• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.73-89
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• 1996

In Lagrangian mechanics, attention is directed at the body as it moves through space. The region occupied by the body is called a configuration. All body points are labelled by the position they would have if the body were to occupy a chosen reference configuration. The reference configuration can be regarded as an extra fictional copy where notes are kept. As the body moves and deforms, it is important to correctly observe the use of each configuration for computational purposes. The description of strain is particularly important. The present work establishes clearly the role of each configuration in total and in incremental forms. This work also details the differences between gradient and configurational calculus.