2.5 Work done by stresses; Principle of Virtual Work
In this section, we derive formulas
that enable you to calculate the work done by stresses acting on a solid. In addition, we prove the principle of virtual work which is an alternative way of expressing the
equations of motion and equilibrium derived in Section 2.4. The principle of virtual work is the starting
point for finite element analysis, and so is a particularly important result.

2.5.1 Work done by Cauchy stresses
Consider a solid
with mass density in its initial configuration, and density in the deformed solid, as shown in the figure.
Let denote the Cauchy stress distribution within
the solid. Assume that the solid is
subjected to a body force (per unit mass), and let and denote the displacement, velocity and
acceleration of a material particle at position in the deformed solid. In addition, let
denote the stretch
rate in the solid.
The rate of work done by Cauchy stresses per
unit deformed volume is then . This energy is either dissipated as heat or stored
as internal energy in the solid, depending on the material behavior.
We shall show that the rate of work done by internal forces
acting on any sub-volume V bounded by
a surface A in the deformed solid can
be calculated from
Here, the two terms on the left hand
side represent the rate of work done by tractions and body forces acting on the
solid (work done = force x velocity). The first
term on the right-hand side can be interpreted as the work done by Cauchy
stresses; the second term is the rate of change of kinetic energy.
Derivation: Substitute
for in terms of Cauchy stress to see that
Now, apply the divergence theorem to
the first term on the right hand side
Evaluate the derivative and collect
together the terms involving body force and stress divergence
Recall the equation of motion
and note that since
the stress is symmetric
to see that
Finally, note that
Finally, substitution leads to
as required.
2.5.2 Rate of
mechanical work in terms of other stress measures
· The rate of work
done per unit undeformed volume by Kirchhoff stress is
· The rate of work
done per unit undeformed volume by Nominal stress is
· The rate of work
done per unit undeformed volume by Material stress is
This shows that
nominal stress and deformation gradient are work
conjugate, as are material stress and Lagrange strain.
In addition, the rate of work done on a volume
of the undeformed solid can be expressed as
Derivations: The
proof of the first result (and the stress power of Kirchhoff stress) is
straightforward and is left as an exercise.
To show the second result, note that and to re-write the integrals over the undeformed
solid; then and apply the divergence theorem to see that
Evaluate the derivative, recall that and use the equation of motion
to see that
Finally, note that and re-write the second integral as a kinetic
energy term as before to obtain the required result.
The third result follows by straightforward algebraic
manipulations note that by definition
Since is symmetric it follows that
2.5.3 Rate of
mechanical work for infinitesimal deformations
For infintesimal
motions all stress measures are equal; and all strain rate measures can be
approximated by the infinitesimal strain tensor . The rate of work done by stresses per unit
volume of either deformed or undeformed solid (the difference is neglected) can
be expressed as , and the work done
on a volume of the solid is
2.5.4 The principle
of Virtual Work
The principle of virtual work forms
the basis for the finite element method in the mechanics of solids and so will
be discussed in detail in this section.

Suppose that a deformable solid is
subjected to loading that induces a displacement field , and a velocity field , as shown in the figure. The loading
consists of a prescribed displacement on part of the boundary (denoted by ), together with a traction t
(which may be zero in places) applied to the rest of the boundary (denoted by ). The loading induces a Cauchy
stress .
The stress field satisfies the angular momentum balance equation .
The principle of virtual work is a
different way of re-writing partial differential equation for linear moment
balance
in an equivalent integral form, which is much better
suited for computer solution.
To express the principle, we define a
kinematically admissible virtual
velocity field , satisfying on .
You can visualize this field as a small change in the velocity of the solid,
if you like, but it is really just an arbitrary differentiable vector
field. The term `kinematically
admissible’ is just a complicated way of saying that the field is continuous,
differentiable, and satisfies on - that is to say, if you perturb the velocity by
, the boundary conditions on
displacement are still satisfied.
In addition, we define an associated virtual velocity gradient, and virtual stretch rate as
The principal of virtual work may be stated in two ways.
First version of the
principle of virtual work
The first is not very interesting, but we will state it
anyway. Suppose that the Cauchy stress
satisfies:
1. The boundary condition on
2. The linear momentum balance equation
Then the virtual work equation
is satisfied for all virtual velocity fields.
Proof: Observe that since the Cauchy stress is
symmetric
Next, note that
Finally, substituting the latter identity into the virtual
work equation, applying the divergence theorem, using the linear momentum balance
equation and boundary conditions on and we obtain the required result.
Second version of the principle of virtual work
The converse of this statement is
much more interesting and useful.
Suppose that satisfies the virtual work equation
for all virtual velocity fields .
Then the stress field must satisfy
1. The boundary condition on
2. The linear momentum balance equation
The significance of this result is
that it gives us an alternative way to solve for a stress field that satisfies
the linear momentum balance equation, which
avoids having to differentiate the stress.
It is not easy to differentiate functions accurately in the computer,
but it is easy to integrate them. The
virtual work statement is the starting point for any finite element solution
involving deformable solids.
Proof: Follow
the same preliminary steps as before, i..e.
and substitute into the virtual work
equation
Apply the divergence theorem to the
first term in the first integral, and recall that on , we see that
Since this must hold for all virtual
velocity fields we could choose
where is an arbitrary function that is positive
everywhere inside the solid, but is equal to zero on .
For this choice, the virtual work equation reduces to
and since the integrand is positive
everywhere the only way the equation can be satisfied is if
Given this, we can
next choose a virtual velocity field that satisfies
on .
For this choice (and noting that the volume integral is zero) the
virtual work equation reduces to
Again, the integrand is positive
everywhere (it is a perfect square) and so can vanish only if
as stated.
2.5.5 The Virtual
Work equation in terms of other stress measures.
It is often convenient to implement
the virtual work equation in a finite element code using different stress
measures.
To do so, we define
1. The actual deformation gradient in
the solid
2. The virtual rate of change of
deformation gradient
3. The virtual rate of change of
Lagrange strain
In addition, we define (in the usual
way)
1. Kirchhoff stress
2. Nominal (First Piola-Kirchhoff)
stress
3. Material
(Second Piola-Kirchhoff) stress
In terms of these quantities, the
virtual work equation may be expressed as
Note that all the volume integrals
are now taken over the undeformed solid
this is convenient for computer applications,
because the shape of the undeformed solid is known. The area integral is evaluated over the deformed solid, unfortunately. It can be expressed as an equivalent integral
over the undeformed solid, but the result is messy and will be deferred until
we actually need to do it.
2.5.6 The Virtual
Work equation for infinitesimal deformations.
For infintesimal
motions, the Cauchy, Nominal, and Material stress tensors are equal; and the
virtual stretch rate can be replaced by the virtual infinitesimal strain rate
There is no need to
distinguish between the volume or surface area of the deformed and undeformed solid. The virtual work equation can thus be
expressed as
for all kinematically admissible
velocity fields.
As a special case, this expression
can be applied to a quasi-static state with . Then, for a stress state satisfying the static equilibrium equation and boundary conditions on , the virtual work equation reduces
to
In which are kinematically admissible displacements components
on S2)
and .
Conversely, if the stress state satisfies
for every set of kinematically
admissible virtual displacements, then the stress state satisfies the static equilibrium equation and boundary conditions on .