Although some work exists relating to the kinematics of fluid surfaces, no development parallel to that for linear and volume elements exists. It is shown, in this paper, that a rate of surface-strain tensor can be defined that has the same relationship to rate of surface extension that the rate of strain tensor has to rate of linear extension. Under some circumstances, this new tensor and a more useful form of the surface transport theorem derived from it, provide an improvement in the physical interpretation of equations of fluid motion. Practical applications have been found in the field of non-Newtonian flow, and hopefully will be found in other fields such as the theory of surface waves and meteorology.
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© 1965 American Association of Physics Teachers.
1965
American Association of Physics Teachers
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