STRAIN

I. DEFINITIONS
A. Displacement - movement of material point with respect to another point in response to an applied stress
1. Rigid body -- no shape change
a. Translation
b. Rotation - change in orientation
2. Nonrigid body -- internal shape change
a. Dilation - change in volume, line length changes, but lines do not change their orientation
b. Distortion - changes in lengths and orientations, but no volume changes DV = 0
B. Line length changes: 2 types
1. Linear displacement -
2. Shear or angular displacement -
Ð's change between lines
II. STRAIN - RESPONSE OF MATERIAL TO STRESS
A. Nonpermanent -aka- recoverable
e.g., rubber band, earthquake waves
B. Permanent -
e.g., folds, faults, deformed grains or fossils
C. Homogeneous / heterogeneous strain:
1. Homogeneous -
a. Lines remain straight and parallel
2. Heterogeneous -
D. Strain is scale dependent
1. Heterogeneous at (map) macro-scale - volumes of rock at different parts of the fold are in different states of strain (folding requires heterogeneous strain)
2. Homogeneous on (outcrop) mesoscopic scale - can't detect any difference in strain thin section between two different volumes
3. Heterogeneous on (thin section) microscopic scale - grain under S.E.M.
4. Homogeneous at lattice scale - atoms within the quartz lattice aren't distorted (but have been translated)
E. Strain should be viewed as progressive deformation thru time
F. Infinitesimal strain - at each instant of progressive deformation, material absorbs a measure of strain
G. Finite strain - product of all superimposed infinitesimal strains
III. MEASUREMENT OF STRAIN (FINITE)
A. Length (line) changes
1. e-(extension or elongation)
| e = (lf - li) / li = D l / l i |
lf = final length |
|
li = initial length |
can make li = 1 unit (since hard to determine initial)
e = 0.1 à line becomes 10% more elongate
2. s-(stretch) / 1+e
a. Factor that we multiply initial length by to get final length
3. Quadratic elongation
l º(1+e)2
s2 = (lf / li)2
e, s, l = 3 parameters to study line length changes
B. Orientation change -measured using unit shear
1. (unit shear) or (shear strain) = g
= tan Y which is angular shear
2. If line is lengthened = + value
3. If line is shortened = - value
IV. STRAIN ELLIPSE:
A. e1 = x direction = max elongation (max principle e)
B. e3 = z direction = min elongation (min principle e)
V. STRESS vs. STRAIN ELLIPSES
A. Inversely related
e.g., silly putty
VI. COMPARISON OF 2 STRAIN PATHS - PURE SHEAR vs. SIMPLE SHEAR
A. Pure shear - orientation of principal strain axes is constant (irrotational strain)
e.g., silly putty
B. Simple shear (shear zones) - Only one line maintains its original orientation and doesn't shorten or lengthen. Principal axes do rotate = rotational strain
VI. DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN STRAIN ANALYSIS:
A. Volume changes - e.g., metamorphism of shale produces volume changes
e.g. shale - lower specific gravity = 2.5 - 2.6 metamorphism à schist - micas with s.g. = 2.8 - 3.2
1. Higher density, removal of pore spaces, new crystals
B. Deformation of original coordinate system
C. Strain path:
1. d1 à shortening + extension
2. d2 à shortening + elongation
VII. WAYS OF ILLUSTRATING STRAIN:
A. Finite strain ellipsoid
1. Principal strains = x, y, and z mutually perpendicular
2. xyz ¹ 0
3. x ³y ³
z
4. x = max prin. strain, z = min prin. strain
5. Special cases:
a. If x = y > z -- pancake
b. If x > y = z -- cigar shaped
c. y =1, plane strain = all elong./short. going on x, z axes
B. Flinn diagram - plots ratio of x/y against ratio y/z
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