DEFORMATION

Deformation- produced in response to Stress

Depends upon:
Type of stress applied
Rock properties (minerals, discontinuities,
etc)
Temperature
Depth
Time

Deformation= change in position, shape or
volume or rotation as a result of applied stress.
Describes the complete displacement field of a
set of points in a body relative to an external
reference frame.

4 deformation components are:
1. Translation- movement from initial location.

2. Rotation- spin about an axis

3. Distortion- change in shape (Strain)-
describes displacement field of points within the
body; i.e., from an internal reference frame.

4.Dilation- volume change


Strain Axes:
X= maximum direction of extension
(or minimal compressive strain
Y= intermediate strain axis
Z= maximum direction of shortening
(or minimum extension).

Relationships between Stress and Strain:
Since strain results from the actions of stresses,
a geometrical relationship between the two must
exist. Documenting this relationship is difficult at
best. Do not assume the stress axes
1
,
2,
3
correspond with strain axes X, Y and Z.

Knowledge of Undeformed States
Strain analysis requires a knowledge of the
original undeformed state of the material (rare in
nature).

Homogeneous Strain- Situation in which strain
in all points of a rock body is the same
Original straight lines remain straight
Original parallel lines remain parallel
Circles become ellipses;
3-D spheres become ellipsoids

Material Lines- lines that contain
recognizable features (e.g., grains, fossils)
that do not rotate relative to one another
during deformation, although the length of
the lines does change.

2-Dimensional Homogeneous Strain:
two orientations of material lines remain
perpendicular before and after strain,
defining the Strain Ellipse

3-Dimensional Homogeneous Strain:
3 or more material lines remain
perpendicular before and after strain,
defining the Principal Strain Axes
X > Y > Z of the Strain Ellipsoid


Heterogeneous Strain- Strain is different in
various parts of the rock body.
1 or more of homogeneous strain conditions do
not apply
Original straight lines do not remain straight
Original parallel lines do not remain parallel
Circles do not become ellipses;
3-D spheres do not become ellipsoids.

All strains may be expressed in terms of
extensions and rotations so that a knowledge of
e, l or w are sufficient to describe the strain
history for any homogeneous domain.

STRAIN KINEMATICS
Strain Path- Kinematic strain development;
describes a series of incremental strain events
cumulatively resulting in a finite strain state.

Incremental Strain-
Intermediate strain steps
describe separate strain conditions;
usually difficult to ascertain.

Finite Strain-
Measure of the strain from an initial to final state
Represents the sum of the incremental strains.


Coaxial vs. Non Coaxial Strain

Coaxial Strain- No rotation of the incremental
strain axes from an initial to final strain state.
The same Material Lines remain the principal
strain axes throughout deformation
No Rotation of Material Lines (Zero Internal
Vorticity)= Pure Shear
Pure Shear (Irrotational Strain)-
X, Y, Z axes do not rotate during progressive
strain.
Uniform elongation in 1 direction
Uniform contraction in perpendicular direction
Principal strain axes correspond to principle
stress axes throughout deformation
Pure shear is a coaxial strain with no change in
volume (rigid, i.e. unrealistic?, interpretation)
Strain axes are parallel to principal stress
axes:

1
= Z
2
=Y
3
=X



Non-Coaxial Strain (Rotational Strain)-
Axes of strain ellipsoid rotate through time
During incremental strain steps, the principal
strain axes do not remain the same
Principal strain axes (Material Lines) occur
throughout incremental strain events; however,
different principal strain axes occur at each
incremental step.
(Card Deck Analogy)

Simple Shear (Rotational Shear)- Non coaxial
strain in which the distance perpendicular to the
shear plane remains constant (thickness of card
deck remains the same)
All points move parallel to a fixed direction
with an amount of displacement proportional
to a distance from some defined plane (e.g.,
parallel to face of cards)
Strain axes do not remain parallel during
progressive deformation
Axes of strain ellipsoid rotate through time.
X, Y and Z axes rotate during progressive
deformation for a fixed single stress
orientation.
Therefore, strain axes do not remain parallel
during deformation.
Hence, the direction of maximum elongation
is not parallel to the direction of minimum
compressive stress or maximum tensional
stress.
The direction of maximum shortening
(minimum extension) is not parallel to the
direction of minimum tension or maximum
compressive stress.

General Shear- combination of pure shear and
simple shear; common.




MEASURING DEFORMATION
Length Changes
Volume Changes
Angular (Rotational) Changes


1. LENGTH DEFORMATION
Longitudinal Strain (e) = extension
Length Change (e)= Change in Length e=L-
L
o

Original
Length L
o


e (extension) =
(L-L
o
)/ L
o


L
o
=Original Length
L= Final Length
e (Extension) is a dimensionless quantity
Shortening- negative values e<0
Extension- positive values e>0

2. Quadratic Elongation ( )
alternative expression for length changes
or
= (l+e)
2
.

3. Stretch (s) s= ( )
1/2

Quadratic Equation and Stretch values are useful
in describing the lengths of the principal axes of
the strain ellipsoid:
X
2
= l
1
Y
2
= l
2
Z
2
= l
3

X=s
1
Y= s
2
Z= s
3



VOLUME DEFORMATION
Volumetric Strain ( )
Volume Change ( )= (V-V
0
)/V
0

V
0
= Original Volume
V= Final Volume
is a dimensionless quantity
Decrease volume- negative values
Increase volume- positive values


ROTATIONAL DEFORMATION
Angular Strain( ) Rotational Change
Change in angle between 2 initially perpendicular
lines
Shear Strain and Angular Shear are
dimensionless.
Shear Strain ( )= tan .
= angular shear (psi)-
= deflection from an originally right angle

= shear strain (gamma)
- change in angle between 2 lines

Strain in 2 Dimensions- consider a circle of unit
radius (r=1) and a center O that has been
deformed into an ellipse with a major (maximum
elongation) axis (
1
) and a minor (minimum
elongation) axis (
2
). Such an ellipse is called
a strain ellipse. Any point P on an original circle
with coordinates X, Z has moved to a new
position with coordinates X', Z'. Note that has
also changed as a result of elliptical strain to '.
Note also that the length of line O-P has been
changed to O-P'.

Strain in 3 Dimensions: Strain Ellipsoid with axes
X, Y and Z.

Check out the following Webpage for Stress and
Strain
visualization:http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/visual
structure/vss/htm_hlp/index.htm


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