Abstract
In this paper, we study universal deformations in anisotropic Cauchy elasticity. We show that the universality constraints of hyperelasticity and Cauchy elasticity for transversely isotropic, orthotropic, and monoclinic solids are equivalent. This implies that for each of these symmetry classes, the universal deformations and the corresponding universal material preferred directions of hyperelastic and Cauchy elastic solids are identical. This is consistent with previous findings for isotropic solids. Universal deformations and material preferred directions are therefore independent of the existence or absence of a strain energy function.
Keywords
1. Introduction
A
The concept of universal deformations was introduced by Jerry Ericksen in two seminal papers [4, 5]. In [5], he proved that in homogeneous compressible isotropic solids, all universal deformations must necessarily be homogeneous. His earlier study of incompressible isotropic solids [4] was motivated by Rivlin’s pioneering work on special classes of deformations [6–8]. Ericksen also conjectured that deformations with constant principal invariants must be homogeneous, a conjecture later shown to be false by Fosdick [9]. In fact, the fifth universal family discovered by Singh and Pipkin [10] and Klingbeil and Shield [11] provides examples of inhomogeneous universal deformations with constant principal invariants. Whether further inhomogeneous universal deformations with constant invariants exist remains unknown.
Since Ericksen’s original contributions, the study of universal deformations has been extended to more general settings, including inhomogeneous isotropic elasticity [12], anisotropic elasticity [13, 14], and anelasticity [15, 16]. In the linear theory, the analogue of universal deformations is that of
More recently, universal deformations have been studied in Cauchy elasticity, a broader framework that contains hyperelasticity as a special case but does not presuppose the existence of an energy function [22–24]. For inhomogeneous isotropic Cauchy elastic solids, it was shown that the sets of universal deformations and universal inhomogeneities coincide with those of Green elasticity [25]. The universal displacements of anisotropic linear Cauchy elastic solids have also been systematically analyzed [26]. Interestingly, despite the greater generality of Cauchy elasticity, for each of the eight symmetry classes, the resulting set of universal displacements is identical to that of linear hyperelasticity.
Universal deformations have also been examined in the setting of implicit elasticity, where constitutive relations take the form
A frequently encountered class of solids with internal constraints in engineering applications is that of compressible materials reinforced by inextensible fibers [31–34]. This idealization models many natural and engineered materials consisting of a soft matrix reinforced by stiff fibers. The literature on universal deformations in such solids is limited. Beskos [35] studied homogeneous compressible isotropic solids with inextensible fibers and showed that certain subsets of Families 1–4 of universal deformations remain universal for specific fiber distributions; all are homogeneous except for the shearing of a circular tube with circumferential fibers. A similar study for incompressible isotropic hyperelastic solids was presented in [36], and universal relations for both classes were discussed in [37]. Beatty [38, 39] identified all fiber distributions in homogeneous compressible isotropic solids with a single family of inextensible fibers for which homogeneous deformations are universal, proving that only three such distributions exist and that in each case the fibers remain straight in both the deformed and reference configurations. In a recent study, universal deformations in compressible isotropic Cauchy elastic solids reinforced with a single family of inextensible fibers were systematically characterized [40]. This work established the first systematic classification of such deformations, thereby extending the classical results of Beskos and Beatty to the broader framework of Cauchy elasticity.
The purpose of the present work is to study universal deformations and universal material-preferred directions in anisotropic Cauchy elasticity. We show that for transversely isotropic, orthotropic, and monoclinic elasticity in both compressible and incompressible cases, the sets of universal deformations and universal material preferred directions coincide exactly with those of the corresponding anisotropic hyperelasticity. This shows that, even within the more general framework of Cauchy elasticity, universality in these classes is governed entirely by material symmetry.
This paper is organized as follows. A concise overview of nonlinear elasticity is presented in section 2. In section3, the equivalence between the universality constraints in hyperelasticity and those in Cauchy elasticity for homogeneous compressible and incompressible isotropic solids is examined. The same problem is addressed for homogeneous compressible and incompressible transversely isotropic solids in section 4, for orthotropic solids in section 5, and for monoclinic solids in section 6. Conclusions are given in section7.
2. Nonlinear elasticity
Within the framework of nonlinear anelasticity, an undeformed body
and
where
The Eulerian representation of
Note that
The first and second Piola–Kirchhoff stresses are defined by
where
In components, these read
and
In the absence of body forces, the equilibrium equations in the current configuration are expressed in terms of the Cauchy stress as
where
An anisotropic hyperelastic solid is characterized by an energy function (per unit undeformed volume) that takes the following functional form
where
or
3. Universality constraints in isotropic elasticity
This section serves as a prelude to the subsequent developments. Its purpose is to fix notation and clarify conventions by revisiting and reproving known results for isotropic Cauchy elasticity and hyperelasticity. No new results are claimed here; rather, the presentation is intended to provide a consistent foundation for the analysis that follows.
3.1. Compressible isotropic solids
The Cauchy stress for a compressible isotropic Cauchy elastic solid is represented as [25]
where
in which the following relations have been used
and
From (17)2, it follows that
3.2. Incompressible isotropic solids
As a prelude to our discussion of anisotropic solids, this section examines the equivalence of the universality constraints in Cauchy elasticity and hyperelasticity for homogeneous incompressible isotropic solids. In [25], it was shown that the universal deformations and inhomogeneities of compressible and incompressible isotropic Cauchy elasticity are identical to those of hyperelasticity. Following the same notation defined in [14, 25], we aim to provide an alternative proof of this result in this section.
For incompressible isotropic hyperelastic and Cauchy elastic solids, the Cauchy stress tensor
where
The process of deriving the universality constraints and material preferred directions in hyperelasticity as well as in Cauchy elasticity may be briefly explained as follows. We first substitute the corresponding Cauchy stress into the equilibrium equations (10) to obtain
in hyperelasticity, and
in Cauchy elasticity. The integrability conditions for the existence of
while in Cauchy elasticity, it takes the following form
where
For isotropic hyperelastic solids [13, 14, 25]
where
We know that
and
Concerning the nine terms in hyperelasticity, we clearly have the following relations
Ericksen [4] showed that if
where
Now consider
The right-hand side of (28) is symmetric either when
or
where ≡ indicates the symmetry equivalence between the two terms which is defined as follows:
With respect to (27)1 and (27)3, the term
Since
Using the same procedure, one can represent the symmetry of
Thus,
which means that at least one of the six symmetry constraints of the terms (24) depends on the others. Hence, we have at most five independent symmetry constraints in Cauchy elasticity (
Consequently, these two sets of five universality constraints are equivalent. In conclusion, the universality constraints for homogeneous incompressible isotropic Cauchy elastic solids are the same as those in hyperelasticity as was shown in [25].
It is worth noting that the relations (35) follow directly from (26)1–(26)5. This is simply because if
4. Universality constraints in transversely isotropic elasticity
A transversely isotropic solid is characterized at each point by a single material preferred direction, oriented normal to the local plane of isotropy. The material preferred direction is defined by a unit vector
For homogeneous transversely isotropic hyperelastic solids, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress is given by [14]
The Cauchy stress is written as [13, 14]
where
where
In transversely isotropic Cauchy elasticity, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress is represented in [24, 42–44]
and thus, the Cauchy stress is written as
where
For homogeneous incompressible transversely isotropic solids, one has
where
which has components
Similarly, by taking
where
where
4.1. Compressible transversely isotropic solids
For homogeneous compressible transversely isotropic Cauchy elastic solids, the Cauchy stress (41) in components reads
where
Since
where
4.2. Incompressible transversely isotropic solids
The method used to obtain the universality constraints for incompressible transversely isotropic solids follows exactly the same steps as those described in section 3.2 for incompressible isotropic solids: we first substitute the two expressions for the Cauchy stress, given by (43) and (46) for hyperelastic and Cauchy elastic solids, respectively, into the equilibrium equations (10) to determine
in hyperelasticity, and
in Cauchy elasticity. Recall that in both cases, the integrability condition for the existence of
In hyperelasticity,
and
In Cauchy elasticity,
where
and
Moreover, there are 15 additional terms in Cauchy elasticity which are associated with the coefficients of
Let us write the relations between the symmetry constraints
and
Therefore, there are a total of 75 universality constraints in Cauchy elasticity, compared to 34 in hyperelasticity. In what follows, we will prove that the universality constraints in transversely isotropic Cauchy elasticity and hyperelasticity are equivalent. Note that
One of the common constraints is
where
where
in which
4.2.1. Case 1:
and
are parallel
Let us assume that
If the symmetric term
The symmetry of (64) implies that
which leads to
Equation (66) holds if either
or
where
Again, omitting the symmetric term
Therefore, if
where
After ignoring the symmetric term, the symmetry of (72)1 gives the following relation
where
Equation (74) can be rewritten in a simplified form as follows
Thus, the symmetry of
Similarly, the symmetries of
Recall that
which after neglecting the symmetric term simplifies to
Since
Similarly, we again consider (61) to rewrite
Since the first term on the right-hand side of (79) is symmetric and
Proceeding with the same approach leads to the following results
which is equivalent to saying that
Since
With the given relations, it is straightforward to show that
In conclusion, the symmetry constraints associated with the terms
Using (61), the above expression simplifies to read
Because the terms
Hence
or
The symmetry of (89) is represented as follows
which can be written in a more simplified form as
Equation (91) suggests that
where
From (92), we have
Substituting (94) into (93) and taking
which is clearly symmetric. This means that if
Similarly
Moreover, we may use (82) to rewrite
which is simplified as
Following an approach similar to that used in (86)–(91), one can show that the symmetry of
and that the following symmetry equivalence also holds
where
Due to the functional dependence of
The following results can be obtained in a similar manner
With respect to (82),
which can be further simplified to
or
Given that
Now, let us use the relation (83) to write
We can perform a similar manipulation for
Hence,
and similarly
Therefore, although this part involves 16 universality constraints in Cauchy elasticity, only six of them, namely those associated with the symmetries of the terms
and hence, there are six independent symmetry constraints in hyperelasticity in this case.
In conclusion, in Case 1, the symmetries of the terms
we only need to prove that the symmetry of the remaining term in Cauchy elasticity, i.e.,
which is expanded as
Because the term
Taking (82) into account, we know that the term
To prove the symmetry of (118), it is enough to show that
Since
So far, we have assumed that
and accordingly,
while the remaining symmetry relations remain valid, thereby preserving the equivalence.
In summary, for incompressible transversely isotropic solids in Case 1 (when
4.2.2. Case 2:
and
are orthogonal
As discussed earlier, the symmetries of the terms
which is symmetric only when
or
where
which is symmetric when
which tells us that either
Now consider
The symmetry constraint associated with (127) has two solutions: (1)
are symmetric. Therefore, we have
Proceeding further and with reference to (27)2, the terms
Regarding (130)1, the constraint
where
Following the same approach, one can show that
which are equivalent to the functional dependence of the pairs
To complete this discussion, we need to investigate the additional terms in Cauchy elasticity, i.e.,
which according to the orthogonality of
Consequently, with reference to (57)6–(57)15, we see that the additional symmetry constraint terms vanish and do not impose further constraints beyond the existing ones. Therefore,
Finally, it is worth noting that by following the same calculation as used in (135), one also obtains
Since
Subsequently, with reference to (58)5–(58)9, the following relations hold between the hyperelasticity and the Cauchy elasticity constraints
Thus, in hyperelasticity, there are six independent symmetry constraints namely
Because
Concerning (57)1–(57)5, it follows that
As outlined previously, in addition to Case 1 and Case 2, there remains one other possibility to be addressed. This possibility indicates that
In summary, we have proved the following result.
5. Universality constraints in orthotropic elasticity
At each point in the reference configuration, an orthotropic solid exhibits reflection symmetry with respect to three mutually perpendicular planes. Accordingly, the orthotropic directions at a point
For orthotropic hyperelastic solids, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress and the Cauchy stress are given, respectively, by [13, 14]
and
where
where
For orthotropic Cauchy elastic solids, we have the following representation for the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor [24]
where
where
The second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor for incompressible orthotropic hyperelastic solids is represented as [13, 14]
where
In components, it is written as
where
where
where
5.1. Compressible orthotropic solids
Let us write the Cauchy stress (146) in components as
where
where
The constraints (154)1–(154)12 coincide with those obtained for homogeneous compressible orthotropic hyperelastic solids [13, 14]. Thus, to prove that the universality constraints in Cauchy elasticity and hyperelasticity are equivalent, it is sufficient to show that the extra constraints in Cauchy elasticity, i.e., (154)13–(154)16, are trivially satisfied.
Considering (154)6, one concludes that
Hence, the extra constraints in Cauchy elasticity are satisfied identically. In summary, we have proved the following result.
5.2. Incompressible orthotropic solids
The derivation of the universality constraints for incompressible orthotropic solids proceeds in precisely the same manner as that employed for incompressible isotropic solids (see section 3.2) and transversely isotropic solids (see section 4.2): the corresponding Cauchy stress tensors, given in (148) for hyperelastic solids and in (151) for Cauchy elastic solids, are substituted into the equilibrium equations (10) to determine
for hyperelastic solids, and
for Cauchy elastic solids. Upon imposing the integrability condition
In hyperelasticity, we obtain
Recall that
The nine terms that already appear in the isotropic hyperelastic case:
25 terms associated with
25 terms associated with
24 terms corresponding to coupling of
The terms
Let
We first represent the terms
and
where
In Cauchy elasticity,
where
and
where
and
In what follows, the symmetry equivalence between the terms in hyperelasticity given in (163) and (164) and those in Cauchy elasticity represented by (166) and (167) for the two possible cases is examined separately.
5.2.1. Case 1:
and
are mutually parallel and orthogonal to
This section discusses the equivalence between the symmetry constraint terms in hyperelasticity and those in Cauchy elasticity, when
We first investigate the symmetry equivalence between the terms
or equivalently
Besides, owing to the orthogonality of
The remaining terms in Cauchy elasticity are in one-to-one correspondence with those in hyperelasticity, as represented in (169). It remains to show that the symmetries of the extra terms in Cauchy elasticity, namely
which are symmetric because
It follows that
and thus, the additional Cauchy elasticity terms introduce no new constraints. Consequently, in this case, the symmetry of the term
We next discuss the symmetry equivalence between the terms (163) and (166) (i.e.,
Expanding the right-hand side of (176) and omitting the symmetric terms
Referring to (89), which provides an equivalent expression for
Similarly, we have
We can also use (82) and
which is further simplified to read
By applying (100) which is obtained from the symmetry of
which is evidently symmetric. Thus
Using the same approach, the following symmetry equivalences are established:
From (168), (178), (179), (183), and (184)1, one deduces that
We know that the terms
To complete the proof of the symmetry equivalence between the Cauchy elasticity terms and the hyperelasticity terms in this case, we need to show that the remaining terms in Cauchy elasticity, including
5.2.2. Case 2:
and
are orthogonal to
In this case, both
In view of the above relations, most of the hyperelasticity and Cauchy elasticity terms in (163), (164), (166), and (167) are identically zero. The remaining terms are related as follows (see (168) and (169))
In this case,
Thus, the symmetry constraint terms in Cauchy elasticity correspond one to one with those in hyperelasticity in this case, showing that the two sets of constraints are equivalent.
We showed that for incompressible orthotropic solids, the symmetries of the terms corresponding to the coupling of
6. Universality constraints in monoclinic elasticity
The material symmetry of a monoclinic solid is characterized by three unit vectors
where
Note that
where
where
Referring to [24], the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor for monoclinic Cauchy elastic solids has the following representation
where
where
Taking
where
Hence, the Cauchy stress can be represented in components as
where
In the case of incompressible monoclinic Cauchy elastic solids, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is written as
where
where
6.1. Compressible monoclinic solids
The Cauchy stress for compressible monoclinic Cauchy elastic solids is given in components as (see (195))
where
where
The constraints (203)1–(203)14 are identical to those for hyperelastic solids [13, 14]. Thus, similar to orthotropic solids, (203)15–(203)18 are the extra constraints in Cauchy elasticity.
Except for (203)6 and (203)14, the remaining constraints (for
6.2. Incompressible monoclinic solids
Let us substitute (197) into the equilibrium equations to get
for hyperelastic solids. Similarly, substituting the Cauchy stress (200) into the equilibrium equations (10) gives the following equation for Cauchy elastic solids
In hyperelasticity,
and
and
and
and
where
Taking (205) into account, one may determine
where
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
where
First consider the terms
The symmetry of
which is symmetric only when
in which we used
Because
The symmetry of
which implies that
which is symmetric only if
To summarize, we showed that the symmetries of the terms
in hyperelasticity are equivalent to those of
in Cauchy elasticity. Both sets are symmetric if
where
We now turn our attention to the terms
Based on (231) and (232), the terms
Regarding
In summary, we have proved the following result.
7. Conclusion
In this paper, we analyzed universal deformations in compressible and incompressible anisotropic Cauchy elastic solids. We showed that for transversely isotropic, orthotropic, and monoclinic materials, the sets of universal deformations and universal material preferred directions coincide with those previously obtained in the hyperelastic case. Thus, the existence of an energy function does not affect the form or characterization of universal deformations and material preferred directions in Cauchy elasticity. This result establishes that universal deformations and material preferred directions are independent of whether the constitutive law is derived from a potential. These findings extend and generalize earlier results for isotropic solids to the anisotropic setting. The present analysis provides a foundation for further exploration of universal deformations in more general material frameworks, including non-Cauchy elastic solids, materials with residual stress or microstructure, and generalized continua where additional internal variables appear.
Footnotes
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
