In physics and engineering, a constitutive equation or constitutive relation is a relation between

two physical quantities (especially kinetic quantities as related to kinematic quantities) that is specific
to a material or substance, and approximates the response of that material to external stimuli,
usually as applied fields or forces. They are combined with other equations governing physical
laws to solve physical problems; for example in fluid mechanics the flow of a fluid in a pipe, in solid
state physics the response of a crystal to an electric field, or in structural analysis, the connection
between applied stresses or forces to strains or deformations.
Some constitutive equations are simply phenomenological; others are derived from first principles. A
common approximate constitutive equation frequently is expressed as a simple proportionality using
a parameter taken to be a property of the material, such as electrical conductivity or a spring
constant. However, it is often necessary to account for the directional dependence of the material,
and the scalar parameter is generalized to a tensor. Constitutive relations are also modified to
account for the rate of response of materials and their non-linear behavior.[1] See the article Linear
response function
Nonlinear behavior of materials involving solids and interfaces can arise due to material or geometric
nonlinearity, or both. Material nonlinearity under mechanical, thermal and other environmental
loadings, can be due to several factors such as initial state of stress, stress path dependent response,
elastic, plastic and creep strains, change in the physical state defined by change in the density, void ratio
or water content, plastic yielding or hardening, microcracking and damage leading to softening
behavior. Problems in solid and geomechanics can involve both types of nonlinearities. However, in the
current computer procedures, only material nonlinearity is considered with twodimensional (2-D) (plane
stress, plane strain and axisymmetric ) and three-dimensional (3-D) idealizations. The procedures and
codes can be used for stress-deformation analysis of a wide range of problems in solid, structural,
geotechnical, and mechanical engineering and electronic packaging involving “solid” materials,
interfaces and joints. The loading can be static, cyclic and repetitive and dynamic, and the material
response can include elastic, plastic and creep deformations, microcracking and damage leading to
softening or degradation, fatigue failure, and in microstructural instabilities like liquefaction. Typical
examples are also presented. Part III of the manual covers range of applications. Realistic solution
procedures for engineering problems require appropriate provision for initial conditions, non-
homogeneities and interaction effects. Conventional methods based on