Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed.

, 36(10), 1359–1370 (2015)

DOI 10.1007/s10483-015-1988-9
Applied Mathematics
Shanghai
c University and Springer-Verlag
and Mechanics
Berlin Heidelberg 2015 (English Edition)

Relations between cubic equation, stress tensor decomposition, and

von Mises yield criterion∗

Haoyuan GUO1 , Liyuan ZHANG2,† , Yajun YIN1 , Yongxin GAO3

1. Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
2. School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing,
Beijing 100083, China;
3. Department of Mathematics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

Abstract Inspired by Cardano’s method for solving cubic scalar equations, the addi-
tive decomposition of spherical/deviatoric tensor (DSDT) is revisited from a new view-
point. This decomposition simplifies the cubic tensor equation, decouples the spher-
ical/deviatoric strain energy density, and lays the foundation for the von Mises yield
criterion. Besides, it is verified that under the precondition of energy decoupling and the
simplest form, the DSDT is the only possible form of the additive decomposition with
physical meanings.
Key words Cardano’s method, Caylay-Hamilton theorem, cubic tensor equation, de-
composition of spherical/deviatoric tensor (DSDT), von Mises yield criterion
Chinese Library Classification O33
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 74-01

1 Introduction
The well known von Mises yield criterion is widely used to predict the occurrence of plastic
deformation of ductile metal materials, such as steel and aluminum[1–3] . To derive this criterion,
the stress state is always decomposed into two states, as shown in Fig. 1. One is named as
the spherical stress state, and the other is the deviatoric state[4] . This additive decomposition
seems natural and was introduced insipidly in many textbooks of solid mechanics[5–9] . However,
when having a deeper understanding of it, we find that such a decomposition operation is of
essential importance to the whole theoretical system of plastic mechanics. Following the above
decomposition scheme, the key point of the problem can be caught successfully.
Accordingly, one may encounter the following questions. In the mathematical field, where
does the decomposition of spherical/deviatoric tensor (DSDT) come from? What is the rela-
tionship between the DSDT and the energy decoupling property? How is the DSDT introduced
into the explorations of plastic phenomena? With the inspiration of Cardano’s method for cubic
scalar equation, we try to answer the above questions in this article and give a comprehensive

∗ Received Oct. 8, 2014 / Revised Mar. 4, 2015

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11072125 and
11272175), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China
(No. 20130002110044), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2015M570035)
† Corresponding author, E-mail: zhangly@ustb.edu.cn
1360 Haoyuan GUO, Liyuan ZHANG, Yajun YIN, and Yongxin GAO

view on the relations of the cubic tensor equation, the DSDT, the energy decoupling, and the
von Mises yield criterion. For the simplicity of statements, our discussion is limited to the field
of small strain deformation.

Fig. 1 DSDT, where σ1 , σ2 , and σ3 are three principal stresses, and σm is their average value

2 Cardano’s method for cubic scalar equation

We first give a brief review of Cardano’s method for cubic scalar equation. This method
is based on a two-step additive decomposition, which was proposed by Cardano in the 16th
century[10–12] .
The general form of a cubic scalar equation can be written as

x3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0. (1)

The first step of Cardano’s method is to eliminate the quadratic term in Eq. (1) by the
variable substitution
b
z =x+ . (2)
3
Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (1) yields the standard form of the cubic scalar equation, that is,

z 3 + pz + q = 0, (3)

where
b2 2b3 bc
p=c− , q= − + d.
3 27 3
In the second step, Eq. (3) is then transformed into a quadratic equation with another
additive decomposition. The relation

z =u+v (4)

produces z 3 = u3 + v 3 + 3uv(u + v), which is further converted to

z 3 − 3uvz − (u3 + v 3 ) = 0. (5)

Comparing Eq. (5) with Eq. (3) leads to two equations: 3uv + p = 0 and u3 + v 3 + q = 0. Let
U = u3 and V = v 3 . One has

U + V = −q, (6)
p3
UV = − . (7)
27