Geometry of logarithmic strain measures in solid mechanics

We consider the two logarithmic strain measures$$\omega_{\rm iso}=\|\mathrm{dev}_n\log U\|=\|\mathrm{dev}_n\log \sqrt{F^TF}\|\quad\text{ and }\quad \omega_{\rm vol}=|\mathrm{tr}(\log U)|=|\mathrm{tr}(\log\sqrt{F^TF})|\,,$$which are isotropic invariants of the Hencky strain tensor $\log U$, and show that they can be uniquely characterized by purely geometric methods based on the geodesic distance on the general linear group $\mathrm{GL}(n)$. Here, $F$ is the deformation gradient, $U=\sqrt{F^TF}$ is the right Biot-stretch tensor, $\log$ denotes the principal matrix logarithm, $\|.\|$ is the Frobenius matrix norm, $\mathrm{tr}$ is the trace operator and $\mathrm{dev}_n X$ is the $n$-dimensional deviator of $X\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$. This characterization identifies the Hencky (or true) strain tensor as the natural nonlinear extension of the linear (infinitesimal) strain tensor $\varepsilon=\mathrm{sym}\nabla u$, which is the symmetric part of the displacement gradient $\nabla u$, and reveals a close geometric relation between the classical quadratic isotropic energy potential $$\mu\,\|\mathrm{dev}_n\mathrm{sym}\nabla u\|^2+\frac{\kappa}{2}\,[\mathrm{tr}(\mathrm{sym}\nabla u)]^2=\mu\,\|\mathrm{dev}_n\varepsilon\|^2+\frac{\kappa}{2}\,[\mathrm{tr}(\varepsilon)]^2$$in linear elasticity and the geometrically nonlinear quadratic isotropic Hencky energy$$\mu\,\|\mathrm{dev}_n\log U\|^2+\frac{\kappa}{2}\,[\mathrm{tr}(\log U)]^2=\mu\,\omega_{\rm iso}^2+\frac\kappa2\,\omega_{\rm vol}^2\,,$$where $\mu$ is the shear modulus and $\kappa$ denotes the bulk modulus. Our deduction involves a new fundamental logarithmic minimization property of the orthogonal polar factor $R$, where $F=R\,U$ is the polar decomposition of $F$. We also contrast our approach with prior attempts to establish the logarithmic Hencky strain tensor directly as the preferred strain tensor in nonlinear isotropic elasticity

A Riemannian approach to strain measures in nonlinear elasticity

The isotropic Hencky strain energy appears naturally as a distance measure of the deformation gradient to the set SO(n) of rigid rotations in the canonical left-invariant Riemannian metric on the general linear group GL(n). Objectivity requires the Riemannian metric to be left-GL(n)-invariant, isotropy requires the Riemannian metric to be right-O(n)-invariant. The latter two conditions are satisfied for a three-parameter family of Riemannian metrics on the tangent space of GL(n). Surprisingly, the final result is basically independent of the chosen parameters. In deriving the result, geodesics on GL(n) have to be parametrized and a novel minimization problem, involving the matrix logarithm for non-symmetric arguments, has to be solved

Estimating the Effective Elasticity Properties of a Diamond/β\beta-SiC Composite Thin Film by 3D Reconstruction and Numerical Homogenization

The main aim of the present work is to estimate the effective elastic stiffnesses of a two-phase diamond/$\beta$-SiC composite thin film that is fabricated by chemical vapor deposition. The parameters of linear elasticity are determined by numerical homogenization. The database is sparse since for the 3D volume of interest only two micrographs displaying the phase distributions in perpendicular planes are available; micrographs each of a cross-section and the surface of the thin film. A representative volume element (RVE) is reconstructed by an optimization software and by means of identified material symmetries in 2D of the specimen. The elastic homogenization results indicate that the two-phase diamond/$\beta$-SiC composite exhibits the behavior of transverse isotropy, for which the set of six independent material parameters is identified