CHAPTER THREE

Kinematic Analysis of Structures

Kinematics is the study of motion of points in a

rock mass or rock bodies, from the micro-scale to
that of global plate tectonics.

Lecturer:
Elias A. MSc (Engineering geologist) 1
 Rock Deformation
Deformation is the transformation from an initial to a final geometry by means of
rigid body translation, rigid body rotation, strain (distortion) and/or volume change.
Collective displacements of points in a body relative to an external reference
frame
Deformation of a rock body occurs in response to a force
• Homogeneous deformation: Straight lines remain straight, parallel lines remain
parallel, and identically shaped and oriented objects will also be identically shaped
and oriented after the deformation.
-Homogeneous strain: strain is the same at every point in the deformed body
• If not, then the deformation is heterogeneous
(inhomogeneous).
 Inhomogeneous strain: strain is different in every point in the deformed body

• Undeformed state is used as a reference frame

 Commonly, we do not know the initial state

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 Deformation …
• Deformation involves any one, or a
combination, of the following four
components:

• Ways that rocks respond to stress:

1. Rigid Body Translation
2. Rigid Body Rotation
3. Distortion or Strain
4. Dilation
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 Deformation Components
• The components of deformation are divided into
rigid and non-rigid body deformation

• With rigid body deformation the position and

orientation of points in a rock body relative to an
internal reference frame are not changed

• With non-rigid body deformation, the position and

orientation of points within a rock body are changed
relative to both an internal and external reference
frame
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 Rigid Body Rotation
• Rotation is a rigid body deformation that changes the
configuration of points relative to some external
reference frame in a way best described by
• rotation about some axis

• Particles within the body do not change relative position

• No translation or strain is involved
• Particle lines rotate relative to an external coordinate
system
– Examples
• Rotation of a car
• Rotation of a fault block

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Clockwise Rotation about the z-axis

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 Rigid Body Translation
• A rigid body deformation involving movement of the body
from one place to another, i.e., change in position
– Particles within the body do not change relative position
– No rotation or strain are involved
– Particle lines do not rotate relative to an external
coordinate system

– Displacement vectors are straight lines

– e.g., movement of a fault block

• During pure translation, a body of rock is displaced in such a

way that all points within a body move along parallel paths
relative to some external reference frame

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Translation Parallel to the Y axis

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 Strain or Distortion
 Any change in shape, with or without change in volume, is referred to
as strain, and it implies that particles in a rock have changed positions
relative to each other.
• Distortion is a non-rigid body operation that involves the change in
the spacing of points within a body of rock in such a way that the
overall shape of the body is altered with or without a change in
volume

• Changes of points in body relative to each other

– Particle lines may rotate relative to an external coordinate system
Example: squeezing a paste

• In rocks, we deal with processes that lead to both movement and

distortion
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Strain or Distortion

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 Dilation
• Dilation is a non-rigid body operation involving a
change in volume

• Pure dilation:
– The overall shape remains the same

– Internal points of reference spread apart (+ev) or

pack closer (-ev) together

– Line lengths between points become uniformly

longer or shorter
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Dilation

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 General Deformation
• During deformation one or more of the four components
of deformation may be zero

• If, for example, during deformation the rock body

undergoes no distortion or no volume change, then
deformation consists of either a rigid-body translation, a
rigid-body rotation, or includes components of both
translation and rotation

• In contrast, if volume change, translation, and rotation

are all zero, then deformation consists of a non-rigid
body distortion or strain
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 Strain vs. Deformation
• Though commonly confused with each other, strain is
only synonymous with deformation if there has been
distortion without any volume change, translation, or
rotation

• Strain represents only one of four possible

components involved in the overall deformation of a
rock body where it has been transformed from its
original position, size, and shape to some new location
and configuration

• Strain describes the changes of points in a body relative

to each other, or, in other words, the distortions a body
undergoes

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Homogeneous vs. Inhomogeneous Strain
• Mathematical treatments of strain commonly
assume homogeneous rather than
heterogeneous distortions or strains

• However, any heterogeneously strained rock

body can be subdivided into small areas that
exhibit the characteristics of homogeneous
strain (these areas are called domain)

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 Homogeneous Strain
• Positions of points with respect to some
reference point in a strained domain are a linear
function of their position with respect to the
same reference point before strain

• The directions of the lines may change

• In other words, in homogeneous deformation,

originally straight lines remain straight after
deformation
– also called affine deformation
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 Homogeneous Strain
• Homogeneous strain affects non-rigid rock bodies
in a regular, uniform manner
• During homogeneous strain parallel lines before
strain remain parallel after strain, as a result
cubes or squares are distorted into prisms and
parallelograms respectively, while spheres and
circles are transformed into ellipsoids and
ellipses respectively
• For these generalizations to hold true, the strain
must be systematic and uniform across the body
that has been deformed
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 Homogeneous Deformation

• Originally straight lines remain straight

• Originally parallel lines remain parallel

• Circles (spheres) become ellipses (ellipsoids)

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Homogeneous Strain

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 Homogeneous Deformation
 Pure shear and simple shear
Pure shear: also called irrotational strain.
 There is no rotation of the incremental strain axes from an initial to final
strain state (i.e. during the progressive strain )
 There is a uniform elongation in 1 direction and Uniform
contraction in perpendicular direction .

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 Homogeneous Deformation - Simple Shear
simple shear: called rotational shear strain
 Axes of strain ellipsoid rotate through time.
 Strain axes do not remain parallel during progressive
deformation ,they become rotated & change there
orientation .

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Relationship between pure shear and simple shear strain

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 Inhomogeneous Strain
• Heterogeneous strain affects non-rigid bodies in an
irregular, non-uniform manner and is sometimes
referred to as non-homogeneous or
inhomogeneous strain

• During heterogeneous strain, parallel lines before

strain are not parallel after strain

• Circles and squares or their three-dimensional

counter parts, cubes and spheres, are distorted into
complex forms
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Heterogeneous or Inhomogeneous strain

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STRAIN

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 STRAIN
• Changes in the shape or size of a rock body caused
by stress.
• Strain occurs when stresses exceed rock strength.
• Strained rocks deform by folding, flowing, or
fracturing

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STRETCH

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DISPLACEMENT

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STRAIN ELLIPSE

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ROTATION OF LINES

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PRINCIPAL AXES OF STRAIN

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 Lines of no finite elongation
 In any homogenous deformation with out
volume change ,there are two lines which
have the same length both before and
after the deformation . These are called “
lines Of no finite elongation”(LNFE)

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 The stress state at a point cannot be described by a single
vector.
 Why? Because a point represents the intersection of an infinite
number of planes, and without knowing which plane you are
talking about, you cannot define the stress vector.
 If you want to describe the stress state at a point you must have
a tool that will allow you to calculate the stress vector
associated with any of the infinite number of planes.
 We introduced three tools:
1. the stress ellipsoid,
2. the three principal stress axes, and
3. the stress tensor.
• The stress ellipsoid is the envelope containing the tails or tips
(for compression and tension, respectively) of the stress vectors
associated with the infinite number of planes passing through
the point, with each of the specified vectors and its opposite
associated with one plane. 47
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 COAXIAL STRAIN

• Coaxial deformation implies that lines along the principal strain axes
have the same orientation as they had in the undeformed state.
• Pure shear is a perfect coaxial strain.

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 NON-COAXIAL STRAIN

• For non-coaxial deformations, the orientations of the principal strain

axes are different for different amounts of strain, while for coaxial
deformations they always point in the same directions (same
orientation, different lengths).
• simple shear is a non-coaxial deformation, meaning that lines parallel
to the principal strain axes have rotated away from their initial
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positions.
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Rheology

is Mechanical behavior of rocks

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Rheology
Elastic, Plastic and Viscous behavior
of materials
Controlling factors on rock mechanics

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Terminology related to rheology, with emphasis on behavior and mechanisms

• Brittle-ductile transition- Depth in the Earth below which brittle behavior is replaced by ductile
processes.
• Brittle-plastic transition- Depth in the Earth where the dominant deformation mechanism changes
from fracturing to crystal plastic processes.
• Competency- Relative term comparing the resistance of rocks to flow.
• Failure stress- Stress at which failure occurs.
• Fracturing - Deformation mechanism by which a rock body or mineral loses coherency.
• Crystal plasticity - Deformation mechanism that involves breaking of atomic bonds without the
material losing coherency.
• Strength - Stress that a material can support before failure.
• Ultimate strength- Maximum stress that a material undergoing work softening can support before
failure.
• Work hardening - Condition in which stress necessary to continue deformation experiment increases.
• Work softening - Condition in which stress necessary to continue deformation experiment decreases.
• Yield stress - Stress at which permanent strain occurs.
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Material behavior
• Brittle behavior - Response of a solid material to stress during which the rock loses continuity
(cohesion). Brittle behavior reflects the occurrence of brittle deformation mechanisms. It occurs only
when stresses exceed a critical value, and thus only occurs after the body has already undergone some
elastic and/ or plastic behavior. The stress necessary to induce brittle behavior is affected strongly by
pressure (stress-sensitive behavior); brittle behavior generally does not occur at high temperatures.

• Ductile behavior- A general term for the response of a solid material to stress such that the rock appears
to flow macroscopically like a viscous fluid. In a material that has deformed ductility, strain is
distributed, i.e., strain develops without the formation of Mesoscopic discontinuities in the material.
Ductile behavior can involve brittle (cataclastic flow) or plastic deformation mechanisms.

• Elastic behavior- Response of a solid material to stress such that the material develops an instantaneous,
recoverable strain that is linearly proportional to the applied stress. Elastic behavior reflects the
occurrence of elastic deformation mechanisms. Rocks can undergo less than a few percent elastic strain
before they fail by brittle or plastic mechanisms, and conditions of failure are dependent on pressure and
temperature during deformation.

• Plastic behavior - Response of a solid material to stress such that when stresses exceed the yield
strength of the material, it develops a strain without loss of continuity (i.e., without formation of
fractures). Plastic behavior reflects the occurrence of plastic deformation mechanisms, is affected
strongly by temperature, and requires time to accumulate (strain rate–sensitive behavior).
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• Viscous behavior - Response of a liquid material to a stress. As soon as the differential stress becomes
greater than zero, a viscous material begins to flow, and the flow rate is proportional to the magnitude of
the stress. Viscous deformation takes time to develop.

Deformation mechanisms
• Brittle deformation mechanisms - Mechanisms by which brittle deformation occurs, namely fracture
growth and frictional sliding. Fracture growth includes both joint formation and shear rupture formation,
and sliding implies faulting. If fracture formation and frictional sliding occur at a grain scale, the
resulting deformation is called cataclasis; if cataclasis results in the rock “flowing” like a viscous fluid,
then the process is called cataclastic flow.

• Elastic deformation mechanisms- Mechanisms by which elastic behavior occurs, namely the bending
and stretching, without breaking of chemical bonds holding atoms or molecules together.

• Plastic deformation mechanisms - Mechanisms by which plastic deformation occurs, namely

dislocation glide, dislocation creep (glide and climb; including recovery, recrystallization), diffusive mass
transfer (grain-boundary diffusion or Coble creep, and diffusion through the grain or Herring-Nabarro
creep), grain–boundary sliding/super-plasticity. 58
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 MATERIAL PARAMETERS
 Rheology depends on:
Extrinsic (external) conditions such as:
P, T, t, chemistry of the environment

Intrinsic (internal) material properties such as:

rock composition, mass, density

 Are related to the rheological properties of a body, e.g.:

rigidity
compressibility
viscosity, fluidity
elasticity

These depend on external parameters

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 Constitutive Equations
A constitutive equation in general expresses a relation between any two
physical quantities that are characteristic of a given substance.

 Mechanical state of a body is specified by:

Kinematic quantities such as:

 strain, e
 displacement, d
 velocity, v
 acceleration, a

 Dynamic quantities such as:

 force, F
 stress, σ

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 when a stress is applied on the rock it behaves differently
due to different conditions.

 The responses of the rocks are generalized

into three models:

Elastic behavior model

Plastic behavior model
Viscous behavior model

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 Elastic behavior
 Elastic strain is recoverable because it involves stretching rather
than breaking of atomic bonds.
 The three most common material parameter of
elasticity:

1. elastic modulus (E)for longitudinal strain

2. Shear modulus (G) for shear strain
3. Bulk modulus (K) for volumetric strain

1. Young’s modulus ( Elastic modulus)

σ= Ee (Law of Elasticity-Hook’s Law)

where:
 E= is Young’s Modulus of Elasticity
 E=σ/e is the slope of the line and it is constant
 σ & e are stress and strain respectively. 65
 Characteristics of Elasticity
 Instantaneous deformation upon application of a load.

 Instantaneous and total recovery upon removal of load (rubber band,

spring).

 It is the only thermodynamically reversible rheological behavior

 Stress and strains involved are small.

 Energy introduced remains available for returning the system to

its original state (internal strain energy).

 It does not dissipate into heat; i.e., strain is recoverable.

 Typically, elastic strains are less than a few percent of the total strain.

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Stress/strain diagram. Stress is shown on the vertical axis and strain on the horizontal axis. The elastic part of the
deformation is displayed by the green curve . Plastic deformation is shown by the purple curve (yield stress). Material
that undergoes plastic deformation with strain hardening behaviour is represented by the red curve ; plastic deformation
with strain softening is shown by the blue curve . Figure is modified after Hajiabdolmajid et al. (2002) .
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2. Shear Modulus
 For shear stress and strains

ss = Gg
 g =shear strain
 The proportionality constant G between stress
and shear strain is the shear modulus
(rigidity)

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 3. Bulk Modulus
 For volume change under pressure:
P = Kev
 K = P/ev
 K is the bulk modulus; ev is dilation
 K is the proportionality constant between
pressure and volumetric strain

 The inverse of the bulk modulus is the

compressibility:
k = 1/K
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 Units of the proportionality constants

 The proportionality constants ‘E’, ‘G’, and ‘K’ are the

slope of the line in the s-e diagram
(slope = s/e)

 Since ‘E’, ,’G’, and K’ are the ratio of stress over

strain (s/e), their units are stress (e.g., Pa, Mpa, bar)
because ‘e’ is dimensionless

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 Plastic behavior
 plastic behavior mean: If the materials
deformed by an applied external stress and
remains deformed after the stress is removed.
 Plastic strain is continuous - the material does
not rupture immediately , and the strain is
irreversible (permanent).
 Unlike elastic deformation Plastic
deformation produces a permanent change in
shape of a solid without failure.

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 The general Graphically elaboration about elastic and
plastic behavior of material

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 Viscous behavior
Before going to talk about viscose behavior of
material we need to mind about strain rate.

Strain rate is nothing but the ratio of strain over time.

e’ =e/t
This tells us the effect of time on the response of material.

Note that :

Elastic –is time independent

Plastic -is time dependent and
Viscous- is also time dependent

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 Keep in mined the idea of strain rate know we can
define a new type of material response called
viscosity.
Viscosity is the resistance of a material to flow
It is a behavior of fluids .

σ= e’:
Where:
 σ is stress and e’ is strain rate
 Where as  is proportional
viscosity constant

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 Count....
 materials with high viscosity flow very slowly
 And Materials with low viscosity flow rapidly.

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Distinction between stress and strain:

• stress is instantaneous; exists only when applied

• strain is the deformation in the rock that results
(this is basis for detailed structural analysis)

an applied stress yields strain

each has its own terms associated with it:

stress: compression and tension

strain: shortening (contraction) and lengthening
(extension)
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STRESS-STRAIN

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SHEAR STRESS AND STRAIN

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How a material behaves will depend on several factors
• Temperature - At high temperature molecules and their bonds can stretch and move, thus
materials will behave in more ductile manner. At low Temperature, materials are brittle.

• Confining Pressure - At high confining pressure materials are less likely to fracture
because the pressure of the surroundings tends to hinder the formation of fractures. At low
confining stress, material will be brittle and tend to fracture sooner.

• Strain rate -- At high strain rates material tends to fracture. At low strain rates more time is
available for individual atoms to move and therefore ductile behaviour is favoured.

• Composition -- Some minerals, like quartz, olivine, and feldspars are very brittle. Others,
like clay minerals, micas, and calcite are more ductile. This is due to the chemical bond types
that hold them together. Thus, the mineralogical composition of the rock will be a factor in
determining the deformational behavior of the rock. Another aspect is presence or absence
of water. Water appears to weaken the chemical bonds and forms films around mineral
grains along which slippage can take place. Thus wet rock tends to behave in ductile
manner, while dry rocks tend to behave in brittle manner. 79
 Factors Affecting Deformation
 Confining pressure, Pc

 Effective confining pressure, Pe

 Pore pressure, Pf is taken into account

 Temperature, T

.
 Strain rate, e

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 Effect of T
– Increasing T increases ductility by activating crystal-plastic processes
– Increasing T lowers the yield stress (maximum stress before plastic flow),
reducing the elastic range
– Increasing T lowers the ultimate rock strength

Ductility: The % of strain that a rock can take without fracturing in a

macroscopic scale.

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Strain Rate, e
Strain rate:
• The time interval it takes to accumulate a certain amount of strain
• Change of strain with time (change in length per length per time). Slow strain
rate means that strain changes slowly with time.
• How fast change in length occurs per unit time

e. = de/dt = (dl/lo)/dt [T-1]

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  This field
Stress, σ

may never
rupture

Effect of T

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 .
Effect of strain rate e
 Decreasing strain rate:
 decreases rock strength
 increases ductility

.
 Effect of slow e is analogous to increasing T

 Rocks are weaker at lower strain rates

 Slow deformation allows diffusional crystal-plastic processes to more
closely keep up with applied stress
Stress, σ

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 Stress σ

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Pc
 Effect of Fluid Pressure Pf
• Increasing pore fluid pressure
– reduces rock strength
– reduces ductility
• The combined reduced ductility and strength promotes flow
under high pore fluid pressure
• Under ‘wet’ conditions, rocks deform more readily by flow

– Increasing pore fluid pressure is analogous to decreasing

confining pressure.
Stress, σ

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 Factors Affecting Strength
 Increasing temperature decreases strength

 Increasing confining pressure causes significant

 increase in the amount of flow before rupture
 increase in rupture strength
 (i.e., rock strength increases with confining pressure

 This effect is much more pronounced at low T (< 100o) where frictional
processes dominate, and diminishes at higher T (> 350o) where ductile
deformation processes, that are temperature dominated, are less influenced
by pressure
 Increasing time decreases strength

 Solutions (water) decrease strength, particularly in silicates by weakening

bonds (hydrolytic weakening)

 High fluid pressure weakens rocks because it reduces effective stress

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General ranking:
Strongest Competent, likely to deform in brittle manner
Quartzite
Granite
Quartz-cemented sandstone
Basalt
Limestone
Calcite-cemented sandstone
Schist
Marble
Shale/mudstone
Anhydrite
Salt
Weakest Incompetent, likely to deform in ductile manner
CH 4. Joints and Shear Fractures.ppt 88