DIRECTIONS OF EXTREME STIFFNESS AND STRENGTH IN LINEAR ELASTIC ANISOTROPIC SOLIDS

Abstract

An investigation for directions of extreme - maximum or minimum - values of the longitudinal and transverse stiffness moduli as well as of the limit uniaxial and limit shear stresses in anisotropic linear elastic solids is performed in the pa­per. The cases of cubic symmetry (regular crystal system) and of volumetrically isotropic cylindrical symmetry (hexago­nal crystal system with additional constraints) are considered. The systems of non-linear equations for the components of the versors of investigated directions are derived with use of the spectral decomposition of the elasticity (stiffness and compliance) tensors.