Prolegomena to the Theory

The theory of pseudo-rigid bodies focuses on the large-scale motions of deformable bodies. It provides a convenient framework, like classical rigid-body mechanics, for the analysis of gross changes in the position and orientation of a body. As such it represents a generalization of that classical theory. At the same time, the theory of pseudo-rigid bodies concerns deformation, treating changes in the shape of a body by use of certain gross measures of strain. As such it represents a restriction, or coarse version, of many theories now commonplace in continuum mechanics. Between these two extremes, the modern and the classical, the theory of pseudo-rigid bodies takes a middle road, focusing on problems that exhibit a high degree of interplay between deformation and rigid-body motion.