Infinitesimal Strain Theory - Strain Tensor in Spherical Coordinates

Strain Tensor in Spherical Coordinates

In spherical coordinates, the displacement vector can be written as

$\mathbf{u} = u_r~\mathbf{e}_r + u_\theta~\mathbf{e}_\theta + u_\phi~\mathbf{e}_\phi$

The components of the strain tensor in a spherical coordinate system are given by

$\begin{align} \varepsilon_{rr} & = \cfrac{\partial u_r}{\partial r} \\ \varepsilon_{\theta\theta} & = \cfrac{1}{r}\left(\cfrac{\partial u_\theta}{\partial \theta} + u_r\right) \\ \varepsilon_{\phi\phi} & = \cfrac{1}{r\sin\theta}\left(\cfrac{\partial u_\phi}{\partial \phi} + u_r\sin\theta + u_\theta\cos\theta\right)\\ \varepsilon_{r\theta} & = \cfrac{1}{2}\left(\cfrac{1}{r}\cfrac{\partial u_r}{\partial \theta} + \cfrac{\partial u_\theta}{\partial r}- \cfrac{u_\theta}{r}\right) \\ \varepsilon_{\theta \phi} & = \cfrac{1}{2r}\left(\cfrac{1}{\sin\theta}\cfrac{\partial u_\theta}{\partial \phi} + \cfrac{\partial u_\phi}{\partial \theta} - u_\phi\cot\theta\right) \\ \varepsilon_{\phi r} & = \cfrac{1}{2}\left(\cfrac{1}{r\sin\theta}\cfrac{\partial u_r}{\partial \phi} + \cfrac{\partial u_\phi}{\partial r} - \cfrac{u_\phi}{r}\right) \end{align}$