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VectorsandTensorOperationsinPolarCoordinates

Manysimpleboundaryvalueproblemsinsolidmechanics(suchasthosethattendtoappearinhomeworkassignmentsor
examinations!)aremostconvenientlysolvedusingsphericalorcylindricalpolarcoordinatesystems.

Themaindrawbackofusingapolarcoordinatesystemisthatthereisnoconvenientwaytoexpressthevariousvector
andtensoroperationsusingindexnotationeverythinghastobewrittenoutinlonghand.Inthissection,therefore,we
completelyabandonindexnotationvectorandtensorcomponentsarealwaysexpressedasmatrices.

Sphericalpolarcoordinates

1.1Specifyingpointsinsphericalpolarcoordinate s

To specify points in space using sphericalpolar coordinates, we first choose two

convenient, mutually perpendicular reference directions (i and k in the picture).
Forexample,tospecifypositionontheEarthssurface,wemightchoosektopoint
fromthecenteroftheearthtowardstheNorthPole,andchooseitopointfromthe
centeroftheearthtowardstheintersectionoftheequator(whichhaszerodegrees
latitude) and the Greenwich Meridian (which has zero degrees longitude, by
definition).

Then, each point P in space is identified by three numbers,

shown in the
pictureabove.Thesearenotcomponentsofavector.

Inwords:
RisthedistanceofPfromtheorigin
istheanglebetweenthekdirectionandOP

istheanglebetweentheidirectionandtheprojectionofOPontoaplanethroughOnormaltok

Byconvention,wechoose

and

1.2ConvertingbetweenCartesianandSphericalPolarrepresentationsofpoints

When we use a Cartesian basis, we identify points in space by specifying the components of their position vector
relative to the origin (x,y,z), such that
When we use a sphericalpolar coordinate system, we locate
pointsbyspecifyingtheirsphericalpolarcoordinates

Theformulasbelowrelatethetworepresentations.Theyarederivedusingbasictrigonometry

1.3SphericalPolarrepresentationofvectors

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When we work with vectors in sphericalpolar coordinates, we abandon the

{i,j,k} basis. Instead, we specify vectors as components in the
basis shown in the figure. For example, an arbitrary vector a is
writtenas

,where

denotethecomponentsof

a.

ThebasisisdifferentforeachpointP.Inwords

pointsalongOP
istangenttoalineofconstantlongitudethroughP
istangenttoalineofconstantlatitudethroughP.

ForexampleifpolarcoordinatesareusedtospecifypointsontheEarthssurface,youcanvisualizethebasisvectors
likethis.SupposeyoustandatapointPontheEarthssurface.Relativetoyou: pointsverticallyupwards points
dueSouthand pointsdueEast.Noticethatthebasisvectorsdependonwhereyouarestanding.

Youcanalsovisualizethedirectionsasfollows.Toseethedirectionof ,keep and fixed,andincreaseR.Pis

movingparallelto .Toseethedirectionof ,keepRand fixed,andincrease .Pnowmovesparallelto .To
seethedirectionof ,keepRand fixed,andincrease .Pnowmovesparallelto .Mathematically,thisconcept
canbeexpressedasfollows.LetrbethepositionvectorofP.Then

Bydefinition,the`naturalbasisforacoordinatesystemisthederivativeofthepositionvectorwithrespecttothethree
scalarcoordinatesthatareusedtocharacterizepositioninspace(seeChapter10foramoredetaileddiscussion).The
basis vectors for a polar coordinate system are parallel to the natural basis vectors, but are normalized to have unit
length. In addition, the natural basis for a polar coordinate system happens to be orthogonal. Consequently,
isanorthonormalbasis(basisvectorshaveunitlength,aremutuallyperpendicularandformarighthanded
triad)

1.4ConvertingvectorsbetweenCartesianandSphericalPolarbases
Let

be a vector, with components

sphericalpolarbasis

.Let

in the

denotethecomponentsofain

thebasis{i,j,k}.

Thetwosetsofcomponentsarerelatedby

whiletheinverserelationshipis

Observe that the two 3x3 matrices involved in this transformation are transposes (and inverses) of one another. The
transformationmatrixisthereforeorthogonal,satisfying
,where denotesthe3x3identitymatrix.

Derivation:Itiseasiesttodothetransformationbyexpressingeachbasisvector
ascomponentsin{i,j,k},
andthensubstituting.Todothis,recallthat

,recallalsotheconversion

andfinallyrecallthatbydefinition

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Hence,substitutingforx,y,zanddifferentiating

Convenientlywefindthat

.Therefore

Similarly

while

sothat

Finally,substituting

Collectingtermsini,jandk,weseethat

Thisistheresultstated.

Toshowtheinverseresult,startbynotingthat

(wherewehaveused

).Recallthat

Substituting,weget
Proceedinginexactlythesamewayfortheothertwocomponentsgivestheremainingexpressions

Rewritingthelastthreeequationsinmatrixformgivestheresultstated.

1.5SphericalPolarrepresentationoftensors
The triad of vectors
is an orthonormal basis (i.e. the three basis
vectors have unit length, and are mutually perpendicular). Consequently,
tensorscanberepresentedascomponentsinthisbasisinexactlythesameway
asforafixedCartesianbasis
.Inparticular,ageneralsecondorder
tensorScanberepresentedasa3x3matrix

You can think of

as being equivalent to ,
as , and so on. All
tensor operations such as addition, multiplication by a vector, tensor products, etc can be expressed in terms of the
correspondingoperationsonthismatrix,asdiscussedinSectionB2ofAppendixB.
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Thecomponentrepresentationofatensorcanalsobeexpressedindyadicformas

Furthermore, the physical significance of the components can be interpreted in

exactly the same way as for tensor components in a Cartesian basis. For
example, the sphericalpolar coordinate representation for the Cauchy stress
tensorhastheform

Thecomponent
representsthetractioncomponentindirection actingonaninternalmaterialplanewithnormal
,andsoon.Ofcourse,theCauchystresstensorissymmetric,with

1.6Constitutiveequationsinsphericalpolarcoordinates

The constitutive equations listed in Chapter 3 all relate some measure of stress in the solid (expressed as a tensor) to
somemeasureoflocalinternaldeformation(deformationgradient,Eulerianstrain,rateofdeformationtensor,etc),also
expressed as a tensor. The constitutive equations can be used without modification in sphericalpolar coordinates, as
long as the matrices of Cartesian components of the various tensors are replaced by their equivalent matrices in
sphericalpolarcoordinates.

Forexample,thestressstrainrelationsforanisotropic,linearelasticmaterialinsphericalpolarcoordinatesread

HEALTHWARNING:Ifyouaresolvingaprobleminvolvinganisotropicmaterialsusingsphericalpolarcoordinates,
itisimportanttorememberthattheorientationofthebasisvectors
varywithposition.Forexample,foran
anisotropic,linearelasticsolidyoucouldwritetheconstitutiveequationas

however,theelasticconstants

wouldneedtoberepresentthematerialpropertiesinthebasis

,and

would therefore be functions of position (you would have to calculate them using the lengthy basis change formulas
listedinSection3.2.11).Inpracticetheresultsaresocomplicatedthattherewouldbeverylittleadvantageinworking
withasphericalpolarcoordinatesysteminthissituation.

1.7ConvertingtensorsbetweenCartesianandSphericalPolarbases

LetSbeatensor,withcomponents
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in the sphericalpolar basis

ContinuumMechanicsPolarCoordinates

and the Cartesian basis {i,j,k},

respectively.Thetwosetsofcomponentsarerelatedby

TheseresultsfollowimmediatelyfromthegeneralbasischangeformulasfortensorsgiveninAppendixB.

1.8VectorCalculususingSphericalPolarCoordinates

Calculatingderivativesofscalar,vectorandtensorfunctionsofpositioninsphericalpolarcoordinatesiscomplicatedby
thefactthatthebasisvectorsarefunctionsofposition.Theresultscanbeexpressedinacompactformbydefiningthe
gradientoperator,which,insphericalpolarcoordinates,hastherepresentation

Inaddition,thederivativesofthebasisvectorsare

Youcanderivetheseformulasbydifferentiatingtheexpressionsforthebasisvectorsintermsof{i,j,k}

and evaluating the various derivatives. When differentiating, note that {i,j,k} are fixed, so their derivatives are zero.
Thedetailsareleftasanexercise.

Thevariousderivativesofscalars,vectorsandtensorscanbeexpressedusingoperatornotationasfollows.

Gradientofascalarfunction:Let
denoteascalarfunctionofposition.Thegradientoffisdenotedby

Alternatively,inmatrixform

GradientofavectorfunctionLet
beavectorfunctionofposition.Thegradientofvisatensor,
whichcanberepresentedasadyadicproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Thedyadicproductcanbeexpandedbutwhenevaluatingthederivativesitisimportanttorecallthatthebasisvectors
arefunctionsofthecoordinates
andconsequentlytheirderivativesdonotvanish.Forexample
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Verifyforyourselfthatthematrixrepresentingthecomponentsofthegradientofavectoris

DivergenceofavectorfunctionLet
beavectorfunctionofposition.Thedivergenceofvisa
scalar,whichcanberepresentedasadotproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Again,whenexpandingthedotproduct,itisimportanttoremembertodifferentiatethebasisvectors.Alternatively,the
divergencecanbeexpressedas
,whichimmediatelygives

CurlofavectorfunctionLet
beavectorfunctionofposition.Thecurlofvisavector,which
canberepresentedasacrossproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Thecurlrarelyappearsinsolidmechanicssothecomponentswillnotbeexpandedinfull

Divergenceofatensorfunction.Let beatensor,withdyadicrepresentation

ThedivergenceofSisavector,whichcanberepresentedas

Evaluatingthecomponentsofthedivergenceisanextremelytediousoperation,becauseeachofthebasisvectorsinthe
dyadicrepresentationofSmustbedifferentiated,inadditiontothecomponentsthemselves.Thefinalresult(expressed
asacolumnvector)is

2:Cylindricalpolarcoordinates

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2.1Specifyingpointsinspaceusingincylindricalpolarcoordinates
Tospecifythelocationofapointincylindricalpolarcoordinates,wechooseanorigin
atsomepointontheaxisofthecylinder,selectaunitvectorktobeparalleltotheaxis
of the cylinder, and choose a convenient direction for the basis vector i, as shown in
thepicture.Wethenusethethreenumbers
tolocateapointinsidethecylinder,
asshowninthepicture.Thesearenotcomponentsofavector.

Inwords
ristheradialdistanceofPfromtheaxisofthecylinder
istheanglebetweentheidirectionandtheprojectionofOPontothei,j
plane
zisthelengthoftheprojectionofOPontheaxisofthecylinder.
Byconventionr>0and

2.2Convertingbetweencylindricalpolarandrectangularcartesiancoordinates

When we use a Cartesian basis, we identify points in space by specifying the components of their position vector
relative to the origin (x,y,z), such that
When we use a sphericalpolar coordinate system, we locate
pointsbyspecifyingtheirsphericalpolarcoordinates

Theformulasbelowrelatethetworepresentations.Theyarederivedusingbasictrigonometry

2.3Cylindricalpolarrepresentationofvectors

When we work with vectors in sphericalpolar coordinates, we specify vectors as

components in the
basis shown in the figure. For example, an arbitrary
vector a is written as
componentsofa.

Thebasisvectorsareselectedasfollows

, where

denote the

isaunitvectornormaltothecylinderatP
isaunitvectorcircumferentialtothecylinderatP,chosentomake
arighthandedtriad
isparalleltothekvector.

YouwillseethatthepositionvectorofpointPwouldbeexpressedas

Notealsothatthebasisvectorsareintentionallychosentosatisfy

Thebasisvectorshaveunitlength,aremutuallyperpendicular,andformarighthandedtriadandtherefore
is
anorthonormalbasis.Thebasisvectorsareparallelto(butnotequivalentto)thenaturalbasisvectorsforacylindrical
polarcoordinatesystem(seeChapter10foramoredetaileddiscussion).

2.4ConvertingvectorsbetweenCylindricalandCartesianbases
Let
be a vector, with components
in the sphericalpolar basis
. Let
denotethecomponentsofainthebasis{i,j,k}.

Thetwosetsofcomponentsarerelatedby

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Observethatthetwo3x3matricesinvolvedinthistransformationaretransposes(and
inverses) of one another. The transformation matrix is therefore orthogonal,
satisfying
,where denotesthe3x3identitymatrix.

ThederivationoftheseresultsfollowstheprocedureoutlinedinE.1.4exactly,andis
leftasanexercise.

2.5CylindricalPolarrepresentationoftensors

Thetriadofvectors
is an orthonormal basis (i.e. the three basis vectors have unit length, and are mutually
perpendicular).Consequently,tensorscanberepresentedascomponentsinthisbasisinexactlythesamewayasfora
fixedCartesianbasis
.Inparticular,ageneralsecondordertensorScanberepresentedasa3x3matrix

You can think of as being equivalent to ,

as
, and so on. All tensor operations such as addition,
multiplicationbyavector,tensorproducts,etccanbeexpressedintermsofthecorrespondingoperationsonthismatrix,
asdiscussedinSectionB2ofAppendixB.

Thecomponentrepresentationofatensorcanalsobeexpressedindyadicformas

TheremarksinSectionE.1.5regardingthephysicalsignificanceoftensorcomponentsalsoappliestotensorcomponents
incylindricalpolarcoordinates.

2.6Constitutiveequationsincylindricalpolarcoordinates

The constitutive equations listed in Chapter 3 all relate some measure of stress in the solid (expressed as a tensor) to
somemeasureoflocalinternaldeformation(deformationgradient,Eulerianstrain,rateofdeformationtensor,etc),also
expressedasatensor.Theconstitutiveequationscanbeusedwithoutmodificationincylindricalpolarcoordinates,as
long as the matrices of Cartesian components of the various tensors are replaced by their equivalent matrices in
sphericalpolarcoordinates.

Forexample,thestressstrainrelationsforanisotropic,linearelasticmaterialincylindricalpolarcoordinatesread

ThecautionaryremarksregardinganisotropicmaterialsinE.1.6alsoappliestocylindricalpolarcoordinatesystems.

2.7ConvertingtensorsbetweenCartesianandSphericalPolarbases

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LetSbeatensor,withcomponents

inthecylindricalpolarbasis
andtheCartesianbasis{i,j,k},respectively.
Thetwosetsofcomponentsarerelatedby

2.8VectorCalculususingCylindricalPolarCoordinates

Calculatingderivativesofscalar,vectorandtensorfunctionsofpositionincylindricalpolarcoordinatesiscomplicated
bythefactthatthebasisvectorsarefunctionsofposition.Theresultscanbeexpressedinacompactformbydefining
thegradientoperator,which,insphericalpolarcoordinates,hastherepresentation

Inaddition,thenonzeroderivativesofthebasisvectorsare

Thevariousderivativesofscalars,vectorsandtensorscanbeexpressedusingoperatornotationasfollows.

Gradientofascalarfunction:Let
denoteascalarfunctionofposition.Thegradientoffisdenotedby

Alternatively,inmatrixform

GradientofavectorfunctionLet
beavectorfunctionofposition.Thegradientofvisatensor,
whichcanberepresentedasadyadicproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Thedyadicproductcanbeexpandedbutwhenevaluatingthederivativesitisimportanttorecallthatthebasisvectors
arefunctionsofthecoordinate andconsequentlytheirderivativesmaynotvanish.Forexample

Verifyforyourselfthatthematrixrepresentingthecomponentsofthegradientofavectoris

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DivergenceofavectorfunctionLet
be a vector function of position. The divergence of vis a
scalar,whichcanberepresentedasadotproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Again,whenexpandingthedotproduct,itisimportanttoremembertodifferentiatethebasisvectors.Alternatively,the
divergencecanbeexpressedas
,whichimmediatelygives

CurlofavectorfunctionLet
beavectorfunctionofposition.Thecurlofvisavector,which
canberepresentedasacrossproductofthevectorwiththegradientoperatoras

Thecurlrarelyappearsinsolidmechanicssothecomponentswillnotbeexpandedinfull

Divergenceofatensorfunction.Let beatensor,withdyadicrepresentation

ThedivergenceofSisavector,whichcanberepresentedas

Evaluatingthecomponentsofthedivergenceisanextremelytediousoperation,becauseeachofthebasisvectorsinthe
dyadicrepresentationofSmustbedifferentiated,inadditiontothecomponentsthemselves.Thefinalresult(expressed
asacolumnvector)is

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