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Meaning of Poisson's ratio

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Definition of Poisson's ratio

Poisson's ratio is the ratio of transverse contraction strain to longitudinal extension strain in the direction
of stretching force. Tensile deformation is considered positive and compressive deformation is considered
negative. The definition of Poisson's ratio contains a minus sign so that normal materials have a positive
ratio. Poisson's ratio, also called Poisson ratio or the Poisson coefficient, or coefficient de Poisson, is
usually represented as a lower case Greek nu, .
If your browser does not interpret Symbol font properly, Greek nu,  may instead look like a bold face
Latin n. For an alternative page go here.

 = - trans / longitudinal

Strain  is defined in elementary form as the change in length divided by the original length.
 = L/L.

Poisson's ratio: why usually positive

Virtually all common materials, such as the blue rubber band on the right, become narrower in cross
section when they are stretched. The reason why, in the continuum view, is that most materials resist a
change in volume as determined by the bulk modulus K (also called B) more than they resist a change in
shape, as determined by the shear modulus G.
In the structural view, the reason for the usual positive Poisson's ratio is
that inter-atomic bonds realign with deformation. Stretching of yellow
honeycomb by vertical forces, shown on the right, illustrates the concept.
Negative Poisson's ratio in designed materials and in some anisotropic
materials is by now well known.

Poisson's ratio: relation to elastic moduli in isotropic solids

Poisson's ratio is related to elastic moduli K (also called B), the bulk
modulus; G as the shear modulus; and E, Young's modulus, by the
following (for isotropic solids, those for which properties are independent
of direction). The elastic moduli are measures of stiffness. They are ratios
of stress to strain. Stress is force per unit area, with the direction of both the force and the area specified.
See Sokolnikoff Ref. [1]; also further details.
 = (3K - 2G)/(6K + 2G)
E = 2G( 1 + )
E = 3K(1 - 2 )
Further interrelations among elastic constants for isotropic solids are as follows. B is the bulk modulus.

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The theory of isotropic linear elasticity allows Poisson's ratios in the range from -1 to 1/2 for an object
with free surfaces with no constraint. Physically the reason is that for the material to be stable, the
stiffnesses must be positive; the bulk and shear stiffnesses are interrelated by formulae which incorporate
Poisson's ratio. Objects constrained at the surface can have a Poisson's ratio outside the above range and
be stable.

Poisson's ratio in various materials: table of Poisson's ratio

Poisson's ratio of the elements are, unless otherwise cited, via Web Elements, which adduce references
[2-4]. In a large compilation of properties of polycrystalline materials [5], most have Poisson's ratio in the
vicinity of 1/3. Some experiments, e. g. the resonant ultrasound studies in [9], provide cross-checking;
comparison of multiple vibration mode frequencies confirms the modulus and Poisson's ratio follow linear
isotropic elasticity.
References
[1] I. S. Sokolnikoff, Mathematical theory of
elasticity. Krieger, Malabar FL, second edition, 1983.
Material [2] A. M. James and M. P. Lord in Macmillan's
Isotropic upper limit Poisson's ratio Chemical and Physical Data, Macmillan, London, UK,
[1] 0.5 1992.
Rubber [6] 0.48- ~0.5 [3] G.W.C. Kaye and T.H. Laby in Tables of physical
Indium [11] 0.45 and chemical constants, Longman, London, UK, 15th
Gold [4] 0.42 edition, 1993.
Lead [4] 0.44 [4] G.V. Samsonov (Ed.) in Handbook of the
Copper [7] 0.37 physicochemical properties of the elements, IFI-
Aluminum [4] 0.34 Plenum, New York, USA, 1968.
Copper [4] 0.35 [5] G. Simmons, and H. Wang, Single crystal elastic
Polystyrene [6] 0.34 constants and calculated aggregate properties: a
Brass [1] 0.33 handbook, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2nd ed, 1971.
Ice [8] 0.33 [6] J. A. Rinde, Poisson's ratio for rigid plastic foams,
Polystyrene foam [6] 0.3 J. Applied Polymer Science, 14, 1913-1926, 1970.
Stainless Steel [7] 0.30 [7] D. E. Gray, American Institute of Physics
Steel [1] 0.29 Handbook, 3rd ed., chapter 3, McGraw hill, New
Tungsten [4] 0.30 York, 1973.
Tungsten 0.28 [8] E. M. Schulson, The mtructure and mechanical
Zinc [5] 0.25 behavior of ice, JOM, 51 (2) pp. 21-27, 1999. article
Uranium [4] 0.23 link
Fused quartz [9] 0.17 [9] H. H. Demarest, Jr., Cube resonance method to
Europium 0.15 determine the elastic constants of solids, J. Acoust.
Boron [12] 0.08 Soc. Am. 49, 768-775 (1971).
Beryllium [4] 0.03 [10] R. S. Lakes, Foam structures with a Negative
Re-entrant foam [10] -0.7 Poisson's ratio, Science, 235 1038-1040, 1987.
Isotropic lower limit -1 [11] D. Li, T. M. Jaglinski, D. S. Stone, and R. S.
[1] Lakes, Temperature insensitive negative Poisson's
ratios in isotropic alloys near a morphotropic phase
boundary, Appl. Phys. Lett, 101, 251903, Dec. (2012).

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[12] K. A. Gschneidner, Jr., Physical Properties and

Interrelationships of Metallic and Semimetallic
Elements, Solid State Physics, 16, 275-426, 1964
Further confirmation of consistency of the low Poisson's ratio (as 0.05) of beryllium was provided in A.
Migliori, H. Ledbetter, D. J. Thoma, and T. W. Darling, "Beryllium's monocrystal and polycrystal elastic
constants", J. Applied Physics 95, 2436- 2440 (2004). Beryllium has the lowest Poisson's ratio for any
polycrystalline metal. Elastic constants were measured for both single crystals and polycrystalline
samples. Beryllium does not obey the Cauchy relations, so non-central forces between atoms were
inferred.

Poisson's ratio in bending.

Bend a bar or plate. Poisson's ratio governs the curvature in a direction perpendicular to the direction of
bending. This "anticlastic curvature" is easily seen in the bending of a rubber eraser. Shown here is
bending, by a moment applied to opposite edges, of a honeycomb with hexagonal cells. If the honeycomb
cells are regular hexagons, the Poisson's ratio can approach +1. Since the honeycomb is anisotropic, the
Poisson's ratio need not lie within the above range.

Poisson's ratio and anisotropy.

In anisotropic solids including single crystals,
honeycombs, and fibrous composites, physical
properties, including Poisson's ratio and elastic moduli,
depend on direction. Poisson's ratio can have positive or
negative values of arbitrarily large magnitude in
anisotropic materials.
For orthotropic materials, Poisson's ratio is bounded by
the ratio of Young's moduli E as follows.
| 12| < (E1 /E2 )1/2
B. M. Lempriere "Poisson's ratio in orthotropic
materials" AIAA Journal, 6, No. 11, 2226-2227 (1968)
Maximum and minimum Poisson's ratio values are derived in terms of the elastic compliances of materials
with cubic symmetry.
Hayes, M., and Shuvalov, A., "On the Extreme Values of Young's Modulus, the Shear Modulus, and
Poisson's Ratio for Cubic Materials", ASME J. Appl. Mech., 65, 786-787, (1998).

Poisson's ratio in viscoelastic materials

The Poisson's ratio in a viscoelastic material is time dependent in the context of transient tests such as
creep and stress relaxation. If the deformation is sinusoidal in time, Poisson's ratio may depend on
frequency, and may have an associated phase angle. Specifically, the transverse strain may be out of phase
with the longitudinal strain in a viscoelastic solid. Get pdf of a research article on this. For polymers in the
glassy regime, Poisson's ratio is on the order 1/3. At higher temperature (or at longer times or lower
frequency) sufficient for rubbery behavior, the stiffness decreases greatly and Poisson's ratio approaches
1/2.

Poisson's ratio and phase transformations

Poisson's ratio can vary substantially in the vicinity of a phase transformation. Typically the bulk modulus
softens near a phase transformation but the shear modulus does not change much. The Poisson's ratio then
decreases in the vicinity of a phase transformation and can attain negative values. Phase transformations
are discussed further on the linked page.

Poisson's ratio, waves and deformation

The Poisson's ratio of a material influences the speed of propagation and reflection of stress waves. In
geological applications, the ratio of compressional to shear wave speed is important in inferring the nature
of the rock deep in the Earth. This wave speed ratio depends on Poisson's ratio. Poisson's ratio also affects
the decay of stress with distance according to Saint Venant's principle, and the distribution of stress

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around holes and cracks.

An example. Analysis of effect of Poisson's ratio on compression of a layer.

What about the effect of Poisson's ratio on constrained compression in the 1 (or x) direction?
Constrained compression means that the Poisson effect is restrained from occurring. This could be done
by side walls in an experiment. Also, compression of a thin layer by stiff surfaces is effectively
constrained. Moreover, in ultrasonic testing, the wavelength of the ultrasound is usually much less than
the specimen dimensions. The Poisson effect is restrained from occurring in this case as well.
In Hooke's law (with the elastic modulus tensor as Cijkl we sum over k and l, but, due to the constraint, the
only strain component which is non-zero is 11.
ij= Cijklkl= C111111+ C112222+ C113333= C111111,

so the effective stiffness for constrained compression is C1111.

Let us find the physical significance of that tensor element in terms of engineering constants.

One may also work with the elementary isotropic form for Hooke's law.
xx= (1/E) {xx- yy-zz}
yy =(1/E) {yy- xx-zz}
zz= (1/E) {zz- xx-yy}

For simple tension or compression in the x direction, the Poisson effect is free to occur. There is stress in
only one direction but there can be strain in three directions. xx≠ 0, that is not equal to zero, yy = 0, zz=
0. Then
(xx/ xx)= E.
So Young's modulus E is the stiffness for simple tension, with the Poisson effect free to occur.

Consider constrained compression, with yy= 0, zz= 0. Then

yy= xx+zz.
zz = xx+yy.
Substituting,
yy= zz= xx((1+ )/(1- 2)).
So,substituting into Hooke's law, the stress-strain ratio for constrained compression, which by definition is
the constrained modulus C1111,is
(xx/xx)= C1111= E ((1 - ) / (1 + )(1 - 2)).

The physical meaning of C1111is the stiffness for tension or compression in the x (or 1) direction, when
strain in the y and z directions is constrained to be zero. The reason is that for such a constraint the sum in
the tensorial equation for Hooke's law collapses into a single term containing only C1111. The constraint
could be applied by a rigid mold, or if the material is compressed in a thin layer between rigid platens.
C1111also governs the propagation of longitudinal waves in an extended medium, since the waves undergo
a similar constraint on transverse displacement.

Rubbery materials have Poisson's ratios very close to 1/2, shear moduli on the order of a MPa, and bulk
moduli on the order of a GPa. Therefore the constrained modulus C1111is comparable to the bulk modulus
and is much larger than the shear or Young's modulus of rubber.

Practical example - cork in a bottle.

An example of the practical application of a particular value of Poisson's ratio is the cork of a wine bottle.
The cork must be easily inserted and removed, yet it also must withstand the pressure from within the
bottle. Rubber, with a Poisson's ratio of 0.5, could not be used for this purpose because it would expand

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when compressed into the neck of the bottle and would jam. Cork, by contrast, with a Poisson's ratio of
nearly zero, is ideal in this application.

Practical example - design of rubber buffers.

How does three-dimensional deformation influence the use of viscoelastic rubber in such applications as
shoe insoles to reduce impact force in running, or wrestling mats to reduce impact force in falls?
Solution
Refer to the above analysis, in which deformation under transverse constraint is analyzed. Rubbery
materials are much stiffer when compressed in a thin layer geometry than they are in shear or in simple
tension; they are too stiff to perform the function of reducing impact. Compliant layers can be formed by
corrugating the rubber to provide room for lateral expansion or by using an elastomeric foam, which
typically has a Poisson's ratio near 0.3, in contrast to rubber for which Poisson's ratio can exceed 0.49.
Corrugated rubber is used in shoe (sneaker) insoles and in vibration isolators for machinery. Foam is used
in shoes and in wrestling mats.

Practical example - aircraft sandwich panels.

The honeycomb shown above is used in composite sandwich panels for aircraft. The
honeycomb is a core between face-sheets of graphite-epoxy composite. Such panels
are usually flat. If curved panels are desired, the honeycomb cell shape must be
changed from the usual regular hexagon shape, otherwise the cells will be crushed
during bending. Several alternative cell shapes are known, including those which
result in a negative Poisson's ratio.

Practical example - Interpreting compression tests on blocks of flexible material.

The material is constrained at contact surfaces by the compression device, so the Poisson effect cannot
freely occur. Bulge occurs in the middle as shown in the image on the right. The experiment does not
provide Young's modulus E. The definition of Young's modulus E entails freedom from transverse
constraint but the block is short enough that constraint by the contact surfaces is pertinent. Determination
of the elastic modulus E involves use of correction formulae that depend on Poisson's ratio.

A review article with materials science emphasis:

Greaves, G. N., Greer, A. L., Lakes, R. S., and Rouxel, T., "Poisson's Ratio and Modern Materials",
Nature Materials, 10, 823-837 Nov. (2011). In comparing a material's resistance to distort under
mechanical load rather than alter in volume, Poisson's ratio offers the fundamental metric by which to
compare the performance of any material when strained elastically. The numerical limits are set by 1/2
and -1, between which all stable isotropic materials are found. With new experiments, computational
methods and routes to materials synthesis, we assess what Poisson's ratio means in the contemporary
understanding of the mechanical characteristics of modern materials. Central to these recent advances, we
emphasize the significance of relationships outside the elastic limit between Poisson's ratio and
densification, connectivity, ductility and the toughness of solids; and their association with the dynamic
properties of the liquids from which they were condensed and into which they melt. get pdf.

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Negative Poisson's ratio Phase transformations

Negative stiffness inclusions

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