Kirchhoff’s Problem of Helical Equilibria of Uniform Rods

Abstract It is demonstrated that a uniform and hyperelastic, but otherwise arbitrary, nonlinear Cosserat rod subject to appropriate end loadings has equilibria whose center lines form two-parameter families of helices. The absolute energy minimizer that arises in the absence of any end loading is a helical equilibrium by the assumption of uniformity, but more generally the helical equilibria arise for non-vanishing end loads. For inextensible, unshearable rods the two parameters correspond to arbitrary values of the curvature and torsion of the helix. For non-isotropic rods, each member of the two-dimensional family of helical center lines has at least two possible equilibrium orientations of the director frame. The possible orientations are characterized by a pair of finite-dimensional, dual variational principles involving pointwise values of the strain-energy density and its conjugate function. For isotropic rods, the characterization of possible equilibrium configurations degenerates, and in place of a discrete number of two-parameter families of helical equilibria, typically a single four-parameter family arises. The four continuous parameters correspond to the two of the helical center lines, a one-parameter family of possible angular phases, and a one-parameter family of imposed excess twists.