In physics, elasticity (from Greek "ductible") is the tendency of solid materials to return to

their original shape after being deformed. Solid objects will deform when forces are applied on them.
If the material is elastic, the object will return to its initial shape and size when these forces are
removed.
The physical reasons for elastic behavior can be quite different for different materials. In metals, the
atomic lattice changes size and shape when forces are applied (energy is added to the system).
When forces are removed, the lattice goes back to the original lower energy state. For rubbers and
other polymers, elasticity is caused by the stretching of polymer chains when forces are applied.
Perfect elasticity is an approximation of the real world, and few materials remain purely elastic even
after very small deformations. In engineering, the amount of elasticity of a material is determined by
two types of material parameter. The first type of material parameter is called a modulus, which
measures the amount of force per unit area (stress) needed to achieve a given amount of
deformation. The units of modulus are pascals (Pa) or pounds of force per square inch (psi, also
lbf/in2). A higher modulus typically indicates that the material is harder to deform. The second type of
parameter measures the elastic limit. The limit can be a stress beyond which the material no longer
behaves elastic and deformation of the material will take place. If the stress is released, the material
will elastically return to a permanent deformed shape instead of the original shape.
When describing the relative elasticities of two materials, both the modulus and the elastic limit have
to be considered. Rubbers typically have a low modulus and tend to stretch a lot (that is, they have a
high elastic limit) and so appear more elastic than metals (high modulus and low elastic limit) in
everyday experience. Of two rubber materials with the same elastic limit, the one with a lower
modulus will appear to be more elastic.
Contents
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1 Overview

2 Linear elasticity

3 Finite elasticity
o

3.1 Cauchy elastic materials

3.2 Hypoelastic materials

3.3 Hyperelastic materials

4 Applications

5 Factors affecting elasticity

6 See also

7 References

Overview[edit]
When an elastic material is deformed due to an external force, it experiences internal forces that
oppose the deformation and restore it to its original state if the external force is no longer applied.
There are various elastic moduli, such as Young's modulus, the shear modulus, and the bulk
modulus, all of which are measures of the inherent stiffness of a material as a resistance to
deformation under an applied load. The various moduli apply to different kinds of deformation. For
instance, Young's modulus applies to uniform extension, whereas the shear modulus applies
to shearing.
The elasticity of materials is described by a stress-strain curve, which shows the relation
between stress (the average restorative internal force per unit area) and strain (the relative
deformation).[1] For most metals or crystalline materials, the curve is linear for small deformations,
and so the stress-strain relationship can adequately be described byHooke's law, and higher-order
terms can be ignored. However, for larger stresses beyond the elastic limit, the relation is no longer
linear. For even higher stresses, materials exhibit plastic behavior, that is, they deform irreversibly
and do not return to their original shape after stress is no longer applied. [2] For rubber-like materials
such as elastomers, the gradient of the stress-strain curve increases with stress, meaning that
rubbers progressively become more difficult to stretch, while for most metals, the gradient decreases
at very high stresses, meaning that they progressively become easier to stretch. [3] Elasticity is not
exhibited only by solids; non-Newtonian fluids, such as viscoelastic fluids, will also exhibit elasticity
in certain conditions. In response to a small, rapidly applied and removed strain, these fluids may
deform and then return to their original shape. Under larger strains, or strains applied for longer
periods of time, these fluids may start to flow like a viscous liquid.
Because the elasticity of a material is described in terms of a stress-strain relation, it is essential that
the terms stress and strain be defined without ambiguity. Typically, two types of relation are
considered. The first type deals with materials that are elastic only for small strains. The second
deals with materials that are not limited to small strains. Clearly, the second type of relation is more
general.
For small strains, the measure of stress that is used is the Cauchy stress while the measure of strain
that is used is the infinitesimal strain tensor. The stress and strain measures are related by a linear
relation known as Hooke's law. Linear elasticity describes the behavior of such materials. Cauchy
elastic materials and Hypoelastic materials are models that extend Hooke's law to allow for the
possibility of large rotations.

For more general situations, any of a number of stress measures can be used provided they
are work conjugate to an appropriate finite strain measure, i.e., the product of the stress measure
and the strain measure should be equal to the internal energy (which does not depend on how the
stress or strain are measured). Hyperelasticity is the preferred approach for dealing with finite strains
and several material models analogous to Hooke's law are in use.

Linear elasticity[edit]
Main article: Linear elasticity
As noted above, for small deformations, most elastic materials such as springs exhibit linear
elasticity and can be described by a linear relation between the stress and strain. This relationship is
known as Hooke's law. A geometry-dependent version of the idea[4] was first formulated by Robert
Hooke in 1675 as a Latin anagram, "ceiiinosssttuv". He published the answer in 1678: "Ut tensio, sic
vis" meaning "As the extension, so the force",[5][6][7] a linear relationship commonly referred to
as Hooke's law. This law can be stated as a relationship between force F and displacement x,

where k is a constant known as the rate or spring constant. It can also be stated as a
relationship between stress and strain :

where E Is known as the elastic modulus or Young's modulus.

Although the general proportionality constant between stress and strain in three dimensions
is a 4th order tensor, systems that exhibit symmetry, such as a one-dimensional rod, can
often be reduced to applications of Hooke's law.

Finite elasticity[edit]
The elastic behavior of objects that undergo finite deformations have been described using
a number of models, such as Cauchy elastic material models, Hypoelastic materialmodels,
and Hyperelastic material models. The primary measure that is used to quantity finite strains
is the deformation gradient (F). More convenient strain measures can be derived from this
primary quantity.

Cauchy elastic materials[edit]

Main article: Cauchy elastic material
A material is said to be Cauchy-elastic if the Cauchy stress tensor is a function of
the strain tensor (deformation gradient) F alone:

Even though the stress in a Cauchy-elastic material depends only on the state of
deformation, the work done by stresses may depend on the path of deformation.
Therefore a Cauchy elastic material has a non-conservative structure, and the stress
cannot be derived from a scalar "elastic potential" function.

Hypoelastic materials[edit]
Main article: Hypoelastic material
Hypoelastic materials are described by a relation of the form

This model is an extension of linear elasticity and suffers from the same form of
non-conservative behaviour as Cauchy elastic materials.

Hyperelastic materials[edit]
Main article: Hyperelastic material
Hyperelastic materials (also called Green elastic materials) are conservative models
that are derived from a strain energy density function (W). The stress-strain relation
for such materials takes the form

Applications[edit]
Linear elasticity is used widely in the design and analysis of structures such
as beams, plates and shells, and sandwich composites. This theory is also the
basis of much offracture mechanics.
Hyperelasticity is primarily used to determine the response of elastomer-based
objects such as gaskets and of biological materials such as soft tissues and cell
membranes.

Factors affecting elasticity[edit]