.These solutions are examined apart from a specific fracture mechanics model, nevertheless, they show that pre-stress induces, in addition to the expected anisotropy, a critical value above which a negative Poisson effect occurs. It is also found that dilatational, rotational and Rayleigh wave speeds decrease, and that the decrease is greater for the plane strain state associated with slit crack growth than for the axially symmetric state of the penny-shaped crack.Dynamic stress intensity factors are also extracted, and found to fall below those for a linear isotropic solid at the same pre-stress and crack growth rate. Moreover, the range of growth rates for sub-critical crack propagation is also decreased.     

Effects of curvilinear anisotropy on radially symmetric stresses in anisotropic linearly elastic solids

It has been known for some time that certain radial anisotropies in some linear elasticity problems can give rise to stress singularities which are absent in the corresponding isotropic problems. Recently related issues were examined by other authors in the context of plane strain axisymmetric deformations of a hollow circular cylindrically anisotropic linearly elastic cylinder under uniform external pressure, an anisotropic analog of the classic isotropic Lamé problem. In the isotropic case, as the external radius increases, the stresses rapidly approach those for a traction-free cavity in an infinite medium under remotely applied uniform compression. However, it has been shown that this does not occur when the cylinder is even slightly anisotropic. In this paper, we provide further elaboration on these issues. For the externally pressurized hollow cylinder (or disk), it is shown that for radially orthotropic materials, the maximum hoop stress occurs always on the inner boundary (as in the isotropic case) but that the stress concentration factor is infinite. For circumferentially orthotropic materials, if the tube is sufficiently thin, the maximum hoop stress always occurs on the inner boundary whereas for sufficiently thick tubes, the maximum hoop stress occurs at the outer boundary. For the case of an internally pressurized tube, the anisotropic problem does not give rise to such radical differences in stress behavior from the isotropic problem. Such differences do, however, arise in the problem of an anisotropic disk, in plane stress, rotating at a constant angular velocity about its center, as well as in the three-dimensional problem governing radially symmetric deformations of anisotropic externally pressurized hollow spheres. The anisotropies of concern here do arise in technological applications such as the processing of fiber composites as well as the casting of metals.     

Solution of a Riemann problem for elasticity

This paper describes a numerical algorithm for the Riemann solution for nonlinear elasticity. We assume that the material is hyperelastic, which means that the stress-strain relations are given by the specific internal energy. Our results become more explicit under further assumptions: that the material is isotropic and that the Riemann problem is uniaxial. We assume that any umbilical points lie outside the region of physical relevance. Our main conclusion is that the Riemann solution can be obtained by the iterative solution of functional equations (Godunov iterations) each defined in one- or two-dimensional spaces.Supported in part by AFOSR-88-0025.     

On a principle of virtual work for thermo-elastic bodies

A principle of virtual work is proposed for thermo-elastic bodies. From it are derived the equations of motion, the Cauchy stress principle and the Gibbs relations. The principle is also used to analyse the response of internally constrained bodies.