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Stress-Strain Relations

general tension uniaxial tension general tension & compression

pure shear stress uniaxial compression general compression

11.1.1 Mohr’s Circle in Three Dimensions

The concepts that we’ve been talking about so far are inherently two dimensional [because it is a
tensor transformation by rotation about the σ2 axis]. Even so, the concept of Mohr’s Circle can be
extended to three dimensions if we consider three separate circles, each parallel to a principal plane of
stress (i.e. the plane containing σ1-σ2, σ1 -σ3, or σ2 -σ3):

stresses on planes
σs perpendicular to
σ1-σ2 plane

σn
σ3 σ2 σ1

stresses on planes
perpendicular to
σ3-σ2 plane stresses on planes perpendicular
to σ1-σ3 plane (i.e. what we plotted
in two dimensions)

All other possible stresses plot within the shaded area

11.2 Stress Fields and Stress Trajectories

Generally within a relatively large geologic body, stress orientation will vary from place to place.
This variation constitutes what is known as a stress field.

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Stress fields can be portrayed and analyzed using stress trajectory diagrams. In these diagrams,
the lines show the continuous variation in orientation of principal stresses. For example, in map view
around a circular pluton, one might see the following:

σ3

σ1

Note that the σ1 trajectories are always locally perpendicular to the σ3 trajectories. A more complicated
example would be:

σ3

σ1

this might be an example of a block being pushed over a surface

11.3 Stress-strain Relations

So far, we’ve treated stress and strain completely separately. But, now we must ask the question
of how materials respond to stress, or, what is the relation between stress and strain. The material
response to stress is known as Rheology.

Natural earth materials are extremely complex in their behavior, but there are some general
classes, or models, of material response that we can use. In the most general sense, there are two ways
that a material can respond to stress:

1. If the material returns to its initial shape when the stress is removed, then the

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deformation is recoverable.

2. If the material remains deformed after the stresses are removed, then the
strain is permanent.

11.4 Elasticity

Imagine a body of rock; each time I apply a little more stress, it deforms a bit more:

Stress Strain
2.5 0.5%
5.0 1.0%
7.5 1.5%
10.0 2.0%
0.0 0.0%

Notice that when I removed the stress in the last increment, the material popped back to its
original shape and the strain returned to zero. You can plot data like this on what is known as a
stress-strain curve:

The straight line means that there is a constant ratio

Stress

between stress and strain.

This type of material behavior is known aselastic .

Strain

Note that part of the definition of elastic behavior is that the material response is instantaneous. As soon
as the stress is applied, the material strains by an appropriate amount. When the stress is removed, the
material instantly returns to its undeformed state.

11.4.1 The Elasticity Tensor

The equation that expresses this linear relation between stress and strain in its most general form
is:

σi j = Ci j k l εk l .

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Ci j k l is the elasticity tensor. It is a fourth order tensor which relates two second order tensors. Because
all of the subscripts can have values of 1, 2, and 3, the tensor Ci j k l has 81 separate components! However,
because both the stress and strain tensors are symmetric, the elasticity tensor can have, at most, 36
independent components.

Fortunately, most of the time we make a number of simplifying assumptions and thus end up
worrying about four material parameters.

11.4.2 The Common Material Parameters of Elasticity

l f− l i
el =
wf li
li lf
wi
wf − w i
et =
wi

With the above measurements, there are several parameters we can derive Young’s Modulus:

σ
E= = C1111 .
el

This is for simple shortening or extensions. For the the ratio of the transverse to longitudinal strain we
use Poissons Ratio:

et −E
υ= =
el C1122

For volume constant deformation (i.e., an incompressible material), υ = 0.5, but most rocks vary between
0.25 and 0.33. For simple shear deformations, Modulus of Rigidity:

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σ = Ge

For for uniform dilations or contractions, Bulk Modulus or Incompressibility:

σ = Ke

All of these parameters are related to each other by some simple equations:

E 3K (1 − 2υ )
G= =
2(1 + υ ) 2(1 + υ )

11.5 Deformation Beyond the Elastic Limit

What happens if we keep applying more and more stress to the rock? Intuitively, you know that
it can’t keep on straining indefinitely. Two things can happen

• the sample will break or rupture, or

• the sample will cease deforming elastically and will start to strain faster than
the proportional increase in stress.

These two possibilities look like this on stress strain curves:

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rupture in elastic realm plastic deformation

non-recoverable strain
"anelastic" or "plastic"
rupture ultimate strength
strength
yield strength
σ σ

hypothetical paths
when stress removed

e max elastic plastic

strain strain
permanent strain if stress e
removed befor rupture

Note that the maximum elastic strains are generally <<5%. There are two forms of plastic deformation:

perfect plastic strain hardening

yield
strength
yield strain hardening
strength part of curve
σ
σ

e e

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Plastic & Viscous Deformation

LECTURE 12—PLASTIC & VISCOUS DEFORMATION

1 2 . 1 Strain Rate

So far, we haven’t really said anything about time except to say the elasticity is instantaneous.
You can think of two different graphs:
stress, σ

strain, e
strain, e time, t

Time-dependent deformation would have a different response. Suppose I took the same material and did
three different experiments on it, each at a different constant stress level:

σa σb σc
strain, e

strain, e

strain, e

time, t time, t time, t

In other words, for different constant stresses, the material deforms at different strain rates. In the above
graphs, the strain rate is just the slope of the line. Strain rate is the strain divided by time. Because strain
has no units, the units of strain rate are inverse time. It is commonly denoted by an “e” with a dot over it:
ė . Geological strain rates are generally given in terms of seconds:

10 −16 s −1 ≤ e˙geol ≤ 10− 12 − 1

s .

Economic Geo. _ JH
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