Biomechanics, IIT Madras

Section 4: Alternate Stress Tensors for Large Deformation

I. Overview
In Section 3 we introduced the concepts of reference and deformed configurations,
displacement, deformation gradient tensor, and the small and large strain tensor. We noted that
the small deformation stress tensor was valid for the deformed configuration, just as the Cauchy
stress tensor developed in section 2. The large or finite strain tensor, however, was developed
using displacement gradients that refer to the reference configuration. While the Cauchy stress
tensor and the small strain tensor are energetically conjugate, that is strain energy calculated as

U =

1
ij ij , is valid. At this point, we do not have a stress tensor that is energetically
2

conjugate to the finite strain tensor. Furthermore, we note that in section 2 we derived the stress
equilibrium equation with respect to the Cauchy stress tensor in the deformed configuration. The
difficulty with this is that we must know the deformed configuration to solve the stress
equilibrium equation. This leaves us with a chicken and egg problem in that to solve the stress
equilibrium problem we need to know the deformed configuration, however, to know the
deformed configuration we need to first solve the stress equilibrium problem. Thus, to solve the
nonlinear problems that arise out of large deformation, we will need to refer all quantities back to
the reference configuration, including stress. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to define
alternate stress tensors that we can refer to the reference configuration and to define the stress
equilibrium equation in the reference configuration. The important concepts in this section to
understand are:
1. Relationships between volume in reference and deformed configuration
2. Relationships between area in reference and deformed configuration
3. Definition of the First Piola-Kirchoff Stress
4. Definition of the Second Piola-Kircholff Stress
5. Definition of the Stress Equilibrium Equation in the reference configuration
II. Relationships between volume in the Reference and Deformed Configuration
The best and most straightforward place to start is to define the relationship between volume
in the deformed and reference configuration. Recall from the section on mathematical
preliminaries that we can calculate the volume in any space using three vectors, specifically as
the cross product of two of these vectors dotted with the third. Let us consider three vectors in
both the deformed and reference configuration:

R e ference C onfiguration V ectors : dx i1 , dx i 2 , dx i 3

D eform ed C onfiguration V ectors : dx i1 , dx i2 , dx i3

Our goal is to convert the expression in terms of the deformed configuration to vectors in terms
of the reference configuration. We know that an infinitesimal volume element may be written in
the reference and deformed configuration as:

(
)
dV = ( dx dx )idx

dV = dxr1 dxr2 idxr3 dxr1dxs2 rst dxt3

1
i

2
i

3
i

dxi1dx 2j ijk dxk3

This can be done using the deformation gradient tensor:

dV = dx i1 dx 2j ijk dx k3 = Fir dx i1 F js dx j 2 ijk Fkt dx t 3

Now, we can rewrite the above expression as:

dV = ijk Fir F js Fkt dx r1 dx s 2 dx t 3

While it is not readily clear, we can replace the quantity

ijk Fir F js Fkt

with the following quantity:

rst det Fm n
as:

rst det Fmn = ijk Fir Fjs Fkt

which gives us:

dV = ( det Fm n ) rst dx r1 dx s 2 dx t 3
We may recall that the determinant of F is the third invariant of the deformation gradient tensor
F. Also, we recognize that the last product of dx'1, dx'2, and dx'3 represents and infinitesimal
volume element dV' in the reference configuration. Thus, we can rewrite the above as:

dV = det F dV

The above equations gives us the relationship between a volume dV in the deformed
configuration and a volume dV' in the reference configuration. Many texts denote the
determinant of F as the Jacobian, and denote the Jacobian as J. This would allow us to rewrite the
above expression as:

dV = JdV
If we divide the deformed configuration volume by the reference configuration volume, we see
that the Jacobian J actually represents the ratio of the deformed configuration volume to the
reference configuration volume:

J =

dV
dV

Likewise, if we want to know the reference volume in terms of the deformed volume, we can
simply take the inverse of J since it is a scalar:

dV = J

dV

and then the inverse Jacobian represents the ratio of the reference configuration volume to the
deformed configuration volume:

dV
=
dV

III. Relationships between area in the Reference and Deformed Configuration

Know that we have established the relationship between volumes in the reference and
deformed configuration, we may now define relationships between surface area, since the
volume ratio is used in the surface area relation. Again, we start with the calculation of the area
as the cross product of two vectors. Without loss of generality, we consider two vectors on the
surface of a body in both the reference and deformed configuration. These are denoted as:

R e f e r e n c e : d x i1 , d x i 2
D e f o r m e d : d x i1 , d x i 2
Before we take the cross product, note that the normal vector to the surface vectors in both
configurations is can be computed as the cross product of two vectors divided by the magnitude
of the cross product:

dxi1 dxi2
Re ference : n =
dxi1 dxi2
dxi1dxi2
Deformed : n =
dxi1dxi2
We also recall from the mathematical preliminary section that the area contained by the two
vectors is simply the magnitude of the cross product. If we label the area in the reference
configuraiton dA' and the area in the deformed configuration dA, the we can define these areas
as:

Re ference : dA = dxi1 dxi2

Deformed : dA = dxi1 dxi2
Therefore, if we multiply each normal vector by the surface area, we obtain the cross product
itself as a result:

Re ference : ndA = dxi1 dxi2

Deformed : ndA = dxi1 dxi2
Now again, the trick becomes to write the reference configuration in terms of the deformed
configuration. To do so, we will gain make use of the deformation gradient, only this time we
will use its inverse. First, let's write the cross product in index notation:

Re ference : ndA = dxi1 dxi2 nidA = ijk dxj1 dxk2

Deformed : ndA = dxi1 dxi2 ni dA = ijk dx j1 dxk2
We now use the deformation gradient tensor inverse and subsitute this into the normal-area
definition in the reference coordinate system:

ijk dx dx = ijk ( Fjr ) dx ( Fks ) dx = ijk ( Fjr )

1
j

2
k

At this point we can now write:

1
r

2
s

( Fks )

dx1r dxs2

 = ijk ( Fjr )
ndA
i

( Fks )

dx1r dxs2

Now, to simply this expression, we multiply both sides by the quantity ( Fit )

( Fit )

nidA = ijk ( Fit )

( Fjr )

( Fks )

to obtain:

dx1r dxs2

we that the terms on the right hand side except the dx terms are equivalent to the inverse
Jacobian multipled by the permutation tensor. Thus, we can rewrite the above as:

( Fit )

nidA = trs J 1dx1r dxs2

or, multiplying both sides by J gives:

J ( Fit ) nidA = trs dx1r dxs2

1

We recognize the right hand side of the above equation is actually the normal in the deformed
configuration multiplied by the area in the deformed configuration. Thus, we can write:

J ( Fit ) nidA = nt dA
1

This defines a relationship between normal vectors and areas in the reference configuration to
normal vectors and areas in the deformed configuration. This is a fundamental formula in
continuum mechanics known as Nanson's formula, and is used as a basis to develop alternate
stress tensors.
IV. Derivation of Alternate Stress Tensors: Relationship to Cauchy Stress Tensor
Cauchy's stress tensor is defined in the deformed configuration and is thus not practical to
use for large deformation analysis or experimental measures. Therefore, we need to develop
alternative stress tensors. Two often used for large deformation mechanics are the 1st PiolaKirchoff (PK) stress tensor and the 2nd Piola-Kirchoff (PK) stress tensor.
Let us consider first the 1st PK stress. The 1st PK stress is defined such that the total force
resulting from the 1st PK stress multiplied by the normal and area in the reference configuration
is the same as the total force resulting from the Cauchy stress times the normal and area in the
deformed configuration. If we denote the total force over the infinitesimal area in both
configurations as dP, the Cauchy stress as , the infinitesimal deformed area as dA, we have:

d p i = ( ij n j ) d A
recall that the stress times the normal is the traction force, which is defined per unit area. We can
likewise generate the same total force in the reference configuration using the 1st PK stress T,
the normal n' and the infinitesimal area dA' as:

d p i = (T ij n j ) d A
The question becomes how the 1st PK stress is related to the Cauchy stress. To determine this,
we need to write the normal and deformed area of the deformed configuration in terms of the
normal and area of the reference configuration, which we will do using the Nanson formula
derived in the previous segment. We know that we can equate the forces defined from stresses in
two different configurations:

dpi = (Tij nj ) dA = ( ij n j ) dA
We can use Nanson's formula to define the normal times the area in the deformed configuration
in terms of the normal times the area in the reference configuration:

n j dA = J ( Fkj ) nk
1

If we substitute the area expression into the total force expression, we have:

d p i = (T ij n j ) d A = ij n j ( F k j )

n k d A

Note that in the above expression on the far right that j and k are both repeated dummy indices.
Thus, it does not matter what letter we use for the index. Let's switch the j and k index in the
above expression. This gives:

dp i = (Tij n j ) dA = ik J ( F jk ) n j dA
1

We next subtract the two right hand expressions from one another to give:

(Tij n j ) dA = ik J ( F jk ) n j dA = 0
1

Since dA' is common to both expressions and a scalar, we can divide this term out. Since the
normal n'j is common to both expressions, we can pull this term out and arrive at:

Tij ik J ( F jk

) n = 0

The expression in the brackets must hold for any arbitary normal vector, therefore we have the
following relationship between the 1st PK stress tensor and the Cauchy stress tensor:

T ij = ik J ( F jk

we can then also write the Cauchy stress tensor in terms of the 1st PK stress as:

Tij Fkj J 1 = ik
Physical Interpretation: Since the 1st PK stress is defined in the reference configuration, it makes
since that we multiply the Cauchy stress by the inverse of F to map back to the reference
configuration. Also, if we divide through the original expression for the 1st PK stress by the
reference area, then we get the following expression for the 1st PK stress traction:

T ij n j =

dpi
dA

Physically, this indicates that the 1st PK stress is equivalent to dividing the total force in the
deformed configuration by the area in the reference configuration. When testing soft tissues, this
is the typical stress measurement that is made. We constantly monitor the force via the load cell
in the testing system, hence the force in the current deformed configuration, but typically only
make a measurement of the cross-sectional area in the reference configuration. Thus, any
computed stress is the 1st PK stress.
One of the difficulties with the 1st PK stress is that it is not a symmetric stress tensor. We can
see thus because we are multiplying a symmetric stress tensor, the Cauchy stress, with a
generally non-symmetric deformation gradient tensor, we will have as a results a non-symmetric
tensor. Such non-symmetry makes it difficult to form constitutive models. Therefore, the 2nd PK
stress was developed to be a symmetric stress tensor for large deformation.
The 2nd PK stress involves one further mapping step between the reference and deformed
configuration than the 1st PK stress. As such, it does not have such a straightforward physical
interpretation as the 1st PK stress. To develop the total force dP is transformed from the
deformed configuration to using the inverse of the deformation gradient tensor. If we call the
transformed force dP', it may be written as:

d p i =

( F ij

dp

The 2nd PK stress Sij is defined such that the traction force resulting from the 2nd PK stress in
the reference configuration multipled by the area in the reference configuration creates the
transformed total force dP':

d p i = S ij n j d A
Taking the definition of the transformed total force as the inverse deformation gradient times the
total force in the deformed configuration, we can write this in terms of the Cauchy stress tensor
and area in the deformed configuration:

d p i =

( F ij

dp

( F ij

jk

nk dA

If we combine the representation of the total force using the 2nd PK stress and the Cauchy stress,
we have:

d p i = S i j n j d A ( F i j

dp

(F )

ij

jk

nkdA

We can then directly write a relationship between the 2nd PK stress and the Cauchy stress:

S i j n j d A =

( F ij

jk

nkdA

The question now of course is how to replace the deformed area and normal on the right hand
side with the reference normal and area on the left hand side so we can make a direct
represenation. To do this, we again utilize Nanson's formula to rewrite the deformed area normal
product in terms of the reference area. Applying this in the above relation gives:

S i j n j d A ( F i j

(F )

jk n k d A =

ij

jk

( F rk )

n r d A

We need to write n'r in terms of the index j to combine the far left and far right terms in the
above expression. To do this, we note that the indices j, k and r are all repeated in the far right
expression and are thus dummy indices. As such, we may rearrange these indices without
changing the meaning of the expression. In this case, if we switch the j and r indices we have:

S i j n j d A =

1
( F ir )

rk

(F

jk

n j d A

Combining these expressions we have:

S
i j

1
( F ir )

rk

(F

jk

ndA = 0
j

Since the expression inside the bracket must hold for any arbitrary normal and area, it must be
equal to zero. Thus, we have the 2nd PK stress defined in terms of the Cauchy stress, inverse
deformation gradient and Jacobian:

S ij ( Fir ) rk J ( F jk )
1

If instead we write the Cauchy stress in terms of the 2nd PK stress we have:

Fri S ij Fkj J 1 = rk
Now that we have both the 1st and 2nd PK stress defined in terms of the Cauchy stress tensor,
we may write a relationsihip between the 1st and 2nd PK stress as:

F r i S ij F k j J

rk

= F kjT rj J

we then can multiply both sides by J and by the inverse of Fjk to obtain the relationship between
the 2nd PK and 1st PK stress::

Fri S ij = Trj
V. Derivation of Stress Equilibrium in terms of the 1st and 2nd PK stress
We would now like to consider rewriting the stress equilibrium equation in the reference
configuration. To do this, we are going to balance forces in an integral concept over the whole
body. In other words, if we add up all the surface traction forces, the body forces and inertia
forces on the body in the reference configuration, this amounts to integrating the surface forces
over the area of the body, the body forces over the volume of hte body, and the inertia forces also
over the volume of the body. We use the traction vector resulting from the 1st PK stress and the
volume force and density also defined in the reference configuration. We write this integration of
forces as:

ij

n j d A +

pb id V =

2
d x i
p
dV
dt2

For the integral over the area, we need to apply the Gauss Divergence theorem. The Gauss
divergence theorem states the following relationship between surface and volume integrals:

T ij n j d A =

T ij
dV
x j

If we subsitute the result from the Gauss divergence theorem into the balance of forces we
obtain:

T ij
dV +
x j

p b id V =

2
d x i
p
dV
dt2

since all the terms are integrated over the reference volume, we may combine them under one
volume integral:

T ij
d 2 x i

+ p b i p
dV = 0
x j
dt2

Thus, the terms inside the integral must equate to zero, giving us the stress equilibrium equation
defined with respect to the reference coordinate system in terms of the 1st PK stress:

T ij
d 2 x i

+ p b i p
= 0
dt2
x j
To derive the stress equilibrium equation in terms of the 2nd PK stress, we substitute for the 1st
PK stress in the above equation using the relationship between the 1st and 2nd PK stress to
obtain the stress equilibrium equation in the reference configuration in terms of the 2nd PK
stress:

( Fki S kj
x j

)+

2
d
x i
p b i p
= 0
dt2

we compare the stress equilibrium equations written in terms of the 1st and 2nd PK stress to the
stress equilibrium equation written in terms of the Cauchy stress for the deformed configuration:

ij

d 2 xi
+ p bi p
= 0
dt2

We can see that the stress equilibrium equation in the deformed configuration with the Cauchy
stress tensor has the same form as the stress equilibrium with the 1st PK stress tensor in the
reference configuration.
VI. Summary of Key Concepts
The purpose of this section was to define alternative stress tensors for large deformation
analysis. As a basis, we first had to define relationships between area and volume in the
reference and deformed configuration. Once these relationships were established, we could
derive the 1st and 2nd Piola Kirchoff stress tensors in relation to the Cauchy stress tensor.
Finally, we could rewrite the stress equilibrium equations using these alternate stress tensors in
the reference configuration. This is very important for large deformation nonlinear analysis of
soft tissues. In addition, these alternate stress tensors are important in the definition of

hyperelastic consitutive equations for soft tissues. The key concepts and formula are repeated
below:
Relationship between Volume in the Reference V' and the Deformed V Configuration:

dV = det FdV = JdV

Relationship between norma-Area product in the Reference A' and the Deformed A
Configuration (Nanson's formula):

J ( Fit ) n i A = n t A
1

Definition of 1st Piola-Kirchoff Stress T in terms of Caucy Stress :

ik J

(F )

J [

][ F ]

T ij =

jk

or in matrix form:

[T ] =

Definition of 2nd Piola-Kirchoff Stress S in terms of Caucy Stress :

S ij = ( Fir ) rk J ( F jk )
1

or in matrix format as:

[S ] =

J [F

] [ ][ F ]
1

We can then define the Cauchy stress in terms of the 2nd PK stress as:

rk

= F r i S ij F k j J

or in matrix form as:

[ ] =

[ F ][ S ][ F ]

Relation of 1st Piola-Kirchoff Stress T to 2nd Piola-Kirchoff Stress S:

Fri S ij = Trj
or in matrix form:

[T ] = [ F ][ S ]
Definition of Stress Equilibrium Equation in Reference Configuraiton using 1st Piola-Kirchoff
stress:

T ij
d 2 x i

+ p b i p
= 0
x j
dt2
Definition of Stress Equilibrium Equation in Reference Configuraiton using 2nd Piola-Kirchoff
stress:

( Fki S kj
x j

)+

d 2 x i

p b i p
= 0
dt2