In continuum mechanics, the finite strain theory—also called large strain theory, or large deformation theory—deals with deformations in which strains and/or rotations are large enough to invalidate assumptions inherent in infinitesimal strain theory.  In this case, the undeformed and deformed configurations of the continuum are significantly different, requiring a clear distinction between them. This is commonly the case with elastomers, plastically-deforming materials and other fluids and biological soft tissue.

Displacement field

Deformation gradient tensor

The deformation gradient tensor  is related to both the reference and current configuration, as seen by the unit vectors  and , therefore it is a two-point tensor.
Two types of deformation gradient tensor may be defined.

Due to the assumption of continuity of ,  has the inverse , where  is the spatial deformation gradient tensor. Then, by the implicit function theorem, the Jacobian determinant  must be nonsingular, i.e. 

The material deformation gradient tensor  is a second-order tensor that represents the gradient of the mapping function or functional relation , which describes the motion of a continuum. The material deformation gradient tensor characterizes the local deformation at a material point with position vector , i.e., deformation at neighbouring points, by transforming (linear transformation) a material line element emanating from that point from the reference configuration to the current or deformed configuration, assuming continuity in the mapping function , i.e. differentiable function of  and time , which implies that cracks and voids do not open or close during the deformation. Thus we have,

Relative displacement vector
Consider a particle or material point  with position vector  in the undeformed configuration (Figure 2). After a displacement of the body, the new position of the particle indicated by  in the new configuration is given by the vector position . The coordinate systems for the undeformed and deformed configuration can be superimposed for convenience.

Consider now a material point  neighboring , with position vector . In the deformed configuration this particle has a new position  given by the position vector . Assuming that the line segments  and  joining the particles  and  in both the undeformed and deformed configuration, respectively, to be very small, then we can express them as  and . Thus from Figure 2 we have

where  is the relative displacement vector, which represents the relative displacement of  with respect to  in the deformed configuration.

Taylor approximation
For an infinitesimal element , and assuming continuity on the displacement field, it is possible to use a Taylor series expansion around point , neglecting higher-order terms, to approximate the components of the relative displacement vector for the neighboring particle  as

Thus, the previous equation  can be written as

Time-derivative of the deformation gradient
Calculations that involve the time-dependent deformation of a body often require a time derivative of the deformation gradient to be calculated.  A geometrically consistent definition of such a derivative requires an excursion into differential geometry but we avoid those issues in this article.

The time derivative of  is

where  is the (material) velocity.  The derivative on the right hand side represents a material velocity gradient. It is common to convert that into a spatial gradient by applying the chain rule for derivatives, i.e.,

where  is the spatial velocity gradient and where  is the spatial (Eulerian) velocity at .  If the spatial velocity gradient is constant in time, the above equation can be solved exactly to give

assuming  at .  There are several methods of computing the exponential above.

Related quantities often used in continuum mechanics are the rate of deformation tensor and the spin tensor defined, respectively, as:

The rate of deformation tensor gives the rate of stretching of line elements while the spin tensor indicates the rate of rotation or vorticity of the motion.

The material time derivative of the inverse of the deformation gradient (keeping the reference configuration fixed) is often required in analyses that involve finite strains.  This derivative is

The above relation can be verified by taking the material time derivative of  and noting that .

Polar decomposition of the deformation gradient tensor

The deformation gradient , like any invertible second-order tensor, can be decomposed, using the polar decomposition theorem, into a product of two second-order tensors (Truesdell and Noll, 1965): an orthogonal tensor and a positive definite symmetric tensor, i.e.,  where the tensor  is a proper orthogonal tensor, i.e.,  and , representing a rotation; the tensor  is the right stretch tensor; and  the left stretch tensor. The terms right and left means that they are to the right and left of the rotation tensor , respectively.  and  are both positive definite, i.e.  and  for all non-zero , and symmetric tensors, i.e.  and , of second order.

This decomposition implies that the deformation of a line element  in the undeformed configuration onto  in the deformed configuration, i.e., , may be obtained either by first stretching the element by , i.e. , followed by a rotation , i.e., ; or equivalently, by applying a rigid rotation  first, i.e., , followed later by a stretching , i.e.,  (See Figure 3).

Due to the orthogonality of 

so that  and  have the same eigenvalues or principal stretches, but different eigenvectors or principal directions  and , respectively. The principal directions are related by

This polar decomposition, which is unique as  is invertible with a positive determinant, is a corollary of the singular-value decomposition.

Transformation of a surface and volume element
To transform quantities that are defined with respect to areas in a deformed configuration to those relative to areas in a reference configuration, and vice versa, we use Nanson's relation, expressed as  where  is an area of a region in the deformed configuration,  is the same area in the reference configuration, and  is the outward normal to the area element in the current configuration while  is the outward normal in the reference configuration,  is the deformation gradient, and .

The corresponding formula for the transformation of the volume element is

Fundamental strain tensors

A strain tensor is defined by the IUPAC as:
"A symmetric tensor that results when a deformation gradient tensor is factorized into a rotation tensor followed or preceded by a symmetric tensor".

Since a pure rotation should not induce any strains in a deformable body, it is often convenient to use rotation-independent measures of deformation in continuum mechanics. As a rotation followed by its inverse rotation leads to no change () we can exclude the rotation by multiplying the deformation gradient tensor  by its transpose.

Several rotation-independent deformation gradient tensors (or "deformation tensors", for short) are used in mechanics.  In solid mechanics, the most popular of these are the right and left Cauchy–Green deformation tensors.

Cauchy strain tensor (right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor) 
In 1839, George Green introduced a deformation tensor known as the right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor or Green's deformation tensor (the IUPAC recommends that this tensor be called the Cauchy strain tensor), defined as:

Physically, the Cauchy–Green tensor gives us the square of local change in distances due to deformation, i.e. 

Invariants of  are often used in the expressions for strain energy density functions.  The most commonly used invariants are

where  is the determinant of the deformation gradient  and  are stretch ratios for the unit fibers that are initially oriented along the eigenvector directions of the right (reference) stretch tensor (these are not generally aligned with the three axis of the coordinate systems).

Finger strain tensor
The IUPAC recommends that the inverse of the right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor (called the Cauchy strain tensor in that document), i. e., , be called the Finger strain tensor.  However, that nomenclature is not universally accepted in applied mechanics.

Green strain tensor (left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor)
Reversing the order of multiplication in the formula for the right Green–Cauchy deformation tensor leads to the left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor which is defined as:

The left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor is often called the Finger deformation tensor, named after Josef Finger (1894).

The IUPAC recommends that this tensor be called the Green strain tensor.

Invariants of  are also used in the expressions for strain energy density functions.  The conventional invariants are defined as

where  is the determinant of the deformation gradient.

For compressible materials, a slightly different set of invariants is used:

Piola strain tensor (Cauchy deformation tensor)
Earlier in 1828, Augustin-Louis Cauchy introduced a deformation tensor defined as the inverse of the left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor, .  This tensor has also been called the Piola strain tensor by the IUPAC and the Finger tensor in the rheology and fluid dynamics literature.

Spectral representation
If there are three distinct principal stretches , the spectral decompositions of  and  is given by

Furthermore,

Observe that

Therefore, the uniqueness of the spectral decomposition also implies that .  The left stretch () is also called the spatial stretch tensor while the right stretch () is called the material stretch tensor.

The effect of  acting on  is to stretch the vector by  and to rotate it to the new orientation , i.e.,

In a similar vein,

Examples
 Uniaxial extension of an incompressible material
 This is the case where a specimen is stretched in 1-direction with a stretch ratio of .  If the volume remains constant, the contraction in the other two directions is such that  or .  Then:  
 Simple shear
  
 Rigid body rotation

Derivatives of stretch
Derivatives of the stretch with respect to the right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor are used to derive the stress-strain relations of many solids, particularly hyperelastic materials.  These derivatives are

and follow from the observations that

Physical interpretation of deformation tensors
Let  be a Cartesian coordinate system defined on the undeformed body and let  be another system defined on the deformed body.  Let a curve  in the undeformed body be parametrized using .  Its image in the deformed body is .

The undeformed length of the curve is given by

After deformation, the length becomes

Note that the right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor is defined as

Hence,

which indicates that changes in length are characterized by .

Finite strain tensors
The concept of strain is used to evaluate how much a given displacement differs locally from a rigid body displacement. One of such strains for large deformations is the Lagrangian finite strain tensor, also called the Green-Lagrangian strain tensor or Green–St-Venant strain tensor, defined as

or as a function of the displacement gradient tensor

or

The Green-Lagrangian strain tensor is a measure of how much  differs from .

The Eulerian finite strain tensor, or Eulerian-Almansi finite strain tensor, referenced to the deformed configuration (i.e. Eulerian description) is defined as

or as a function of the displacement gradients we have

Seth–Hill family of generalized strain tensors
B. R. Seth from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur was the first to show that the Green and Almansi strain tensors are special cases of a more general strain measure. The idea was further expanded upon by Rodney Hill in 1968. The Seth–Hill family of strain measures (also called Doyle-Ericksen tensors) can be expressed as

For different values of  we have:
 Green-Lagrangian strain tensor 
 Biot strain tensor 
 Logarithmic strain, Natural strain, True strain, or Hencky strain 
 Almansi strain 
The second-order approximation of these tensors is

where  is the infinitesimal strain tensor.

Many other different definitions of tensors  are admissible, provided that they all satisfy the conditions that:
  vanishes for all rigid-body motions
 the dependence of  on the displacement gradient tensor  is continuous, continuously differentiable and monotonic
 it is also desired that  reduces to the infinitesimal strain tensor  as the norm 

An example is the set of tensors

which do not belong to the Seth–Hill class, but have the same 2nd-order approximation as the Seth–Hill measures at  for any value of .

Physical interpretation of the finite strain tensor
The diagonal components  of the Lagrangian finite strain tensor are related to the normal strain, e.g.

where  is the normal strain or engineering strain in the direction .

The off-diagonal components  of the Lagrangian finite strain tensor are related to shear strain, e.g.

where  is the change in the angle between two line elements that were originally perpendicular with directions  and , respectively.

Under certain circumstances, i.e. small displacements and small displacement rates, the components of the Lagrangian finite strain tensor may be approximated by the components of the infinitesimal strain tensor

Compatibility conditions

The problem of compatibility in continuum mechanics involves the determination of allowable single-valued continuous fields on bodies.  These allowable conditions leave the body without unphysical gaps or overlaps after a deformation.  Most such conditions apply to simply-connected bodies.  Additional conditions are required for the internal boundaries of multiply connected bodies.

Compatibility of the deformation gradient
The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a compatible  field over a simply connected body are

Compatibility of the right Cauchy–Green deformation tensor
The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a compatible  field over a simply connected body are

We can show these are the mixed components of the Riemann–Christoffel curvature tensor. Therefore, the necessary conditions for -compatibility are that the Riemann–Christoffel curvature of the deformation is zero.

Compatibility of the left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor
General sufficiency conditions for the left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor in three-dimensions were derived by Amit Acharya. Compatibility conditions for two-dimensional  fields were found by Janet Blume.

See also
 Infinitesimal strain
 Compatibility (mechanics)
 Curvilinear coordinates
 Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor, the stress tensor for finite deformations.
 Stress measures
 Strain partitioning

References

Further reading

External links
Prof. Amit Acharya's notes on compatibility on iMechanica

Tensors
Continuum mechanics
Elasticity (physics)
Non-Newtonian fluids
Solid mechanics