Nonlinear Eulerian thermoelasticity for anisotropic crystals

A complete continuum thermoelastic theory for large deformation of crystals of arbitrary symmetry is developed. The theory incorporates as a fundamental state variable in the thermodynamic potentials what is termed an Eulerian strain tensor (in material coordinates) constructed from the inverse of the deformation gradient. Thermodynamic identities and relationships among Eulerian and the usual Lagrangian material coefficients are derived, significantly extending previous literature that focused on materials with cubic or hexagonal symmetry and hydrostatic loading conditions. Analytical solutions for homogeneous deformations of ideal cubic crystals are studied over a prescribed range of elastic coefficients; stress states and intrinsic stability measures are compared. For realistic coefficients, Eulerian theory is shown to predict more physically realistic behavior than Lagrangian theory under large compression and shear. Analytical solutions for shock compression of anisotropic single crystals are derived for internal energy functions quartic in Lagrangian or Eulerian strain and linear in entropy; results are analyzed for quartz, sapphire, and diamond. When elastic constants of up to order four are included, both Lagrangian and Eulerian theories are capable of matching Hugoniot data. When only the second-order elastic constant is known, an alternative theory incorporating a mixed Eulerian–Lagrangian strain tensor provides a reasonable approximation of experimental data.