ELASTICITY

 Elasticity
 Elasticity of Composites
 Viscoelasticity
 Elasticity of Crystals (Elastic Anisotropy)

MATERIALS SCIENCE
Part of & A Learner’s Guide
ENGINEERING
AN INTRODUCTORY E-BOOK
Anandh Subramaniam & Kantesh Balani
Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur- 208016
Email: anandh@iitk.ac.in, URL: home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh
http://home.iitk.ac.in/~anandh/E-book.htm

Elasticity: Theory, Applications and Numerics

Martin H. Sadd
Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford (2005)
Revise modes of deformation, stress, strain and other basics (click here) before starting this chapter etc.
Let us start with some observations…

 When you pull a rubber band and release it, the band regains it original length.
 It is much more difficult (requires more load) to extend a metal wire as compared to a
rubber ‘string’.
 It is difficult to extend a straight metal wire; however, if it is coiled in the form of a spring,
one gets considerable extensions easily.
 A rubber string becomes brittle when dipped in liquid nitrogen and breaks, when one tries
to extend the same.
 A diver gets lift-off using the elastic energy stored in the diving board. If the diving board
is too compliant, the diver cannot get sufficient lift-off.
 A rim of metal is heated to expand the loop and then fitted around a wooden wheel (of say
a bullock cart). On cooling of the rim it fits tightly around the wheel.

Click here to know about all the mechanisms by which materials fail
 Elasticity
 Elastic deformation is reversible deformation- i.e. when load/forces/constraints are released
the body returns to its original configuration (shape and size).
 Elastic deformation can be caused by tension/compression or shear forces.
 Usually in metals and ceramics elastic deformation is seen at low strains (less than ~10–3).
At higher strains, in addition to elastic deformation we get plastic deformation. However,
other materials can be stretched elastically to large strains (few 100%).
So elastic deformation should not be assumed to be small deformation!
 The elastic behaviour of metals and ceramics is usually linear (i.e. the stress strain curve is
linear).

Linear E.g. Al deformed at small strains

Elasticity
(or elastic deformation) Non-linear E.g. deformation of
an elastomer like rubber
Time dependent aspects of elastic deformation
 In normal elastic behaviour (e.g. when ‘small’ load is applied to a metal wire, causing a strain within elastic limit) it is
assumed that the strain is appears ‘instantaneously’.
 Similarly when load beyond the elastic limit is applied (in an uniaxial tension test: Slide 7 ), it is
assumed that the plastic strain develops instantaneously. It is further assumed that the load is
applied ‘quasi-statically’ (i.e. very slowly).
 However, in some cases the elastic or plastic strain need not develop instantaneously.
Elongation may take place at constant load with time. These effects are termed Anelasticity
(for time dependent elastic deformation at constant load) and Viscoelasticity. Anelastic
materials are a subset of viscoelastic materials. In anelastic materials the strain is fully
recoverable and in dynamic loading, the stress-strain response depends on the frequency.
Viscoelastic response depends on the rate of loading (strain rate).
 Creep is one such phenomenon, where permanent deformation takes place at constant load
(or stress). E.g. if sufficient weight is hung at the end of a lead wire at room temperature, it will elongate and finally fail.

Recoverable Instantaneous
Elastic
Time dependent Anelasticity
Deformation
Instantaneous
Plastic
Viscoelasticity
Permanent Time dependent
Atomic model for elasticity
 At the atomic level elastic deformation takes place by the deformation of bonds (change in
bond length or bond angle).
 Let us consider the stretching of bonds (leading to elastic deformation).
 Atoms in a solid feel an attractive force at larger atomic separations and feel a repulsive
force (when electron clouds ‘overlap too much’) at shorter separations. (Of course, at very
large separations there is no force felt).
 The energy and the force (which is a gradient of the energy field) display functional
behaviour as in the equations below*. This implies under a state of compressive stress the
atoms ‘want to’ go apart and under tensile stress they want to come closer.

dU
F 
dr
A B nA mB
U  n  m Repulsive
F   n 1  m 1
r r r r
Attractive A,B,m,n → constants A' B' The plots of these

m>n
F  p  q functions is shown
in the next slide
r r
* This is one simple form of interatomic potentials (also called Lennard-Jones potential,
wherein m = 12 and n = 6).
  The plot of the inter-atomic potential and force functions show that at the equilibrium
inter-atomic separation (r0) the potential energy of the system is a minimum and force
experienced is zero.
 In reality the atoms are undergoing thermal vibration about this equilibrium position. The
amplitude of vibration increases with increasing temperature. Due to the slight left-right
asymmetry about the minimum in the U-r plot, increased thermal vibration leads to an
expansion of the crystal.

Repulsive Repulsive
Potential energy (U) →

A B A' B'
U  

Force (F) →
r0 F   q
rn rm r p
r
r → r →

r0 Attractive
Attractive

r0 Equilibrium separation between atoms

 Young’s modulus is the slope of the Force-Interatomic spacing curve (F-r curve), at the
equilibrium interatomic separation (r0). I.e. it is the curvature of the energy-displacement
(interatomic separation) plot.
 In reality the Elastic modulus is 4th rank tensor (Eijkl) and the curve below captures one
aspect of it.

Near r0 the red line (tangent to the F-r curve Young’s modulus (Y / E)
at r = r0)
coincides with the blue line (F-r) curve  Young’s modulus is proportional to
the –ve slope of the F-r curve at r = r0

dF dF d 2U
Y 
Force →

Y   2
r → dr dr dr

Stress →
Tension

r0 strain →
Compression
For displacements around r0 → Force-
displacement curve is approximately linear
 THE LINEAR ELASTIC REGION
Stress-strain curves in the elastic region
 In metals and ceramics the elastic strains (i.e. the strains beyond which plastic deformation
sets in or fracture takes place*) are very small (~103). As these strains are very small it
does not matter if we use engineering stress-strain or true stress strain values (these concepts will
be discussed later). The stress-strain plot is linear for such materials.

 Polymers (with special reference to elastomers) shown non-linear stress-strain behaviour in

the elastic region. Rotation of the long chain molecules around a C-C bond can cause tensile
elongation. The elastic strains can be large in elastomers (some can even extend a few
hundred percent), but the modulus (slope of the stress-strain plot) is very small.
Additionally, the behaviour of elastomers in compression is different from that in tension.

Stress →
Stress-strain curve for an elastomer Tension
T due to uncoiling
C of polymer chains
Due to efficient Strain → T
filling of space

Compression T > C
* Brittle ceramics may show no plastic deformation and may fracture after elastic deformation.
Other elastic moduli
 We have noted that elastic modulus is a 4th rank tensor (with 81 components in general in
3D). In normal materials this is a symmetric tensor (i.e. it is sufficient to consider one set of
the off-diagonal terms).
 In practice many of these components may be zero and additionally, many of them may
have the same value (i.e. those surviving terms may not be independent). E.g. for a cubic
crystal there are only 3 independent constants (in two index condensed notation these are
E11, E12, E44).
 For an isotropic material the number of independent constants is only 2. Typically these are
chosen as E and  (though in principle we could chose any other two as these moduli are
interrelated for a isotropic material). More explained sooner.
 In a polycrystal (say made of grains of cubic crystal), due to average over all orientations,
the material behaves like an isotropic material. More about this discussed elsewhere. Mathematically the isotropic material
properties can be obtained from single crystal properties by Voigt or Reuss averaging.

  E .  ij  Eijkl  kl In tensor notation

 xy  G. xy  E → Young’s modulus

 G → Shear modulus
 hydrodynamic  K . volumetric  K → Bulk modulus
  → Poisson’s ratio
Relation between the elastic constants of an isotropic material
 We have noted that for an isotropic material, the elastic properties are described by two
independent elastic constants (typically, E & ).
 The other elastic constants {like the bulk modulus (K) and the shear modulus (G or )} can be
derived from these constants by standard formulae (e.g. below).
 List of elastic moduli for isotropic materials: Young’s modulus (Y, E), Poisson’s ratio (),
Shear Modulus (G, ), Bulk modulus (K), Lamé’s constant (), P-wave modulus (M).
 The relative magnitudes of these constants can be seen from the table below.
 Similar to the stress-strain relation we saw before, other types of stresses can be related to the
corresponding strain via the appropriate elastic moduli/constants (as below).

  E . Property Magnitude

 xy  G. xy
Young’s modulus
70 GPa
(Y, E)
Poisson’s ratio 0.3
 hydrodynamic  K . volumetric Shear Modulus (G) 26.9 GPa
Bulk Modulus (K) 58.3 GPa
E E E (1  ) Lamé constant () 40.4 GPa
G K M
2(1   ) 3(1  2 ) (1  )(1  2 )
Click here to know how isotropy can arise in a material
 When a body is pulled (let us assume an isotropic body for now), it will elongate along the
pulling direction and will contract along the orthogonal direction. The negative ratio of the
transverse strain (t) to the longitudinal strain (t) is called the Poission’s ratio ().
 In the equation below as B1 < B0, the term in square brackets ‘[]’ in the numerator is –ve
and hence, Poission’s ratio is a positive quantity (for usual materials). I.e. usual materials
shrink in the transverse direction, when they are pulled.
 The value of E, G and  for some common materials are in the table (Table-E). Zero and
even negative Possion’s ratio have been reported in literature. The modulus of materials
expected to be positive, i.e. the material resists deformation and stores energy in the
deformed condition. However, structures and ‘material-structures’ can display negative
stiffness (e.g. when a thin rod is pushed it will show negative stiffness during bulking
observed in displacement control mode).

 
t B  B0  / B0 
 1
l L1  L0  / L0 
Initial configuration is
represented by ‘0’ in

t subscript

 
l
Elastic properties of some common materials
T1 gives independent elastic constants of a cubic crystal. T2 lists elastic properties of selected
isotropic materials. F1 shows a stress-strain plot in the elastic regime of select materials.

Anisotropic Elastic constants for Cubic System [2]

T1
E11 (GPa) E44 (GPa) E12 (GPa)
Al 108 28.3 62
Au 190 42.3 161
Cu 169 75.3 122
Fe 230 117 135
Ni 247 122 153
Pd 224 71.6 173
F1 Si 165 79.2 64

T2 Specification E (GPa) ν σy (MPa) y (103) Ref.

Room temperature data BS 1490

Aluminum 71 0.345 240 3.4 [1]
(99% pure)
Metals
BS 070M20
Mild Steel 210 0.293 215 1.0 [2]
>0.2 wt.% C
Aluminum ~ 350 255-260.6
- 0.21-0.27 0.7 [3]
Ceramics and Oxide (Al2O3) 344.7-408.8 (Fracture)
Glass ~ 73 69.6-74.53
Glass (SiO2) - 0.166-0.177 1.0 [3]
72.76-74.15 (Fracture)

General purpose ~4
Polymers Polyester 0.33 51.5-55.1 12.5 [3]
grade 1.03-4.48
Bonding and Elastic modulus
 Materials with strong bonds have a deep potential energy well with a high curvature
 high elastic modulus.
 Along the period of a periodic table the covalent character of the bond and its strength
increase  systematic increase in elastic modulus.
 Down a period the covalent character of the bonding ↓  ↓ in Y.
 On heating the elastic modulus decreases: on heating from 0 K → M.P there is a decrease
of about 10-20% in modulus (i.e. Young’s modulus is not a sensitive function of T).

Along the period → Li Be B Cdiamond Cgraphite

Atomic number (Z) 3 4 5 6 6
Young’s Modulus (GN / m2) 11.5 289 440 1140 8

Down the row → Cdiamond Si Ge Sn Pb

Atomic number (Z) 6 14 32 50 82
Young’s Modulus (GN / m2) 1140 103 99 52 16
Anisotropy in the Elastic modulus What is meant by anisotropy (click here: Slide 13)?

 In a crystal the interatomic and inter-planar distance varies with direction→ this aspect can
be used to intuitively understand the origin of elastic anisotropy. We already know that
linear and planar densities depend on the specific choice (i.e. the [100]CCP direction has different linear
density as compared to the [111]CCP and similarly, the (100)CCP has a different planar density as compared to (111)CCP).
 In a elastically anisotropic material, stretching along certain directions can lead to shearing.
 Elastic anisotropy is especially pronounced in materials with
► two kinds of bonds, e.g. in graphite E [1010] = 950 GPa, E [0001] = 8 GPa
► Two kinds of ordering along two directions, e.g. in Decagonal QC
E[100000]E[000001]
How to determine the elastic modulus?
 The Young’s modulus (Y) of a isotropic material can be determined from the stress-strain diagram. But, this is
not a very accurate method, as the machine compliance is in series with the specimen compliance. The slope of
the stress-strain curve at any point is termed as the ‘tangent modulus’. In the initial part of the s-e curve this
measures the Young’s modulus. Other kinds of mechanical tests can also be used for the measurement of ‘Y’.
 A better method to measure ‘Y’ is using wave transmission (e.g. ultrasonic pulse echo transmission technique)
in the material. This is best used for homogeneous, isotropic, non-dispersive material (wherein, the velocity of
the wave does not change with frequency). Common polycrystalline metals, ceramics and inorganic glasses are
best suited to this method. Soft plastics and rubber cannot be characterized by this method due to high
dispersion, attenuation of sound wave and non-linear elastic properties. Porosity and other internal defects can
affect the measurement.
 The essence of the ultrasound technique is to determine the longitudinal and shear wave velocity of sound in
the material (symbols: vl vs). ‘Y’ and Poisson’s ratio () can be determined using the formulae as below.

2
v 
1  2 t 
  vl 
Note again that it is not a good idea to calculate Young’s modulus for s-e plot 2
 vt 
2  2 
Peak Stress 193.0 MPa
 vl 
Peak Load 5.83 kN

vl2  (1  )(1  2 )
Y
Specimen ID Aluminium
mm2
(1  )
Cross Sectional Area 30.2
Gauge Length 28.44 mm
Cross head velocity 2 mm/min
Test mode Stroke
  → density
Funda Check What is meant by anisotropy?

 Anisotropy implies direction dependence of a given property. An isotropic material has the
same value of a property along all directions.
 Neumann’s principle states that symmetry of a property will be equal to or greater than the
point group symmetry of the crystal. Cubic crystals (with 4/m 3 2/m) symmetry are
isotropic with respect to optical properties.
 Amorphous materials are isotropic. Polycrystalline materials with random orientation of
grains are also isotropic. When such a polycrystalline material is plastically deformed, e.g.
by rolling, the material develops crystallographic texture (preferential orientation of the
grains) and this can lead to anisotropy.
 Two important origins of anisotropy are: (i) crystalline, (ii) geometry of sample (shape).
 Couple of effects of crystalline anisotropy: (i) if an electric field is applied along a direction,
the current may flow along a different direction; (ii) if a body is pulled, it may shear in
addition to being elongated.
 Material dependent Elastic modulus
Property
Geometry dependent Stiffness
Elastic modulus in design
 In many applications the elastic properties of the material is the main one to be considered.
However, other factors and properties should also be taken into account.
 More than the modulus, it is the stiffness, which comes into focus as a design parameter.
 Stiffness (as we have noted) of a ‘structure’ is its ability to resist elastic deformation
(deflection) on loading → depends on the geometry of the component. Spring steel (e.g. high carbon
steel with Si, Mn & Cr) will be characterized by its elastic modulus. In the form of the coil the spring (a structure with a certain geometry)
shows more elongation for the same load and stiffness is the relevant property of the spring in design.
 In many applications high modulus in conjunction with good ductility should be chosen
(good ductility avoids catastrophic failure in case of accidental overloading)
 Covalently bonded materials (e.g. diamond has a high E (1140 GPa)) in spite of their high
modulus are rarely used in engineering applications as they are brittle (poor tolerance to
cracks- for more on this refer to chapter on fracture). Ionic solids are also very brittle.

Ionic solids → NaCl MgO Al2O3 TiC Silica glass

Young’s Modulus (GN / m2) 37 310 402 308 70
METALS
 Metals are used in multiple engineering applications due to a combination of properties
they possess: (i) reasonable elastic modulus, (ii) good ductility, (iii) ability to be alloyed to
give good combination of properties, (iv) amenable to many types of fabrication
techniques (casting, forging, extrusion, etc.), (v) good electrical and thermal conductivity,
etc. The main issue with metals is often many of them have poor oxidation and corrosion
resistance and not so good tolerance to high temperatures.
 Metals of the First transition series posses a good combination of ductility & modulus
(200 GPa). Second & third transition series have an even higher modulus, but their higher
density is a shortcoming.
POLYMERS
 Polymers are light weight and have become universal. However, they have a low modulus
dependent and cannot withstand high temperatures. They have a poor wear resistance as
well.
 The nature of secondary bonds (Van der Walls / hydrogen) is responsible for their low
modulus. Further aspects which determine the modulus of polymers are:
(i) presence of bulky side groups,
(ii) branching in the chains
 Unbranched polyethylene E = 0.2 GPa,
 Polystyrene with large phenyl side group E = 3 GPa,
 3D network polymer phenol formaldehyde E = 3-5 GPa
(iii) Extent of cross-linking (more cross-linking give rise to higher stiffness).
Increasing the modulus of a material
 The modulus of a metal can be increased by suitable alloying.
 E is a structure (microstructure) insensitive property and this implies that grain size,
dislocation density, etc. do not play an important role in determining the elastic modulus of
a material.
 One of the important strategies to increase the modulus of a material is by forming a
hyrbrid/composite with an elastically ‘harder’ (stiffer) material. E.g. TiB2 is added to Fe to
increase the modulus of Fe.
COMPOSITES
 A hard second phase (termed as reinforcement) can be added to a low E material to
increase the modulus of the base material. The second phase can be in the form of
particles, fibres, laminates, etc.
 Typically the second phase though harder is brittle and the ductility is provided by the
matrix. If the reinforcement cracks the propagation of the crack is arrested by the matrix.

Laminate Aligned fiber Particulate

composite composite composite

Click here to know more about hybrids Hybrids are designed to improve certain properties of monolithic materials
Young’s modulus of a composite
 The Young’s modulus of the composite is between that of the matrix and the reinforcement.
 Let us consider two extreme cases.
(A) Isostrain → the matrix and the reinforcement (say long fibres) are under identical strain.
This is known as Voigt averaging.
(B) Isostress → the matrix and fibre are under identical stress. This is known as Reuss averaging.
 Let the composite be loaded in uniaxial tension and the volume fraction of the fibre be Vf
(automatically the volume fraction of the matrix is Vm = (1 Vf)).

Isostrain Ycisostrain  Y f V f  Ym Vm
Voigt averaging
This is like resistances in series

These formulae are derived later

Isostress

1 Vf Vm This is like resistances in parallel

 
Ycisostress Y f Ym Reuss averaging
 The modulus of a real composite will lie between these two extremes (usually closer to
isostrain). The modulus of the composite will depend on the shape of the reinforcement and
the nature of the interface (e.g. in a long aligned fibre composite having a perfectly bonded
interface with no slippage will lead to isostrain conditions.
 Purely from a modulus perspective, a larger volume fraction will give a higher modulus;
however, ductility and other considerations typically limit the volume fraction of
reinforcement in a composite to about 30%.
Voigt averaging
 Under iso-strain conditions [m = f = c]
Yc  Y f V f  Ym Vm  I.e. ~ resistances in series configuration

1 V f Vm  Under iso-stress conditions [m = f = c]

   I.e. ~ resistances in parallel configuration
Yc Y f Ym  Usually not found in practice Reuss averaging
Yf
Yc →

For a given fiber fraction f, the modulii of

various conceivable composites lie between an
upper bound given by isostrain condition
and a lower bound given by isostress condition
Ym
Volume fraction →
A Vf
B
 Derivation of formulae
Isostrain F
Isostress    f  m
Af
   f  m
Am
   f  m
L  m f
 
Y Ym Yf
 m f
A  
F
Y Ym Yf
F  Fm  F f A  Am  m  A f  f 1 1 1
 
Am Af Y Ym Y f
  m   f
A A
LAm LAf
Y  Ym  m  Yf  f
LA LA
Vm Vf
Y   Ym  m  Y f  f
V V
Y  Vm Ym  V f Y f
1 V f Vm
 
Yc  Y f V f  Ym Vm Yc Y f Ym
Elasticity of Single Crystals and Anisotropy

 For small stress, strain is proportional (linearly varies with) strain  Hooke’s law.
 The proportionality constants are 4th order (rank) tensors. The stiffness tensor is Eijkl or Cijkl. The compliance
tensor is denoted as: Sijkl.

Tensor form Number of components of Eijkl = Cijkl (or Sijkl)

in most general case (in practice the number
  C  ij  Eijkl kl of components reduces considerably):
Hooke’s law  2D: 2222 = 16, (i = 1,2)
  S  ij  Sijkl kl  3D: 3333 = 81, (i = 1,2,3)

Usage-1 In short Usage-2 Dimensions

(Elastic) (N/m2)1
S (or s) Elastic Compliance constant Elastic Modulus
Compliance [stress1]
C (or c) (Elastic) Elastic Constant (Young’s (N/m2)
Elastic Stiffness constant
Y, E Stiffness modulus*) [stress]

* Young’s modulus is an elastic constant and not an elastic modulus!

What does the existence of these Cijkl components physically mean?

 If we apply just one component of stress (say 11), this in general will produce not only 11
but also other components of strain (which other components will depend on symmetry of
the crystal- which we shall consider shortly). A glimpse of this we have already seen (in the
topic on understanding stress and strain) if we pull a cylinder along y-direction, it will contract along the

x-direction  11 exists (apart from elongation in the y-direction 22).

 But, this may not be the only other strain produced.
2D
 11  C111111  C111212 
C1121 21  C1122 22
 11  C111111  C111212  C111313 
3D
C1121 21  C1122 22  C1133 33 
C1131 31  C1132 32  C1133 33

 This implies that the body may shear also (12 = 21 exists). This occurs due to
‘anisotropy’ in the crystal.
 So (in general) a bar:  might shear if pulled (in addition to elongating)
 may twist if bent (in addition to bending)
 may bend if twisted (in addition to twisting).
 We saw that a single stress component 11 may be related to many strains.
 Similarly, many stress components may give rise to a single strain (11).

11  S1111 11  S1112 12  11  S1111 11  S1112 12  S1113 13 

2D
S1121 21  S1122 22
There are 4 such equations
(for each component ij)
3D S1121 21  S1122 22  S1123 23 
S1131 31  S1132 32  S1133 33
There are 9 such equations
 No of independent components of Cijkl and Sijkl

 The total number of expected components are: 2D: 2222 = 16, (i = 1,2);
3D: 3333 = 81 , (i = 1,2,3). But, not all of these are independent.
  Cijkl = Cijlk (also, Sijkl = Sijlk)  Cijkl = Cjikl (also, Sijkl = Sjikl)
 only 36 of the 81 components are independent (for even the most general crystal)*.
 From energy arguments it can further be seen that: Cijkl = Cklij (also, Sijkl = Sklij)*
 of the 36 components only 21 survive (even for the crystal of the lowest symmetry i.e. triclinic crystal).
 Given that crystals can have higher symmetry than the triclinic crystal, the number of
independent components of Cijkl (or Sijkl) may be significantly reduced.
 All cubic crystals (irrespective of their point group symmetry) have only 3 independent
components of Cijkl (or Sijkl) these are C1111, C1122, C2323.
 This is further reduced in the case of isotropic materials to 2 independent constants (C1111,
C1122). Usually, these independent constants are written as E & .
 Hence, for second rank tensor properties (like magnetic susceptibility, ij) cubic
crystals are isotropic; but, not for forth rank tensor properties like Elastic
Stiffness.

* The reasoning is postponed for later.

 The magnitude of anisotropy in cubic crystals is quantified using the Zener anisotropy factor
(A) as defined in the equation below.
 A value of ‘A’ of one (1) implies that the crystal is isotropic.

 1011 N/m2
Structure C11 C12 C44 A
BCC Li 0.135 0.114 0.088 8.4
Na 0.074 0.062 0.042 7.2
K 0.037 0.031 0.019 607
DC C 10.20 2.50 4.92 1.3
Si 1.66 0.64 0.80 1.6
Ge 1.30 0.49 0.67 1.7
NaCl type NaCl 0.485 0.125 0.127 0.7
KCl 0.405 0.066 0.063 0.37
RbCl 0.363 0.062 0.047 0.31

A > 1  <111> direction stiffest

2C44
A
Zener Anisotropy factory (A)  C11  C12 
A < 1  <100> direction stiffest