Lectures 07

9th December 2023

 Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

• Explain deformation and strain

• Explain strain types

• Explain strain quantities

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Deformation and Strain
 Introduction
• The geologic history of most crustal rocks involves significant
changes in the shape of original features like sedimentary
bedding, igneous structures, rock inclusions, and grains.

• The formation of folds or faults springs to mind as an example

of this deformation.

• Deformed fossils, folds, and other features document the

permanent shape changes that occur in natural rocks.

• The study and quantification of these distortions, which occur

in response to forces acting on bodies, is the subject of
“Deformation and Strain.”
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 Deformation and Strain
• Deformation and strain are closely related terms that are
sometimes used as synonyms, but they are not the same.

Deformation describes the collective displacements of points in

a body; in other words, it describes the complete
transformation from the initial to the final geometry of a
body. This change can include a translation (movement from
one place to the other), a rotation (spin around an axis), and a
distortion (change in shape).

Strain describes the changes of points in a body relative to each

other; so, it describes the distortion of a body.

• This distinction between deformation and strain is explained

with the help of an example on next slide. 1-5
 Deformation and Strain
• In Figure 4.2, we change the shape and position of a square,
say, a slice of the clay cube. We arbitrarily choose a reference
frame with axes that parallel the margins of the printed page.

• The displacement of points within the body, represented by

the four corner points of the square, are indicated by vectors.
These vectors describe the displacement field of the body
from the initial to the final shape. The displacement field can
be subdivided into three components:

1. A distortion (Figure 4.2 b)

2. A rotation (Figure 4.2 c)
3. A translation (Figure 4.2 d)
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 Deformation and Strain

FIGURE 4 . 2. The components of

deformation. The deformation of a
square (a) is subdivided
into three independent components: (b)
a distortion; (c) a rotation; and
(d) a translation. The
displacement of each material point in
the square, represented by the four
corners of the initial
square, describes the displacement
field. The corresponding strain ellipse
is also shown. The
distortion occurs along the axes X and
Y, which are the principal strain axes.

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 Deformation and Strain
• Each component in turn can be described by a vector field
(shown for point A only) and their sum gives the total
displacement field.
• Importantly, a change in the order of addition of these vector
components affects the final result.
• Deformation, therefore, is not a vector entity, but a second-
order tensor (similar to stress).
• When the rotation and distortion components are zero, we
only have a translation. This translation is formally called rigid-
body translation (RBT), because the body undergoes no shape
change while it moves.
• For convenience, we will simply refer to this component as
translation, and the deformation is called translational.

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 Deformation and Strain
• When the translation and distortion components are zero, we
have only rotation of the body.
• By analogy to translation, we call this component rigid-body
rotation (RBR), or simply spin, and the corresponding
deformation is called rotational. For example, the
deformation of a pool ball that is hit is fully described by a
translational and a spin component.
• When translation and spin are both zero, the body undergoes
distortion; this component is described by strain.
• So, strain is a component of deformation and therefore not a
synonym.
• Deformation and strain are defined relative to a frame of
reference.

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 Deformation and Strain
• Deformation describes the complete displacement field of
points in a body relative to an external reference frame, such
as the edges of the paper on which Figure 4.2 is drawn.

• Strain, on the other hand, describes the displacement field of

points relative to each other. This requires a reference frame
within the body, an internal reference frame, like the edges of
the square. Place yourself in the square and you would be
unaware of any translation, just as when you are flying in an
airplane or riding a train.

• Looking out of the window, however, makes you aware of the

displacement by offering an external reference frame.

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 Deformation and Strain
• In Figure 4.2, we have constrained the shape change of the
square by maintaining a constant area. You recall that shape
change results from the deviatoric component of the stress,
meaning where the principal stresses are unequal in
magnitude.

• The hydrostatic component of the total stress, however,

contributes to deformation by changing the area (or volume,
in three dimensions) of an object. Area or volume change is
called dilation and is positive or negative, as the volume
increases or decreases, respectively. Because dilation results
in changes of line lengths and is similar to strain, except that
the relative lengths of the lines remain the same. Thus, it is
useful to distinguish strain from volume change.

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 Deformation and Strain
• In summary, deformation is described by:
1.Rigid-body translation (or translation)
2.Rigid-body rotation (or spin)
3.Strain
4.Volume change (or dilation)
• It is relatively difficult in practice to determine the
translational, spin, and dilational components of deformation.
• Only in cases where we are certain about the original position
of a body can translation and spin be determined, and only
when we know the original volume of a body can dilation be
quantified.
• On the other hand, we often do know the original shape of a
body, so the quantification of strain is a common activity in
structural geology.
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Homogeneous strain and the strain ellipsoid
• Strain describes the distortion of a body in response to an
applied force. Strain is homogeneous when any two portions
of the body that were similar in form and orientation before
are similar in form and orientation after strain. This can be
illustrated by drawing a square and a circle on the edge of a
deck of cards; homogeneous strain changes a square into a
parallelogram and a circle into an ellipse (Figure 4.3b).
• We define homogeneous strain by its geometric
consequences:
1.Originally straight lines remain straight.
2.Originally parallel lines remain parallel.
3.Circles become ellipses; in three dimensions, spheres become
ellipsoids.
4.When one or more of these three restrictions does not apply,
we call the strain heterogeneous (Figure 4.3c). 1 - 13
Homogeneous strain and the strain ellipsoid

• Because conditions (1) and (2) are

maintained during the deformation
components of translation and rotation,
deformation is homogeneous by
definition if the strain is homogeneous.

• Conversely, heterogeneous strain

implies heterogeneous deformation.

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Homogeneous strain and the strain ellipsoid
• In a homogeneously strained, two-dimensional body there
will be at least two material lines that do not rotate relative to
each other, meaning that their angle remains the same before
and after strain.
• What is a material line? A material line connects features,
such as an array of grains, that are recognizable throughout a
body’s strain history.
• The behavior of four material lines is illustrated in Figure 4.4
for the two-dimensional case, in which a circle changes into
an ellipse.
• In homogeneous strain, two orientations of material lines
remain perpendicular before and after strain.
• These two material lines form the axes of an ellipse that is
called the strain ellipse.
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Homogeneous strain and the strain ellipsoid
• Note that the lengths of these two material lines change from the
initial to the final stage; otherwise we would not strain our initial
circle.
• Analogously, in three dimensions we have three material lines that
remain perpendicular after strain and they define the axes of an
ellipsoid, the strain ellipsoid. The lines that are perpendicular
before and after strain are called the principal strain axes.

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 Strain Path
• The measure of strain that compares the initial and final
configuration is called the finite strain, identified by subscript
f, which is independent of the details of the steps toward the
final configuration.
• When these intermediate strain steps are determined they
are called incremental strains, identified by subscript i. The
summation of all incremental strains (that is, their product),
therefore, is the finite strain.
• There are many ways to measure finite strain in a rock, but
measurement of strain increments is more difficult. Yet,
incremental strain may be more crucial for unraveling the
deformation history of a rock or region than finite strain.
• Let us explore this with a simple example (Figure 4.5).

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Strain Path

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Coaxial and No-Coaxial Strain Accumulation
• Strain involves the rotation of material lines.
• Recall that a material line is made up of a series of points in a body.
• All material lines in the body, except those that remain
perpendicular before and after a strain increment (that is, the
principal strain axes), rotate relative to each other.
• In the general case for strain, the principal incremental strain axes
are not necessarily the same throughout the strain history.
• In other words, the principal incremental strain axes rotate relative
to the finite strain axes, a scenario that is called non-coaxial strain
accumulation.
• The case in which the same material lines remain the principal
strain axes at each increment is called coaxial strain accumulation.

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Coaxial and No-Coaxial Strain
Accumulation

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Summary: Types of Strain

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 Strain Quantities
• Having examined the necessary fundamentals of strain, we
can now turn our attention to practical applications in
structural analysis using the quantification of strain.

• Next we will examine strain quantification using three

measures: length change or longitudinal strain, volume
change or volumetric strain, and angular change or angular
strain.

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 Strain Quantities
• Longitudinal strain is defined as a change in length divided by
the original length. Longitudinal strain is expressed by the
elongation, e, which is defined as

• where l is the final length, lo is the original length, and δl is the

length change (Figure 4.11a). Because we divide values with the
same units, longitudinal strain is a dimensionless quantity. A
longitudinal strain of 0.3 for a stretched rod or a continental
region is independent of the original dimensions of the object.
• This definition of elongation implies that negative values of e
reflect shortening whereas positive values of e represent
extension.
• We label the maximum, intermediate, and minimum
elongations, e1, e2, and e3, respectively, with e1 ≥ e2 ≥ e3.
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 Strain Quantities
• Remember the sign convention we just described! In practice,
geologists commonly give the elongation in percent, using the
absolute value, e×100%, and the terms shortening and
extension instead of a negative or positive sign; for example,
30% extension or 40% shortening.

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Strain Quantities

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 Strain Quantities
• Volumetric Strain: A relationship similar to that for length
changes holds for three-dimensional (volume) change. For
volumetric strain, Δ, the relationship is

• where V is the final volume, Vo is the original volume, and δV

is the volume change. Like longitudinal strain, volumetric
strain is a ratio of values with the same units, so it also is a
dimensionless quantity. Positive values for Δ represent
volume gain, whereas negative values represent volume loss.

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 Strain Quantities
• Angular Strain
• Longitudinal and volumetric strain are relatively
straightforward and easily defined strain parameters.
• Angular strains are slightly more difficult to handle as they
measure the change in angle between two lines that were
initially perpendicular. The change in angle is called the
angular shear, ψ, but more commonly we use the tangent of
this angle, called the shear strain, γ (Figure 4.11b):

• Like the longitudinal and volumetric strains, the shear strain is

a dimensionless parameter.

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Definition of 1D Strain

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Definition of 2D Strain – Normal Strain

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Definition of 2D Strain – Shear Strain

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Example 2.1

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Example 2.1

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 Reference
• Chapter 04, Deformation and Strain

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 THANKS
Questions (if any)

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