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Biomechanics

Thoroughly revised and updated for the second edition, this comprehensive textbook
integrates basic and advanced concepts of mechanics with numerical methods and
biomedical applications. Coverage is expanded to include a complete introduction to
vector and tensor calculus, and new or fully updated chapters on biological materials and
continuum mechanics, motion, deformation and rotation, and the constitutive modelling
of solids and fluids. Topics such as kinematics, equilibrium, and stresses and strains are
also included, as well as the mechanical behaviour of fibres and the analysis of
one-dimensional continuous elastic media. Numerical solution procedures based on the
finite element method are presented, with accompanying MATLAB-based software and
dozens of new biomedical engineering examples and exercises allowing readers to
practise and improve their skills. Solutions for instructors are also available online. This is
the definitive guide for both undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in
biomechanics.

Cees Oomens is Full Professor in Biomechanics of Soft Tissues at the Eindhoven

University of Technology.

Marcel Brekelmans is an Associate Professor in Continuum Mechanics at the Eindhoven

University of Technology.

Sandra Loerakker is Assistant Professor in Modelling in Mechanobiology at the

Eindhoven University of Technology.

Frank Baaijens is Full Professor in Soft Tissue Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering at
the Eindhoven University of Technology. He is currently the University’s Rector
Magnificus.
CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Series Editors
W. Mark Saltzman Yale University
Shu Chien University of California, San Diego

Series Advisors
Jerry Collins Alabama A & M University
Robert Malkin Duke University
Kathy Ferrara University of California, Davis
Nicholas Peppas University of Texas, Austin
Roger Kamm Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Masaaki Sato Tohoku University, Japan
Christine Schmidt University of Florida
George Truskey Duke University
Douglas Lauffenburger Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering provide a forum for high-quality textbooks

targeted at undergraduate and graduate courses in biomedical engineering. They cover a broad
range of biomedical engineering topics from introductory texts to advanced topics, including
biomechanics, physiology, biomedical instrumentation, imaging, signals and systems, cell
engineering, and bioinformatics, as well as other relevant subjects, with a blending of theory
and practice. While aiming primarily at biomedical engineering students, this series is also
suitable for courses in broader disciplines in engineering, the life sciences and medicine.
“The increased number of exercises and examples used to bring the lectures alive and
to illustrate the theory in biomedical applications make this second edition of the book
‘Biomechanics: Concepts and Computation’ definitely the reference to teach classical con-
cepts of mechanics and computational modelling techniques for biomedical engineers at
Bachelor level. The authors from Eindhoven University of Technology belong to one of
the most prestigious Departments of Biomedical Engineering around the world, with a
well-recognized expertise in Soft Tissue Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering. I have no
hesitation in recommending that book that should be a prerequisite for any student studying
biomechanics.”
Yohan Payan, Director of Research at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS), Université Grenoble Alpes

“A comprehensive textbook for learning all important concepts of biomechanics and

their possible applications in sports and medicine. Students will enjoy the opportunity of
learning computational modeling in biomechanics from scratch, needing only basic mathe-
matical background. Instructors will appreciate the endless source of problems all resulting
from successful experiences of teaching in the authors’ career. Definitely recommended in
every library.”
Stéphane Avril, École des Mines, St Étienne

“‘Biomechanics: Concepts and Computation’ remains one of the strongest textbooks ever
written in the field of biomechanical education. The theory in the book is thorough and
rigorous, and is extremely well illustrated with numerous excellent exercises. I find the
chapters describing numerical implementation and finite element formulations especially
useful for translating the theory of tissue mechanics to bioengineering practice. I am using
this book routinely in my undergraduate and graduate courses and will continue to do so
with this second edition.”
Amit Gefen, Tel Aviv University
Biomechanics
Concepts and Computation

Second Edition

Cees Oomens
Eindhoven University of Technology

Marcel Brekelmans
Eindhoven University of Technology

Sandra Loerakker
Eindhoven University of Technology

Frank Baaijens
Eindhoven University of Technology
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India
79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107163720
DOI: 10.1017/9781316681633

c Cees Oomens, Marcel Brekelmans, Sandra Loerakker and Frank Baaijens 2018
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2010
Second edition 2018
Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oomens, C. W. J., author. | Brekelmans, Marcel, author. | Loerakker,
Sandra, author. | Baaijens, Franciscus Petrus Thomas, author.
Title: Biomechanics : concepts and computation / Cees Oomens (Eindhoven
University of Technology), Marcel Brekelmans (Eindhoven University of
Technology), Sandra Loerakker (Eindhoven University of Technology), Frank
Baaijens (Eindhoven University of Technology).
Other titles: Cambridge texts in biomedical engineering.
Description: Second edition. | Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press, 2017. | Series: Cambridge texts in biomedical
engineering
Identifiers: LCCN 2017026498| ISBN 9781107163720 | ISBN 1107163722
Subjects: LCSH: Biomechanics.
Classification: LCC QH513 .O56 2017 | DDC 571.4/3–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017026498
ISBN 978-1-107-16372-0 Hardback
Additional resources for this publication at www.cambridge.org/Oomens
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Contents

About the Cover page xiii

Preface to the First Edition xv
Preface to the Second Edition xvii

1 Vector and Tensor Calculus 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Definition of a Vector 1
1.3 Vector Operations 1
1.4 Decomposition of a Vector with Respect to a Basis 5
1.5 Some Mathematical Preliminaries on Second-Order Tensors 10
Exercises 13

2 The Concepts of Force and Moment 16

2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 Definition of a Force Vector 16
2.3 Newton’s Laws 18
2.4 Vector Operations on the Force Vector 19
2.5 Force Decomposition 20
2.6 Drawing Convention 24
2.7 The Concept of Moment 25
2.8 Definition of the Moment Vector 26
2.9 The Two-Dimensional Case 30
2.10 Drawing Convention for Moments in Three Dimensions 33
Exercises 34

3 Static Equilibrium 39
3.1 Introduction 39
3.2 Static Equilibrium Conditions 39
3.3 Free Body Diagram 42
Exercises 51
viii Contents

4 The Mechanical Behaviour of Fibres 56

4.1 Introduction 56
4.2 Elastic Fibres in One Dimension 56
4.3 A Simple One-Dimensional Model of a Skeletal Muscle 59
4.4 Elastic Fibres in Three Dimensions 62
4.5 Small Fibre Stretches 69
Exercises 73

5 Fibres: Time-Dependent Behaviour 79

5.1 Introduction 79
5.2 Viscous Behaviour 81
5.2.1 Small Stretches: Linearization 84
5.3 Linear Visco-Elastic Behaviour 85
5.3.1 Superposition and Proportionality 85
5.3.2 Generalization for an Arbitrary Load History 88
5.3.3 Visco-Elastic Models Based on Springs and Dashpots: Maxwell
Model 92
5.3.4 Visco-Elastic Models Based on Springs and Dashpots:
Kelvin–Voigt Model 96
5.4 Harmonic Excitation of Visco-Elastic Materials 97
5.4.1 The Storage and the Loss Modulus 97
5.4.2 The Complex Modulus 99
5.4.3 The Standard Linear Model 101
5.5 Appendix: Laplace and Fourier Transforms 106
Exercises 108

6 Analysis of a One-Dimensional Continuous Elastic

Medium 116
6.1 Introduction 116
6.2 Equilibrium in a Subsection of a Slender Structure 116
6.3 Stress and Strain 118
6.4 Elastic Stress–Strain Relation 121
6.5 Deformation of an Inhomogeneous Bar 122
Exercises 129

7 Biological Materials and Continuum Mechanics 133

7.1 Introduction 133
7.2 Orientation in Space 134
7.3 Mass within the Volume V 138
7.4 Scalar Fields 141
7.5 Vector Fields 144
ix Contents

7.6 Rigid Body Rotation 149

Exercises 151

8 Stress in Three-Dimensional Continuous Media 155

8.1 Stress Vector 155
8.2 From Stress to Force 156
8.3 Equilibrium 157
8.4 Stress Tensor 164
8.5 Principal Stresses and Principal Stress Directions 172
8.6 Mohr’s Circles for the Stress State 175
8.7 Hydrostatic Pressure and Deviatoric Stress 176
8.8 Equivalent Stress 177
Exercises 178

9 Motion: Time as an Extra Dimension 183

9.1 Introduction 183
9.2 Geometrical Description of the Material Configuration 183
9.3 Lagrangian and Eulerian Descriptions 185
9.4 The Relation between the Material and Spatial Time Derivatives 188
9.5 The Displacement Vector 190
9.6 The Gradient Operator 192
9.7 Extra Rigid Body Displacement 196
9.8 Fluid Flow 198
Exercises 199

10 Deformation and Rotation, Deformation Rate and Spin 204

10.1 Introduction 204
10.2 A Material Line Segment in the Reference and Current
Configurations 204
10.3 The Stretch Ratio and Rotation 210
10.4 Strain Measures and Strain Tensors and Matrices 214
10.5 The Volume Change Factor 219
10.6 Deformation Rate and Rotation Velocity 219
Exercises 222

11 Local Balance of Mass, Momentum and Energy 227

11.1 Introduction 227
11.2 The Local Balance of Mass 227
11.3 The Local Balance of Momentum 228
x Contents

11.4 The Local Balance of Mechanical Power 230

11.5 Lagrangian and Eulerian Descriptions of the Balance Equations 231
Exercises 233

12 Constitutive Modelling of Solids and Fluids 235

12.1 Introduction 235
12.2 Elastic Behaviour at Small Deformations and Rotations 236
12.3 The Stored Internal Energy 242
12.4 Elastic Behaviour at Large Deformations and/or
Large Rotations 244
12.4.1 Material Frame Indifference 244
12.4.2 Strain Energy Function 250
12.4.3 The Incompressible Neo-Hookean Model 252
12.4.4 The Incompressible Mooney–Rivlin Model 255
12.4.5 Compressible Neo-Hookean Elastic Solid 256
12.5 Constitutive Modelling of Viscous Fluids 261
12.6 Newtonian Fluids 262
12.7 Non-Newtonian Fluids 263
12.8 Diffusion and Filtration 264
Exercises 264

13 Solution Strategies for Solid and Fluid Mechanics Problems 270

13.1 Introduction 270
13.2 Solution Strategies for Deforming Solids 270
13.2.1 General Formulation for Solid Mechanics Problems 271
13.2.2 Geometrical Linearity 272
13.2.3 Linear Elasticity Theory, Dynamic 273
13.2.4 Linear Elasticity Theory, Static 273
13.2.5 Linear Plane Stress Theory, Static 274
13.2.6 Boundary Conditions 278
13.3 Solution Strategies for Viscous Fluids 280
13.3.1 General Equations for Viscous Flow 281
13.3.2 The Equations for a Newtonian Fluid 282
13.3.3 Stationary Flow of an Incompressible Newtonian Fluid 282
13.3.4 Boundary Conditions 283
13.3.5 Elementary Analytical Solutions 283
13.4 Diffusion and Filtration 285
Exercises 287

14 Solution of the One-Dimensional Diffusion Equation by

Means of the Finite Element Method 292
14.1 Introduction 292
xi Contents

14.2 The Diffusion Equation 293

14.3 Method of Weighted Residuals and Weak Form 295
14.4 Polynomial Interpolation 297
14.5 Galerkin Approximation 300
14.6 Solution of the Discrete Set of Equations 307
14.7 Isoparametric Elements and Numerical Integration 308
14.8 Basic Structure of a Finite Element Program 312
Exercises 319

15 Solution of the One-Dimensional Convection–Diffusion

Equation by Means of the Finite Element Method 327
15.1 Introduction 327
15.2 The Convection–Diffusion Equation 327
15.3 Temporal Discretization 330
15.4 Spatial Discretization 333
Exercises 338

16 Solution of the Three-Dimensional Convection–Diffusion

Equation by Means of the Finite Element Method 342
16.1 Introduction 342
16.2 Diffusion Equation 343
16.3 Divergence Theorem and Integration by Parts 344
16.4 Weak Form 345
16.5 Galerkin Discretization 345
16.6 Convection–Diffusion Equation 348
16.7 Isoparametric Elements and Numerical Integration 349
16.8 Example 353
Exercises 356

17 Shape Functions and Numerical Integration 363

17.1 Introduction 363
17.2 Isoparametric, Bi-Linear Quadrilateral Element 365
17.3 Linear Triangular Element 367
17.4 Lagrangian and Serendipity Elements 370
17.4.1 Lagrangian Elements 371
17.4.2 Serendipity Elements 373
17.5 Numerical Integration 373
Exercises 377
xii Contents

18 Infinitesimal Strain Elasticity Problems 382

18.1 Introduction 382
18.2 Linear Elasticity 382
18.3 Weak Formulation 384
18.4 Galerkin Discretization 385
18.5 Solution 391
Exercises 394

References 399
Index 401
About the Cover

The cover contains images reflecting biomechanics research topics at the Eind-
hoven University of Technology. An important aspect of mechanics is experimen-
tal work to determine material properties and to validate models. The application
field ranges from microscopic structures at the level of cells to larger organs
like the heart. The core of biomechanics is constituted by models formulated in
terms of partial differential equations and computer models to derive approximate
solutions.
• Main image: Myogenic precursor cells have the ability to differentiate and fuse to form
multinucleated myotubes. This differentiation process can be influenced by means of
mechanical as well as biochemical stimuli. To monitor this process of early differentia-
tion, immunohistochemical analyses are performed to provide information concerning
morphology and localization of characteristic structural proteins of muscle cells. In the
illustration, the sarcomeric proteins actin (red), and myosin (green) are shown. Nuclei
are stained blue. Image courtesy of Mrs Marloes Langelaan.
• Left top: To study the effect of a mechanical load on the damage evolution of skeletal
tissue, an in-vitro model system using tissue engineered muscle was developed. The
image shows this muscle construct in a set-up on a confocal microscope. In the device
the construct can be mechanically deformed by means of an indentor. Fluorescent iden-
tification of both necrotic and apoptotic cells can be established using different staining
techniques. Image courtesy of Mrs Debby Gawlitta.
• Left middle: A three-dimensional finite element mesh of the human heart ventricles is
shown. This mesh is used to solve the equations of motion for the beating heart. The
model was used to study the effect of depolarization waves and mechanics in the paced
heart. Image courtesy of Mr Roy Kerckhoffs.
• Left bottom: The equilibrium equations are derived from Newton’s laws and describe
(quasi-)static force equilibrium in a three-dimensional continuum. See Eqs. (8.33),
(8.34) and (8.35) in the present book.
Preface to the First Edition

In September 1997, an educational programme in Biomedical Engineering, unique

in the Netherlands, started at the Eindhoven University of Technology, together
with the University of Maastricht, as a logical step after almost two decades of
research collaboration between both universities. This development culminated in
the foundation of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in April 1999 and
the creation of a graduate programme (MSc) in Biomedical Engineering in 2000
and Medical Engineering in 2002.
Already at the start of this educational programme, it was decided that a com-
prehensive course in biomechanics had to be part of the curriculum and that this
course had to start right at the beginning of the Bachelor phase. A search for suit-
able material for this purpose showed that excellent biomechanics textbooks exist.
But many of these books are very specialized to certain aspects of biomechanics.
The more general textbooks address mechanical or civil engineers or physicists
who wish to specialize in biomechanics, so these books include chapters or sec-
tions on biology and physiology. Almost all books that were found are at Masters
or post-graduate level, requiring basic to sophisticated knowledge of mechanics
and mathematics. At a more fundamental level, only books could be found that
were written for mechanical and civil engineers.
We decided to write our own course material for the basic training in mechan-
ics appropriate for our candidate biomedical engineers at Bachelor level, starting
with the basic concepts of mechanics and ending with numerical solution proce-
dures, based on the finite element method. The course material assembled in the
current book comprises three courses for our biomedical engineering curriculum,
distributed over the three years of their Bachelor studies. Chapters 1 to 6 mostly
treat the basic concepts of forces, moments and equilibrium in a discrete context
in the first year. Chapters 7 to 13 in the second year discuss the basis of contin-
uum mechanics, and Chapters 14 to 18 in the third year are focussed on solving
the field equations of mechanics using the finite element method.
xvi Preface to the First Edition

What makes this book different from other basic mechanics or biomechanics
treatises? Of course, as in standard books, there is the usual attention focussed on
kinematics, equilibrium, stresses and strains. But several topics are discussed that
are normally not found in one single textbook or only described briefly.
• Much attention is given to large deformations and rotations and non-linear constitutive
equations (see Chapters 4, 9 and 10).
• A separate chapter is devoted to one-dimensional visco-elastic behaviour (Chapter 5).
• Special attention is given to long, slender, fibre-like structures (Chapter 4).
• The similarities and differences in describing the behaviour of solids and fluids and
aspects of diffusion and filtration are discussed (Chapters 12 to 16).
• Basic concepts of mechanics and numerical solution strategies for partial differential
equations are integrated in one single textbook (Chapters 14 to 18).
Because of the usually rather complex geometries (and non-linear aspects)
found in biomechanical problems, hardly any relevant analytical solutions can be
derived for the field equations, and approximate solutions have to be constructed.
It is the opinion of the authors that, at Bachelor level, at least the basis for these
numerical techniques has to be addressed.
In Chapters 14 to 18 extensive use is made of a finite element code
written in MATLAB by one of the authors, which is especially developed
as a tool for students. Applying this code requires that the user has a
licence for the use of MATLAB, which can be obtained via MathWorks
(www.mathworks.com). The finite element code, which is a set of MATLAB
scripts, including manuals, is freely available and can be downloaded from the
website: www.tue.nl/biomechanicsbook.
Preface to the Second Edition

Since 2009, when this book was published for the first time, we have been using
it in our Biomechanics courses in the educational programme Biomedical Engi-
neering, giving us hands-on experience with the book and the exercises. When
we were investigating ideas for a second edition, we found that external review-
ers were primarily asking for more examples and exercises, concurring with our
own thoughts on the book. Over the years, we have assembled quite a number of
examples that were often used to animate the lectures and to illustrate the theory
in biomedical applications. At the same time, the number of available exercises
increased considerably. Eventually, adding many of these examples and increas-
ing the number of exercises are the most significant changes in the second edition.
The major changes in the text are:
• Mathematical preliminaries are now concentrated in Chapter 1 and no longer spread
over different chapters.
• At some points in the original text, explanations were terse and too concise for students.
Based on our experiences over the past eight years, we have extended the text at a
number of points and, most importantly, added the earlier mentioned new examples.
The biggest change is in Chapter 12, including a separate section on material frame
indifference of constitutive equations and a more extensive treatment of hyperelastic
materials.
The objectives of the book did not change. It is still meant to be a basic train-
ing in mechanics, appropriate for our candidate biomedical engineers at Bachelor
level, starting with the basic concepts of mechanics and ending with numerical
solution procedures. This book differs from most books on biomechanics, which
are usually aimed at students with already considerable knowledge in contin-
uum mechanics and wishing to enter the field of biomechanics. Consequently,
those books pay great attention to biology and physiology. In contrast, we assume
that students start at a very basic level in terms of mechanics, but already have
substantial physiological and biological background knowledge.
1 Vector and Tensor Calculus

1.1 Introduction

Before we can start with biomechanics, it is necessary to introduce some basic

mathematical concepts and to introduce the mathematical notation that will be
used throughout the book. The present chapter is aimed at understanding some
of the basics of vector calculus, which are necessary to elucidate the concepts of
force and momentum that will be treated in the next chapter.

1.2 Definition of a Vector

A vector is a mathematical entity having both a magnitude (length or size) and a

direction. For a vector a, it holds (see Fig. 1.1), that:

a = ae. (1.1)

The length of the vector a is denoted by |a| and is equal to the length of the arrow.
The length is equal to a, when a is positive, and equal to −a when a is negative.
The direction of a is given by the unit vector e combined with the sign of a. The
unit vector e has length 1. The vector 0 has length zero.

1.3 Vector Operations

Multiplication of a vector a = ae by a positive scalar α yields a vector b having

the same direction as a but a different magnitude α|a|:

b = αa = αae. (1.2)

This makes sense: pulling twice as hard on a wire creates a force in the wire
having the same orientation (the direction of the wire does not change), but with
a magnitude that is twice as large.
2 Vector and Tensor Calculus

Figure 1.1
The vector a = ae with a > 0.

a c

Figure 1.2

Graphical representation of the sum of two vectors: c = a + b.

The sum of two vectors a and b is a new vector c, equal to the diagonal of the
parallelogram spanned by a and b (see Fig. 1.2):

c = a + b. (1.3)
This may be interpreted as follows. Imagine two thin wires which are attached
to a point P. The wires are being pulled at in two different directions according
 The length of each vector represents the magnitude of the
to the vectors a and b.
pulling force. The net force vector exerted on the attachment point P is the vector
sum of the two vectors a and b. If the wires are aligned with each other and the
pulling direction is the same, the resulting force direction clearly coincides with
the direction of the two wires, and the length of the resulting force vector is the
sum of the two pulling forces. Alternatively, if the two wires are aligned but the
pulling forces are in opposite directions and of equal magnitude, the resulting

force exerted on point P is the zero vector 0.
The inner product or dot product of two vectors is a scalar quantity, defined as
a · b = |a||b|
 cos(φ), (1.4)
where φ is the smallest angle between a and b (see Fig. 1.3). The inner product is
commutative, i.e.
a · b = b · a. (1.5)
The inner product can be used to define the length of a vector, since the inner
product of a vector with itself yields (φ = 0):
a · a = |a||a| cos(0) = |a|2 . (1.6)
3 1.3 Vector Operations

b
φ
a

Figure 1.3
Definition of the angle φ.

Figure 1.4
 The direction of vector c is determined by the corkscrew or right-hand rule.
Vector product c = a × b.

If two vectors are perpendicular to each other the inner product of these two
vectors is equal to zero, since in that case φ = π2 :
π
a · b = 0, if φ = . (1.7)
2
The cross product or vector product of two vectors a and b yields a new vector
c that is perpendicular to both a and b such that a, b and c form a right-handed
system. The vector c is denoted as
c = a × b . (1.8)
The length of the vector c is given by
 sin(φ),
|c| = |a||b| (1.9)
where φ is the smallest angle between a and b.  The length of c equals the area of
the parallelogram spanned by the vectors a and b.  The vector system a, b and c
forms a right-handed system, meaning that if a corkscrew were used rotating from
a to b the corkscrew would move into the direction of c (see Fig. 1.4).
The vector product of a vector a with itself yields the zero vector, since in that
case φ = 0:

a × a = 0. (1.10)
4 Vector and Tensor Calculus

The vector product is not commutative, since the vector product of b and a yields

a vector that has the opposite direction to the vector product of a and b:

a × b = −b × a. (1.11)

The triple product of three vectors a, b and c is a scalar, defined by

a × b · c = (a × b)
 · c. (1.12)

So, first the vector product of a and b is determined and subsequently the inner
product of the resulting vector with the third vector c is taken. If all three vectors
a, b and c are non-zero vectors, while the triple product is equal to zero, then the
vector c lies in the plane spanned by the vectors a and b.  This can be explained

by the fact that the vector product of a and b yields a vector perpendicular to the
plane spanned by a and b.  Conversely, this implies that if the triple product is non-
zero then the three vectors a, b and c are not in the same plane. In that case the
absolute value of the triple product of the vectors a, b and c equals the volume of
the parallelepiped spanned by a, b and c.
The dyadic or tensor product of two vectors a and b defines a linear transfor-
mation operator called a dyad ab.  Application of a dyad ab to a vector p yields
a vector into the direction of a, where a is multiplied by the inner product of b
and p:
ab · p = a (b · p). (1.13)

So, application of a dyad to a vector transforms this vector into another vector.
This transformation is linear, as can be seen from
ab · (αp + βq) = ab · αp + ab · βq = αab · p + βab · q. (1.14)
 T is defined by
The transpose of a dyad (ab)
(ab) a · p,
 T · p = b (1.15)

or simply
(ab) a.
 T = b (1.16)
An operator A that transforms a vector a into another vector b according to

b = A · a, (1.17)

is called a second-order tensor A. This implies that the dyadic product of two
vectors is a second-order tensor.
In three-dimensional space, a set of three vectors c1 , c2 and c3 is called a basis
if the triple product of the three vectors is non-zero, hence if all three vectors are
non-zero vectors and if they do not lie in the same plane:
 5 1.4 Decomposition of a Vector with Respect to a Basis

c1 × c2 · c3 = 0. (1.18)

The three vectors c1 , c2 and c3 composing the basis are called basis vectors.
If the basis vectors are mutually perpendicular vectors, the basis is called an
orthogonal basis. If such basis vectors have unit length, then the basis is called
orthonormal. A Cartesian basis is an orthonormal, right-handed basis with
basis vectors independent of the location in the three-dimensional space. In the
following we will indicate the Cartesian basis vectors with ex , ey and ez .

1.4 Decomposition of a Vector with Respect to a Basis

As stated above, a Cartesian vector basis is an orthonormal basis. Any vector can
be decomposed into the sum of, at most, three vectors parallel to the three basis
vectors ex , ey and ez :
a = ax ex + ay ey + az ez . (1.19)
The components ax , ay and az can be found by taking the inner product of the
vector a with respect to each of the basis vectors:
ax = a · ex
ay = a · ey (1.20)
az = a · ez ,
where use is made of the fact that the basis vectors have unit length and are
mutually orthogonal, for example:
a · ex = ax ex · ex + ay ey · ex + az ez · ex = ax . (1.21)
The components, say ax , ay and az , of a vector a with respect to the Cartesian
vector basis, may be collected in a column, denoted by a∼:
⎡ ⎤
ax
⎢ ⎥
a∼ = ⎣ ay ⎦ . (1.22)
az
So, with respect to a Cartesian vector basis, any vector a may be decomposed into
components that can be collected in a column:
a ←→ a∼ . (1.23)
This ‘transformation’ is only possible and meaningful if the vector basis with
which the components of the column a∼ are defined has been specified. The choice
of a different vector basis leads to a different column representation a∼ of the vector
6 Vector and Tensor Calculus

ey
ey∗
a a
ay
ay∗ ex∗
ax∗
ax ex

Figure 1.5
Vector a with respect to vector bases {ex , ey } and {ex∗ , ey∗ }.

a, as illustrated in Fig. 1.5. The vector a has two different column representations,
a∼ and a∼∗ , depending on which vector basis is used. If, in a two-dimensional
context, {ex , ey } is used as a vector basis then

ax
a ←→ a∼ = , (1.24)
ay

while, if {ex∗ , ey∗ } is used as a vector basis:


∗ a∗x
a ←→ a∼ = . (1.25)
a∗y
Consequently, with respect to a Cartesian vector basis, vector operations such as
multiplication, addition, inner product and dyadic product may be rewritten as
‘column’ (actually matrix) operations.
Multiplication of a vector a = ax ex + ay ey + az ez with a scalar α yields a new

vector, say b:
b = αa = α(ax ex + ay ey + az ez )
= αax ex + αay ey + αaz ez . (1.26)
So
b = αa ←→ b∼ = αa∼. (1.27)
The sum of two vectors a and b leads to
c = a + b ←→ c∼ = a∼ + b∼. (1.28)
Using the fact that the Cartesian basis vectors have unit length and are mutually
orthogonal, the inner product of two vectors a and b yields a scalar c according to
c = a · b = (ax ex + ay ey + az ez ) · (bx ex + by ey + bz ez )
= ax bx + ay by + az bz . (1.29)
In column notation this result is obtained via
c = a∼T b∼ , (1.30)
7 1.4 Decomposition of a Vector with Respect to a Basis

where a∼T denotes the transpose of the column a∼, defined as

a∼T = ax ay az , (1.31)

such that:
⎡ ⎤
bx
⎢ ⎥
a∼T b∼ = ax ay az ⎣ by ⎦ = ax bx + ay by + az bz . (1.32)
bz

Using the properties of the basis vectors of the Cartesian vector basis:

ex × ex = 0
ex × ey = ez
ex × ez = −ey

ey × ex = −ez

ey × ey = 0 (1.33)
ey × ez = ex

ez × ex = ey

ez × ey = −ex

ez × ez = 0,

the vector product of a vector a and a vector b is directly computed by means of

a × b = (ax ex + ay ey + az ez ) × (bx ex + by ey + bz ez )

= (ay bz − az by )ex + (az bx − ax bz )ey + (ax by − ay bx )ez .
(1.34)
 then the associated column c can be written as:
If by definition c = a × b, ∼
⎡ ⎤
ay bz − az by
⎢ ⎥
c = ⎣ az bx − ax bz ⎦ .
∼
(1.35)
ax by − ay bx

The dyadic product ab transforms another vector c into a vector d,

 according to
the definition

d = ab · c = A · c , (1.36)
 In column notation
with A the second-order tensor equal to the dyadic product ab.
this is equivalent to

d∼ = a∼ ( b∼T c∼ ) = (a∼ b∼T )c∼ , (1.37)

 8 Vector and Tensor Calculus

with a∼ b∼T a (3 × 3) matrix given by

⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
ax ax bx ax by ax bz
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A = a∼ b∼T = ⎣ ay ⎦ bx by bz = ⎣ ay bx ay by ay bz ⎦ , (1.38)
az az bx az by az bz
or
d∼ = A ∼c. (1.39)
In this case A is called the matrix representation of the second-order tensor A, as
the comparison of Eqs. (1.36) and (1.39) reveals.

Example 1.1 Suppose we can write the vectors a and b as the following linear combination of
the Cartesian basis vectors ex and ey :
a = ex + 2ey
b = 2ex + 5ey ,
and we wish to determine the inner and vector product of both vectors. Then:
a · b = (ex + 2ey ) · (2ex + 5ey )
= 2ex · ex + 5ex · ey + 4ey · ex + 10ey · ey
= 2 + 10
= 12.
When using column notation we can also write:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 2
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
a∼ = ⎣ 2 ⎦ b∼ = ⎣ 5 ⎦ ,
0 0
and:
⎤ ⎡
2
⎢ ⎥
a · b = a∼T b∼ = [1 2 0] ⎣ 5 ⎦ = 12.
0
For the vector product a similar procedure can be used:
a × b = (ex + 2ey ) × (2ex + 5ey )
= 2ex × ex + 5ex × ey + 4ey × ex + 10ey × ey
= 0 + 5ez − 4ez + 0
= ez .
When using column notation for the vector product, Eq. (1.35) has to be used.
 9 1.4 Decomposition of a Vector with Respect to a Basis

Example 1.2 Consider the Cartesian basis {ex , ey , ez }. We want to know whether the following
three vectors given by:
ε1 = 2ex
ε2 = ex + 2ey
ε3 = ey + 3ez
could also be used as a basis. For this purpose we have to determine whether the
vectors are independent, and consequently we calculate the triple product:
(ε 1 × ε2 ) · ε3 = 2ex × (ex + 2ey ) · (ey + 3ez )
= 4ez · (ey + 3ez ) = 12 = 0.
This means that the three vectors are independent and might be used as a basis.
However, they are not perpendicular and do not have length 1.

Example 1.3 With respect to a Cartesian basis {ex , ey , ez } the following vectors are defined:
a = ex + 2ey
b = 2ex + 5ey
c = 3ex .
 AT = b
We want to determine the dyadic products A = ab, a and the result of A · c
and A · c. Write
T

A = ab = (ex + 2ey )(2ex + 5ey )

= 2ex ex + 5ex ey + 4ey ex + 10ey ey ,

a = (2ex + 5ey )(ex + 2ey )

AT = b
= 2ex ex + 4ex ey + 5ey ex + 10ey ey
and:
A · c = ab · c = (2ex ex + 5ex ey + 4ey ex + 10ey ey ) · 3ex
= 6ex + 12ey ,

a · c = (2ex ex + 4ex ey + 5ey ex + 10ey ey ) · 3ex

AT · c = b
= 6ex + 15ey .
We can also use matrix notation. In that case A is the matrix representation of A.
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
1 2 5 0
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A = a∼b∼T = ⎣ 2 ⎦ [2 5 0] = ⎣ 4 10 0 ⎦
0 0 0 0
10 Vector and Tensor Calculus

and:
⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
2 5 0 3 6
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A c∼ = ⎣ 4 10 0 ⎦ ⎣ 0 ⎦ = ⎣ 12 ⎦ ,
0 0 0 0 0

⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
2 4 0 3 6
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
A c∼ = ⎣ 5
T
10 0 ⎦ ⎣ 0 ⎦ = ⎣ 15 ⎦ .
0 0 0 0 0
which clearly is not the same as: A c∼.

1.5 Some Mathematical Preliminaries on Second-Order Tensors

In this section we will elaborate a bit more about second-order tensors, because
they play an important role in continuum mechanics. Remember that every dyadic
product of two vectors is a second-order tensor and every second-order tensor can
be written as the sum of dyadic products.
An arbitrary second-order tensor M can be written with respect to the Cartesian
basis introduced earlier as:

M = Mxx ex ex + Mxy ex ey + Mxz ex ez

+ Myx ey ex + Myy ey ey + Myz ey ez
+ Mzx ez ex + Mzy ez ey + Mzz ez ez . (1.40)

The components of the tensor M are stored in the associated matrix M defined as
⎡ ⎤
Mxx Mxy Mxz
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
M = ⎢ Myx Myy Myz ⎥ . (1.41)
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
Mzx Mzy Mzz

A tensor identifies a linear transformation. If the vector b is the result of the tensor
M operating on vector a, this is written as: b = M · a. In component form, this
leads to:

b = (Mxx ex ex + Mxy ex ey + Mxz ex ez

+ Myx ey ex + Myy ey ey + Myz ey ez
+ Mzx ez ex + Mzy ez ey + Mzz ez ez ) · (ax ex + ay ey + az ez )
11 1.5 Mathematical Preliminaries on Tensors

= (Mxx ax + Mxy ay + Mxz az )ex

+ (Myx ax + Myy ay + Myz az )ey
+ (Mzx ax + Mzy ay + Mzz az )ez
= bx ex + by ey + bz ez . (1.42)

Using matrix notation we can write: b∼ = M a∼, in full:

⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
bx Mxx Mxy Mxz ax
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢ by ⎥ = ⎢ Myx Myy Myz ⎥ ⎢ ay ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦⎣ ⎦
bz Mzx Mzy Mzz az
⎡ ⎤
Mxx ax + Mxy ay + Mxz az
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
= ⎢ Myx ax + Myy ay + Myz az ⎥ . (1.43)
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
Mzx ax + Mzy ay + Mzz az

Along with the earlier specified matrix M the transposed matrix M T is defined
according to (taking a mirror image along the principal diagonal):
⎡ ⎤
Mxx Myx Mzx
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
M T = ⎢ Mxy Myy Mzy ⎥ . (1.44)
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
Mxz Myz Mzz

The tensor MT is associated with the matrix M T . Notice that

b∼ = M a∼ is equivalent to b∼T = a∼T M T ,

b = M · a is equivalent to b = a · MT .

The inverse of the tensor M is denoted by M−1 . By definition:

M · M−1 = I, (1.45)

with I the unit tensor, I = ex ex + ey ey + ez ez . The inverse of matrix M is denoted
by M −1 . By definition:

M M −1 = I , (1.46)

with I the unit matrix.

12 Vector and Tensor Calculus

The trace of tensor M (associated matrix M) is denoted as tr(M) = tr(M) and

given by

tr(M) = tr(M) = Mxx + Myy + Mzz . (1.47)

The determinant of the tensor M with matrix representation M can be written:

det(M) = det(M) = Mxx (Myy Mzz − Myz Mzy )

− Mxy (Myx Mzz − Myz Mzx )
+ Mxz (Myx Mzy − Myy Mzx ). (1.48)

The deviatoric part of the tensor M is denoted by Md and defined by

1
Md = M − tr(M) I. (1.49)
3
In matrix notation this reads:
1
Md = M − tr(M) I. (1.50)
3
Let M be an arbitrary symmetric tensor. A non-zero vector n is said to be an
eigenvector of M if a scalar λ exists such that

M · n = λn or 
(M − λI) · n = 0. (1.51)

A non-trivial solution n from Eq. (1.51) only exists if

det(M − λI) = 0. (1.52)

Using the components of M and Eq. (1.48) will lead, after some elaboration, to
the following equation:

λ3 − I1 λ2 + I2 λ − I3 = 0, (1.53)

with

I1 = tr(M)
1
I2 = (tr(M))2 − tr(MM)
2
I3 = det(M). (1.54)

Equation (1.53) is called the characteristic equation, and the scalar coefficients
I1 , I2 and I3 are called the invariants of the symmetric tensor M. In tensor form,
the invariants can be written as:

I1 = tr(M)
1
I2 = (tr(M))2 − tr(M · M)
2
I3 = det(M). (1.55)
 13 Exercises

Example 1.4 Later in the book, we want to separate shape changes of objects from the volume
change. In that case the deviatoric part Ad of a tensor A plays an important role,
because this tensor does not change when a tensor of the form αI is added to the
original tensor. This can be shown as follows:
1
(A + αI)d = A + αI − tr(A + αI) I
3
1 1
= A + αI − tr(A) I − tr(αI) I
3 3
1
= A + αI − tr(A) I − αI
3
= Ad .

Example 1.5 Consider the tensor A given by:

A = cos(φ)ex ex − sin(φ)ex ey + sin(φ)ey ex + cos(φ)ey ey + ez ez .
Show that, for this tensor, AT = A−1 .
The easiest way is to use matrix notation. Then:
⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
cos(φ) − sin(φ) 0 cos(φ) sin(φ) 0
⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
A AT = ⎣ sin(φ) cos(φ) 0 ⎦ ⎣ − sin(φ) cos(φ) 0 ⎦
0 0 1 0 0 1
⎡ ⎤
cos2 (φ) + sin2 (φ) 0 0
⎢ ⎥
=⎣ 0 cos2 (φ) + sin2 (φ) 0 ⎦
0 0 1
⎡ ⎤
1 0 0
⎢ ⎥
= ⎣ 0 1 0 ⎦.
0 0 1

So A AT = I and consequently A · AT = I, which proves that: AT = A−1 . This is

a property associated with orthogonal tensors, which are often used to describe
rotations.

Exercises

1.1 The basis {ex , ey , ez } has a right-handed orientation and is orthonormal.
(a) Determine |ei | for i = x, y, z.
(b) Determine ei · ej for i, j = x, y, z.
(c) Determine ex · ey × ez .
(d) Why is: ex × ey = ez ?
14 Vector and Tensor Calculus

1.2 Let {ex , ey , ez } be an orthonormal vector basis. The force vectors F x =

3ex + 2ey + ez and F y = −4ex + ey + 4ez act on point P. Calculate a
vector F  z acting on P in such a way that the sum of all force vectors is the
zero vector.
1.3 Let {ex , ey , ez } be a right-handed and orthonormal vector basis. The follow-
ing vectors are given: a = 4ez , b = −3ey + 4ez and c = ex + 2 ez .
(a) Write the vectors in column notation.
(b) Determine a + b and 3(a + b + c).
(c) Determine a · b,  b · a, a × b and b × a.
(d) Determine |a|, |b|,  |a × b|  and |b × a|.
(e) Determine the smallest angle between a and b. 
(f) Determine a unit normal vector on the plane defined by a and b. 
(g) Determine a × b · c and a × c · b. 
(h) Determine ab · c, (ab)  · c and b
T a · c.
(i) Do the vectors a, b and c form a suitable vector basis? If the answer
is yes, do they form an orthogonal basis? If the answer is yes, do they
form an orthonormal basis?
1.4 Consider the basis {a, b,  c} with a, b and c defined as in the previous
exercise. The following vectors are given: d = a + 2b and e = 2a − 3c.
(a) Determine d + e.
(b) Determine d · e.
1.5 The basis {ex , ey , ez } is right-handed and orthonormal. The vectors ax , ay
and az are given by: ax = 4ex + 3ey ; ay = 3ex − 4ey ; and az = ax × ay .
(a) Determine az expressed in ex , ey and ez .
(b) Determine |ai | for i = x, y, z.
(c) Determine the volume of the parallelepiped defined by ax , ay and az .
(d) Determine the angle between the lines of action of ax and ay .
(e) Determine the vector α i from ai = |ai | α i for i = x, y, z. Is {
α x , α y , α z }
a right-handed, orthonormal vector basis?
(f) Consider the vector b = 2ex + 3ey + ez . Determine the column rep-
resentation of b according to the bases {ex , ey , ez }, {ax , ay , az } and
{
α x , α y , α z }.
(g) Show that: ax × ay · b = ax · ay × b = ay · b × ax .
1.6 Assume that {ex , ey , ez } is an orthonormal vector basis. The following
vectors are defined:

a = 4ex + 3ey − ez

b = 6ey − ez
c = 8ex − ez .
15 Exercises

Are a, b and c linearly independent? If not, what is the relationship between
the vectors?
1.7 The vector basis {ex , ey , ez } is orthonormal. Describe how a vector a is
transformed when the following dyadic products are applied to it:
(a) ex ex .
(b) ex ex + ey ey .
(c) ex ex + ey ey + ez ez .
(d) ex ey − ey ex + ez ez .
(e) ex ex − ey ey + ez ez .
1.8 Consider the second-order tensor A = I + 2ex ex + ex ey + ey ex . Determine
det(A).
1.9 Consider the following tensor :
F = I + 4ex ex + 2(ex ey + ey ex )
and the vector:
b = 2ex + 2ey + 2ez .
It is known that:

F · a = b.
Determine the unknown vector a.
1.10 The following second-order tensors are given:
A = I + ex ex + ey ey
B = 2ex ez .
Determine the tensor C = 12 (B · A + AT · BT ).
2 The Concepts of Force and Moment

2.1 Introduction

We experience the effects of force in everyday life and have an intuitive notion
of force. For example, we exert a force on our body when we lift or push an
object, while we continuously (fortunately) feel the effect of gravitational forces,
for instance while sitting, walking, etc. All parts of the human body in one way
or the other are loaded by forces. Our bones provide rigidity to the body and can
sustain high loads. The skin is resistant to force: simply pull on the skin to witness
this. The cardiovascular system is continuously loaded dynamically owing to the
pulsating blood pressure. The bladder is loaded and stretched when it fills up. The
intervertebral discs serve as flexible force-transmitting media that give the spine
its flexibility. Beside force, we are using levers all the time in our daily life to
increase the ‘force’ that we want to apply to some object, for example by opening
doors with the latch, opening a bottle with a bottle-opener. We feel the effect of
a lever arm when holding a weight close to our body instead of using a stretched
arm. These experiences are the result of the moment that can be exerted by a force.
Understanding the impact of force and moment on the human body requires us to
formalize the intuitive notion of force and moment. That is the objective of this
chapter.

2.2 Definition of a Force Vector

Imagine pulling on a thin wire that is attached to a wall. The pulling force exerted
on the point of application is a vector with a physical meaning: it has
• a length: the magnitude of the pulling force
• an orientation in space: the direction of the wire
• a line-of-action, which is the line through the force vector.
The graphical representation of a force vector, denoted by F  , is given in Fig. 2.1.
The ‘shaft’ of the arrow indicates the orientation in space of the force vector. The
point of application of the force vector is denoted by the point P.
 17 2.2 Definition of a Force Vector

n
f actio
F Line o
P
e

Figure 2.1
 and unit vector e.
The force vector F

F = |F |e1 F = −|F |e2

e1
e2

Figure 2.2
 written with respect to e1 and written with respect to e2 .
Force vector F

 |. If e denotes a unit vector,

The magnitude of the force vector is denoted by |F
the force vector may be written as:
 = Fe,
F (2.1)

where F may be any rational number (i.e. negative, zero or positive). The absolute
value |F| of the number F is equal to the magnitude of force vector:
 |.
|F| = |F (2.2)
 is written either with respect to the unit vector e1 or
In Fig. 2.2, the force vector F
with respect to the unit vector e2 that has the same working line in space as e1 but
the opposite direction. Since the unit vector e1 has the same direction as the force
vector F:

 = |F
F  |e1 . (2.3)
 ; therefore:
In contrast, the unit vector e2 has a direction that is opposed to F
 = −|F
F  |e2 . (2.4)

Example 2.1  be given by:

Let the force vector F
 = 2e1 .
F

If the unit vectors e1 and e2 have opposite direction:

e2 = −e1 ,
18 The Concepts of Force and Moment

then the force vector may also be written as:

 = −2e2 .
F

2.3 Newton’s Laws

The concepts in this biomechanics textbook are based on the work of Sir Isaac
Newton (1643–1727). In his most famous work, ‘Philosophiae Naturalis Prin-
cipia Mathematica’, he described the law of gravity and what are currently known
as the three laws of Newton, forming the basis for classical mechanics. These laws
are:
• Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless
an external force is applied to it. This is often termed simply the ‘Law of Inertia’.
• In a one-dimensional context, the second law states that the force F on an object equals
the mass m, with SI unit [kg], of the object multiplied by the acceleration a, with
dimension [m s−2 ], of the object:

F = ma. (2.5)

Consequently, the force F has the dimension [N] (Newton), with:

1 [N] = 1 [kg m s−2 ].

This may be generalized to three-dimensional space in a straightforward manner. Let

the position of a material particle in space be given by the vector x. If the particle moves
in space, this vector will be a function of the time t, i.e.

x = x(t). (2.6)

The velocity v of the particle is given by:

dx
v(t) = , (2.7)
dt
and the acceleration a follows from:
dv d2 x
= 2.
a(t) = (2.8)
dt dt
Newton’s second law may now be formulated as:
 = ma.
F (2.9)

• The third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
This law is exemplified by what happens when we step off a boat onto the bank of
a lake: if we move in the direction of the shore, the boat tends to move in the opposite
direction.
 19 2.4 Vector Operations on the Force Vector

Example 2.2 Let the position of a particle with mass m for t ≥ 0 be given by:
  t 2 
x(t) = 1 + x0 ,
τ
where x0 denotes the position of the particle at t = 0 and τ is a constant,
characteristic time. The velocity of this particle is obtained from:
dx d   d(1 + (t/τ )2 )
v = = (1 + (t/τ )2 )x0 = x0 = (2t/τ 2 )x0 ,
dt dt dt
while the acceleration follows from:
dv
a = = (2/τ 2 )x0 .
dt
The force on this particle equals:
 = (2m/τ 2 )x0 .
F

2.4 Vector Operations on the Force Vector

Suppose that a force vector is represented by:

 1 = F1 e,
F (2.10)
 2 , may be obtained by multiplying the force by a
then another force vector, say F
factor α, see Fig. 2.3(a):
 2 = αF1 e = F2 e .
F (2.11)

The force vector F  2 has the same orientation in space as F  1 , but if α = 1 it will
have a different length, and it may have a direction change (if α < 0, as shown in
Fig. 2.3(a)).
The net result of two force vectors, say F  2 , acting on the same point P
 1 and F
is obtained by the vector sum, graphically represented in Fig. 2.3(b):

F 1 + F
3 = F  2. (2.12)

The vector F  3 is placed along the diagonal of the parallelogram formed by the

vectors F 1 and F 2 . This implicitly defines the orientation, sense and magnitude of
the resulting force vector F  3.
Clearly, if two force vectors F  1 and F 2 are parallel, then the resulting force
3 = F
vector F  1 +F 2 will be parallel to the vectors F
 1 and F
 2 as well. If F
1 = − F
 2,
20 The Concepts of Force and Moment

F1

F2 = αF 1 F3 = F 1 + F 2

F1
F2

(a) F2 = αF 1 (b) F3 = F 1 + F 2

Figure 2.3
Graphical representation of the scalar multiplication of (a) a force vector with α < 0 and (b) the sum of two force
vectors.

 with
then the addition of these two force vectors yields the so-called zero vector 0,
zero length.

2.5 Force Decomposition

Suppose that a bone is loaded with a force F  as sketched in Fig. 2.4. The principal
axis of the bone has a direction indicated by the unit vector e. The smallest angle
between the force vector F  and the unit vector e is denoted by α. It is useful to
know which part of the force F  acts in the direction of the unit vector e, indicated
by F t (tangential), and which part of the force acts perpendicular to the bone,
 n (normal). The force vector F
indicated by the force vector F  may, in that case, be
written as:
 =F
F  n.
t + F (2.13)
To determine the vectors F  n , vector calculus will be used. The inner product
 t and F

of two vectors, say a and b, is defined as:
a · b = |a| |b|
 cos(α), (2.14)
where α is the smallest angle between the two vectors a and b;  see Fig. 2.5 and
Chapter 1 for further details on the properties of the vector inner product. Compu-
tation of the inner product requires knowledge of the length of both vectors (i.e.
 and the smallest angle between the two vectors (i.e. α), all physical
|a| and |b|)
quantities that can easily be obtained. If the vectors a and b are perpendicular to
each other, hence if α = π/2, then the 
√ inner product equals zero, i.e. a · b = 0.
The length of a vector satisfies |a| = a · a.
Now, consider the inner product of an arbitrary vector b with a unit vector e (i.e.
|e| = 1). Then:
b · e = |b|
 cos(α). (2.15)
21 2.5 Force Decomposition

F
Fn

α e

Ft

Figure 2.4
 . The orientation of the bone is indicated by the unit vector e.
Bone loaded by the force vector F

b
α
a

Figure 2.5
Definition of the angle α.

b bn
bn b
α
α e
e
bt bt
|bt| |bt|

(a) Acute angle α, the length of b t (b) Obtuse angle α, the length of b t

Figure 2.6
Vector decomposition in case of (a) an acute and (b) an obtuse angle between the vectors.

Let the vector b be written as the sum of a vector parallel to e, say bt , and a vector
normal to e, say bn , such that:

b = bt + bn , (2.16)

as depicted in Fig. 2.6(a).

If the angle α between the unit vector e and the vector b is acute, hence if
α ≤ π/2, it is easy to show that this inner product is equal to the length of the
vector bt , the component of b parallel to the unit vector e; see Fig. 2.6(a). By
definition:

|bt |
cos(α) = . (2.17)

|b|
22 The Concepts of Force and Moment

However, from Eq. (2.15) we know that:

b · e
cos(α) = , (2.18)

|b|
hence:

|bt | = b · e. (2.19)

Since the angle α is acute, the vector bt has the same sense as the unit vector e
such that:

bt = |bt |e = (b · e)e . (2.20)

If the angle α is obtuse (see Fig. 2.6(b)), hence if α > π/2, we have:
|bt |
cos(π − α) = − cos(α) = . (2.21)

|b|

With, according to Eq. (2.15), cos(α) = b · e this leads to:
|b|

|bt | = −b · e. (2.22)

In this case the sense of the vector bt is opposite to the unit vector e, such that:

bt = −|bt |e . (2.23)

So, clearly, whether the angle α is acute or obtuse, the vector bt parallel to the unit
vector e is given by:

bt = (b · e)e . (2.24)

Recall that this is only true if e has unit length! In conclusion, the inner product
of an arbitrary vector b with a unit vector e defines the magnitude and sense of a
vector bt that is parallel to the unit vector e such that the original vector b may be
written as the sum of this parallel vector and a vector normal to the unit vector e.
The vector bn normal to e follows automatically from:

bn = b − bt . (2.25)

This implicitly defines the unique decomposition of the vector b into a component
normal and a component parallel to the unit vector e.
Based on the considerations above, the force vector F  in Fig. 2.4 can be
decomposed into a component parallel to the bone principal axis F  t given by:

 t = (F
F  · e)e, (2.26)
 23 2.5 Force Decomposition

Fp

Fa
A

β
P

α
ey Q

ex

Figure 2.7
 a and posterior F
Forces of the tendons of the tibialis anterior F  p , respectively.

where e denotes a vector of unit length, and a component normal to the principal
axis of the bone:
F  −F
n = F  t = (I − e e) · F
. (2.27)

Example 2.3 In the foot, the tendons of the tibialis anterior and the tibialis posterior may be
identified; see Fig. 2.7. Let the magnitude of the force vectors be given by:
 a | = 50 [N],
Fa = |F  p | = 60 [N],
Fp = |F
while the angles α and β are specified by:
5π π
, β= .α=
11 6
What is the net force acting on the attachment point Q of the two muscles on the
foot?
 a and F
First, the force vectors F  p are written with respect to the Cartesian
coordinate system. Clearly:
 a = Fa cos(α + β)ex + sin(α + β)ey
F
≈ −18.6ex + 46.4ey [N],
and
 p = Fp cos(α)ex + sin(α)ey
F
≈ 8.5ex + 59.4ey [N].
 24 The Concepts of Force and Moment

 a and F
Therefore, the net force due to F  p acting on point Q equals:
 =F
F  p = −10.1ex + 105.8ey [N].
a + F

Example 2.4  into a component parallel to a unit vector

The decomposition of a force vector F
e and a component normal to this vector is also straightforward. For example, let
 = 2ex + 6ey [N],
F
and
1
e = √ (2ex − 3ey ).
13
 parallel to e is obtained from:
Notice that |e| = 1. Then, the component of F
 t = (F
F  · e) e
 
14 1
= −√ √ (2ex − 3ey )
13 13
     

F · e 
e
14
=− (2ex − 3ey ) [N].
13

2.6 Drawing Convention

Consider two force vectors, F  1 and F 2 , both parallel to the unit vector e as
sketched in Fig. 2.8. In this case, the two vectors are identified by numbers F1
and F2 , rather than by the vector symbols F  1 and F
 2 . These numbers denote the
magnitude of the force vector, while the orientation of the arrow denotes the direc-
tion of the vector. Consequently, this way of drawing and identifying the vectors
implicitly assumes:
 1 = F1 e ,
F (2.28)
while:
 2 = −F2 e .
F (2.29)
This drawing convention is generally used in combination with a certain vector
basis. In this course, only the Cartesian vector basis is used. In that case, forces
acting in the horizontal plane, hence in the ex direction, are frequently identified
by Hi (from Horizontal), while forces acting in vertical direction, hence in the ey
25 2.7 The Concept of Moment

F1
e
F2 –F2

Figure 2.8
Force vectors identified by their magnitude (F1 and F2 ).

V3
ey

H1

H2 ex

Figure 2.9
Force vectors.

direction, are identified by Vi (from Vertical). For example, the vectors drawn in
Fig. 2.9 indicate that:
 1 = H1 ex ,
H  2 = −H2 ex ,
H V 3 = V3 ey . (2.30)

2.7 The Concept of Moment

A simple example of the effect of a moment is experienced when holding a tray

with a mass on it that exerts a (gravity) force on the tray: see the schematic drawing
in Fig. 2.10(a). This force, which acts at a certain distance d, causes a moment at
the position of our hand as is shown in Fig. 2.10(b), where the tray has been
removed from the drawing and the resulting load on the hand is indicated by the
arrow F, representing the force, and additionally the curved arrow M, representing
the moment.
Increasing the distance of the mass with respect to our hand, or increasing the
mass, will increase the moment that we experience. In fact, the moment (or torque
if you like) that is felt on our hand equals the distance d multiplied by the force
due to the mass F:

M = dF. (2.31)

The moment has a certain orientation in space. Changing the direction of the force
F, as visualized in Fig. 2.11(a), will change the orientation of the moment. If the
26 The Concepts of Force and Moment

d
F

F
M

(a) (b)

Figure 2.10
(a) Weight of an object on a tray. (b) Loading on the hand.

d F d

Ft
F Ft F
M = dFn Fn
M = dF
Fn
(a) Moment due to reversed force F (b) Moment due to oriented force F

Figure 2.11
Moments due to forces F.

force acts at a certain angle on the tray, as indicated in Fig. 2.11(b), only the force
normal to the tray will generate a moment with respect to the hand:
M = dFn . (2.32)
In the next section this intuitive notion of moment is formalized.

2.8 Definition of the Moment Vector

A point in space may be identified by its position vector x: see for instance the
three-dimensional example in Fig. 2.12, where O denotes the location of the origin
of the Cartesian vector basis {ex , ey , ez }.
Assume that a force F  is applied to a point Q with location xQ . The moment
vector is defined with respect to a point in space, say P, having location xP . The
moment exerted by the force F  with respect to point P is defined as:

M  = d × F
 = (xQ − xP ) × F . (2.33)
For an interpretation of Eq. (2.33) it is useful to first focus on a two-dimensional
configuration. Consider the situation as depicted in Fig. 2.13, where we focus our
attention on the plane that is spanned by the vector d and the force vector F
 . Define
27 2.8 Definition of the Moment Vector

F
ez

d Q
P
xP xQ

ey

ex

Figure 2.12
Points P and Q in space identified by their position vectors.

y
Fy F

Q Fx
d
P dy
dx
ey

ez ex x

Figure 2.13
The moment of a force acting at point Q with respect to point P.

a Cartesian vector basis {ex , ey , ez } with the basis vectors ex and ey in the plane and
ez perpendicular to the plane. In this case, vector ez is pointing towards the reader.
With respect to this basis, the column representations of the vectors d and F  can
be given by:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
dx Fx
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
d∼ = ⎣ dy ⎦ , F
∼
= ⎣ Fy ⎦ . (2.34)
0 0
By using Eqs. (2.33) and (1.35) we immediately derive that:
 = (dx Fy − dy Fx )ez .
M (2.35)
From this analysis, several items become clear:
• The moment vector points in a direction perpendicular to the plane that is spanned by
the vectors d and F
.
28 The Concepts of Force and Moment

y y

Fy ey
dy ey

dx ex Fx ex
z z
x x

Figure 2.14
Application of the corkscrew rule.

d
P
dn dt
ey

ez ex Q

Figure 2.15
The moment of a force acting at point Q with respect to point P.

 1 = dx Fy ez and
• The total moment vector can be written as an addition of the moments M
 2 = −dy Fx ez . For both composing moments, the force is perpendicular to the work-
M
ing distance of the forces, i.e. dx ex is perpendicular to Fy ey and dy ey is perpendicular
to Fx ex .
• The directions of the composing moments M  1 = dx Fy ez and M  2 = −dy Fx ez follow
from the corkscrew rule. To apply this corkscrew rule correctly, place the tails of the
two vectors (e.g. dx ex and Fy ey ) at the same location in space: see Fig. 2.14. In the
case of the combination dx ex and Fy ey , the rotation of the arm to the force is a counter-
clockwise movement, leading to a vector that points out of the plane, i.e. in the positive
ez -direction. In the case of the combination dy ey and Fx ex , rotating the arm to the force
is a clockwise movement resulting in a moment vector that points into the plane, i.e. in
the negative ez -direction.
In the definition of the moment vector, the location of the force vector along the
line-of-action is not relevant since only the magnitude of the force, the direction
and the distance of the point P to the line-of-action are of interest. This is illus-
trated in Fig. 2.15. We can decompose the vector d pointing from the point P to
Q into a vector d n , perpendicular to the line-of-action of the force F
 , and a vector
dt , parallel to the line-of-action. Then, we can write for the moment M  of vector
F with respect to point P:
 29 2.8 Definition of the Moment Vector

 = d × F
M  = (d n + d t ) × F
 = d n × F
. (2.36)

The definition in Eq. (2.33) also assures that the resulting moment is the zero
vector if the point P is located on the line-of-action of the force vector (in that

case d n = 0).
In the general three-dimensional case (see Fig. 2.12), the procedure to determine
the moment of the force F  with respect to the point P is similar. The column
representations of the vectors d and F
 in this case are given by:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
dx Fx
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
d∼ = ⎣ dy ⎦ , F
∼
= ⎣ Fy ⎦ , (2.37)
dz Fz

and the resulting column representation of the moment follows from Eq. (1.35):
⎡ ⎤
dy Fz − dz Fy
⎢ ⎥
M∼
= ⎣ dz Fx − dx Fz ⎦ . (2.38)
dx Fy − dy Fx

Example 2.5 Let the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system be the point with respect to which
the moment vector is computed, i.e.

xP = 0 [m].
 is denoted by:
The point of application of the force vector F

xQ = 2ex + ey [m],

which means that this point is located in the xy-plane. The force vector is also
located in this plane:
 = 5ey [N].
F
 with respect to the point P follows from:
The moment of the force F
 = (xQ − xP ) × F
M 
= (2ex + ey ) × 5ey
= 10 ex × ey + 5 ey × ey
     
ez 0
= 10ez [N m].

Example 2.6 As before, let:

xQ = 2ex + ey [m],

 30 The Concepts of Force and Moment

and
 = 5ey [N],
F
but
xP = 3ez [m].
Then
 = (xQ − xP ) × F
M 
= (2ex + ey − 3ez ) × 5ey
= 10ez + 15ex [N m].

2.9 The Two-Dimensional Case

If all forces act in the same plane, the resulting moment vector with respect to
any point in that plane is, by definition, perpendicular to this plane. However, it is
common practice in this case to indicate a moment as a curved arrow that shows a
clockwise or counterclockwise direction; see Fig. 2.16. Using the notation:
 = Mez ,
M (2.39)
and defining the orientation vector ez = ex × ey to be pointing out of the plane into
the direction of the viewer, a counterclockwise moment corresponds to M > 0,
while a clockwise moment corresponds to M < 0. Figure 2.16(a) shows a two-
dimensional body with a force F  acting on it at point Q. We can define an arbitrary
point P in the body. The moment M  with respect to P as a result of the force F  will
be a vector perpendicular to the plane of drawing. Using the drawing convention as
proposed above, Fig. 2.16(a) can be replaced by Fig. 2.16(b). In this case the line-
 is drawn through point P, and the resulting moment is given
of-action of force F
by a curved arrow in counterclockwise direction. The loading of the body accord-
ing to Figs 2.16(a) and 2.16(b) is statically, completely equivalent. The same is
true for Figs 2.16(c) and 2.16(d) for a clockwise direction of the moment.

Example 2.7 Resulting moment using scalar notation. Following the drawing convention of
Section 2.2, the force vectors in Fig. 2.17 are given by:
 1 = F1 ex
F
 2 = −F2 ex
F
 3 = F3 ex .
F
Exploring the Variety of Random
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yourself. Did you like Rome?"
"Yes," she said.
He had led her as though with his will to a couch behind a half-
damask, half-glass, Louis-XV screen; and she dropped down upon it
in a rosy twilight of candles, with bunches of pink roses around her
in all sorts of Venetian glasses. He sat on an ottoman, bending
towards her slightly, with his arms on his knees and his hands folded
together:
"They've been gossiping about you finely at the Hague. First about
your pamphlet ... and then about your painter."
Her eyes pierced him like needles. He laughed:
"You can look just as angry as ever.... Tell me, do you ever hear from
the old people? They're in a bad way."
"Now and then. I was able to send them some money lately."
"That's damned good of you. They don't deserve it. They said that
you no loiter existed for them."
"Mamma wrote that they were so pushed for money. Then I sent
them a hundred guilders. It was the most that I could do."
"Oh, now that they find you sending them money, you'll begin to
exist for them again!"
She shrugged her shoulders:
"I don't mind that. I was sorry for them ... and sorry I couldn't send
more."
"Ah, when you look so thundering smart...."
"I don't pay for my clothes."
"I'm only stating a fact. I'm not venturing to criticize. I think it
damned handsome of you to send them money. But you do look
thundering smart. ... Look here, let me tell you something: you've
become a damned handsome girl."
He stared at her, with his smile, which compelled her to look at him.
Then she replied, very calmly, waving her fan lightly in front of her
bare neck, sheltering in the foam of her fan:
"I'm damned glad to hear it!"
He gave a loud, throaty laugh:
"There, I like that! You've still got your witty sense of repartee.
Always to the point. Damned clever of you!"
She stood up strained and nervous
"I must leave you. I must go to Mrs. Uxeley."
He spread out his arms:
"Stay and sit with me a little longer. It does me good to talk to you."
"Then restrain yourself a bit and don't 'damn' quite so much. I've not
been used to it lately."
"I'll do my best. Sit down."
She fell back and hid herself behind her fan.
"Let me tell you that you have positively become a very ... a very
beautiful woman. Now is that like a compliment?"
"It sounds more like one."
"Well, it's the best I can do, you know. So you must make the most
of it. And now tell me about Rome. How were you living there?"
"Why should I tell you about it?"
"Because I'm interested."
"You have no need to be interested."
"I dare say, but I happen to be. I've never quite forgotten you. And I
should be surprised if you had me."
"I have, quite," she said, coolly.
He looked at her, with his smile. He said nothing, but she felt that he
knew better. She was afraid to convince him further.
"Is it true, what they say at the Hague? About Van der Staal?"
She looked at him haughtily.
"Come, out with it!"
"Yes."
"You are a cheeky baggage! Do you no longer care a straw for the
whole boiling of them?"
"No."
"And how do you manage here, with this old hag?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do they just accept you here, at Nice?"
"I don't brag about my independence; and no one is able to
comment on my conduct here."
"Where is Van der Staal?"
"At Florence."
"Why isn't he here?"
"I'm not going to answer any more questions. You are indiscreet. It
has nothing to do with you and I won't be cross-examined."
She was very nervous again and once more rose to her feet. He
spread out his arms.
"Really, Rudolph, you must let me go," she entreated. "I have to go
to Mrs. Uxeley. They are to dance a pavane in the ball-room and I
have to ask for instructions and hand them on. Let me pass."
"Then I'll take you there. Let me offer you my arm."
"Rudolph, do go away! Don't you see how you're upsetting me? This
meeting has been so unexpected. Do let me go, or I sha'n't be able
to control myself. I'm going to cry.... Why did you speak to me, why
did you speak to me, why did you come here, where you knew that
you would meet me?"
"Because I wanted to see one of Mrs. Uxeley's parties and because I
wanted to meet you."
"You must understand that it upsets me to see you again. What
good does it do you? We are dead to each other. Why should you
want to pester me like this?"
"That's just what I wanted to know, whether we are dead to each
other...."
"Dead, dead, quite dead!" she cried, vehemently.
He laughed:
"Come, don't be so theatrical. You can understand that I was curious
to sec you again and talk to you. I used to see you in the street, in
your carriage, on the Jetée; and I was pleased to find you looking so
well, so smart, so happy and so handsome. You know that good-
looking women are my great hobby. You are much better-looking
than you used to be when you were my wife. If you had been then
what you are now, I should never have allowed you to divorce me....
Come, don't be a child. No one knows here. I think it damned jolly
to meet you here, to have a good old yarn with you and to have you
leaning on my arm. Take my arm. Don't make a fuss and I'll take you
where you want to go. Where shall we find Mrs. Uxeley? Introduce
me ... as a friend from Holland...."
"Rudolph...."
"Oh, I insist: don't bother! There's nothing in it! It amuses me and
it's no end of a lark to walk about with one's divorced wife at a ball
at Nice. A delightful town, isn't it? I go to Monte Carlo every day and
I've been damned lucky. Won three thousand francs yesterday. Will
you come with me one day?"
"You're mad?"
"I'm not mad at all. I want to enjoy myself. And I'm proud to have
you on my arm."
She withdrew her arm:
"Well, you needn't be."
"Now don't get spiteful. That's all rot: let's enjoy ourselves. There is
the old girl: she's looking at you."
She had passed through some of the rooms on his arm; and they
saw, near a tombola, round which people were crowding to draw
presents and surprises, Mrs. Uxeley, Gilio and the Rosavilla, Costi
and Luca ladies. They were all very gay round the pyramid of knick-
knacks, behaving like children when the number of one of them
turned up on the roulette-wheel.
"Mrs. Uxeley," Cornélie began, in a trembling voice, "may I introduce
a fellow-countryman of mine? Baron Brox."
Mrs. Uxeley simpered, uttered a few amiable words and asked if he
wouldn't draw a number.
The roulette-wheel spun round and round.
"A fellow-countryman, Cornélie?"
"Yes, Mrs. Uxeley."
"What do you say his name is?"
"Baron Brox."
"A splendid fellow! A handsome fellow! An astonishingly handsome
fellow!... What is he? What does he do?"
"He's in the army, a first lieutenant...."
"In which regiment?"
"In the hussars."
"At the Hague?"
"Yes."
"An amazingly good-looking fellow! I like those tall, fine men."
"Mrs. Uxeley, is everything going as it should?"
"Yes, darling."
"Do you feel all right?"
"I have a little pain, but nothing to speak about."
"Won't it soon be time for the pavane?"
"Yes, see that the girls go and get dressed. Has the hairdresser
brought the wigs for the young men?"
"Yes."
"Then go and collect them and tell them to hurry up. They must be
ready within half an hour...."
Rudolph Brox returned from the tombola, where he had drawn a
silver match-box. He thanked Mrs. Uxeley, who simpered, and, when
he saw that Cornélie was moving away, he went after her:
"Cornélie...."
"Please, Rudolph, let me be. I have to collect the girls and the men
for the pavane. I have a lot to do...."
"I'll help you...."
She beckoned to a girl or two and sent a couple of footmen to hunt
through the room for the young men and to ask them to go to the
dressing-room. He saw that she was pale and trembling all over her
body:
"What's the matter?"
"I'm tired."
"Then let's go and get something to drink."
She was numb with nervousness. The music of the invisible band
boom-boomed fiercely against her brain; and at times the
innumerable candles whirled before her eyes like a reeling
firmament. The rooms were choked with people. They crowded and
laughed aloud and showed one another their presents; the men trod
on the ladies' trains. An intoxicating, suffocating fragrance of
flowers, the atmosphere peculiar to crowded functions and the
warm, perfumed odour of women's flesh hung in the rooms like a
cloud. Cornélie hunted hither and thither and at last collected all the
girls. The ballet-master came to ask her something. A butler came to
ask her something. And Brox did not budge from her side:
"Let's go now and get something to drink," he said.
She mechanically took his arm; and her hand trembled on the sleeve
of his dress-coat. He pushed his way with her through the crowd;
they passed Urania and De Breuil. Urania said something which
Cornélie did not catch. The refreshment-room also was chock-full
and buzzed with loud, laughing voices. Behind the long tables stood
the butler, like a minister, supervising the whole service. There was
no crowding, no fighting for a glass of wine or a sandwich. People
waited until a footman brought it on a tray.
"It's very well managed," said Brox. "Do you do all this?"
"No, it's been done like this for years...."
She dropped into a chair, looking very pale.
"What will you have?"
"A glass of champagne."
"I'm hungry. I had a bad dinner at my hotel. I must have something
to eat."
He ordered the champagne for her. He ate first a patty, then another,
then a châteaubriant and peas. He drank two glasses of claret,
followed by a glass of champagne. The footman brought him
everything, dish by dish, on a silver tray. His handsome, virile face
was brick-red in colour with health and animal strength. The stiff
hair on his round, heavy skull was cropped quite close. His large
grey eyes were bright and laughing, with a straight, impudent
glance. A heavy, well-tended moustache curled over his mouth, in
which the white teeth gleamed. He stood with his legs slightly
astraddle, firm and soldierly in his dress-coat, which he wore with an
easy correctness. He ate slowly and with relish, enjoying his good
glass of fine wine.
Mechanically she now watched him, from her chair. She had drunk a
glass of champagne and asked for another; and the stimulant
revived her. Her cheeks recovered some of their colour; her eyes
sparkled.
"They do you damn well here," he said, coming up to her with his
glass in his hand.
And he emptied his glass.
"They are going to dance the pavane almost at once," she
murmured.
And they passed through the crowded rooms, to a big corridor
outside, which looked like an avenue of camellia-shrubs. They were
alone for a moment.
"This is where the dancers are to meet."
"Then let's wait for them. It's nice and cool out here."
They sat down on a bench.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked. "You were so queer in the ball-
room."
"Yes, I'm better."
"Don't you think it's fun to meet your old husband again?"
"Rudolph, I don't understand how you can talk to me like that and
persecute me and tease me ... after everything that has
happened...."
"Oh, well, all that has happened and is done with!"
"Do you think it's discreet on your part ... or delicate?"
"No, neither discreet nor delicate. Those, you know, are things I've
never been: you used to fling that in my face often enough, in the
old days. But, if it's not delicate, it's amusing. Have you lost your
sense of humour? It's damn jolly humorous, our meeting here....
And now listen to me. You and I are divorced. All right. That's so in
the eyes of the law. But a legal divorce is a matter of law and form,
for the benefit of society. As regards money affairs and so on. We've
been too much husband and wife not to feel something for each
other at a later meeting, such as this. Yes, yes, I know what you
want to say. It's simply untrue. You have been too much in love with
me and I with you for everything between us to be dead. I
remember everything still. And you must do the same. Do you
remember when...?"
He laughed, pushed nearer to her and whispered close to her ear.
She felt his breath thrilling her on her flesh like a warm breeze. She
flushed crimson with nervous distress. And she felt with her whole
body that he had been her husband and that he had entered into
her very blood. His voice ran like molten bronze along her nerves of
hearing, deep down within her. She knew him, through and through.
She knew his eyes, his mouth. She knew his broad, well-kept hands,
with the large round nails and the dark signetring, as they lay on his
knees, which showed square and powerful under the crease in his
dress-trousers. And she felt, like a sudden despair, that she knew
and felt him in her whole body. However rough he might have been
to her in the old days, however much he had ill-treated her, striking
her with his clenched fist, banging her against the wall ... she had
been his wife. She, a virgin, had become his wife, had been initiated
into womanhood by him. And she felt that he had branded her as his
own, she felt it in her blood and in the marrow of her bones. She
confessed to herself that she had never forgotten him. During the
first lonely days in Rome, she had longed for his kisses, she had
thought of him, had conjured up his virile image before her mind,
had persuaded herself to believe that, by exercising tact and
patience and a little management, she could have remained his
wife....
Then the great happiness had come, the gentle happiness of perfect
harmony!...
It all flashed through her like lightning.
Oh, in that great, gentle happiness she had been able to forget
everything, she had not felt the past within her! But she now felt
that the past always remained, irrevocably and indelibly. She had
been his wife and she held him still in her blood. She felt it now with
every breath that she drew. She was indignant because he dared to
whisper about the old days, in her ear; but it had been all as he
said, irrevocably, indelibly.
"Rudolph!" she entreated, clasping her hands together. "Spare me!"
She almost screamed it, in a cry of fear and despair. But he laughed
and with one hand seized both hers, clasped in entreaty:
"If you go on like that, if you look at me so beseechingly with those
beautiful eyes, I won't spare you even here and I'll kiss you until...."
His words swept over her like a scorching wind. But laughing voices
approached; and two girls and two young men, dressed up, for the
pavane, as Henri IV and Marguerite de Valois, came running down
the stairs:
"What's become of the others?" they cried, looking round in the
staircase.
And they came dancing up to Cornélie. The ballet-master also
approached. She did not understand what he said:
"Where are the others?" she repeated, mechanically, in a hoarse
voice.
"Here they come.... Now we're all there...."
They were all talking and laughing and glittering and buzzing about
her. She summoned up all her poor strength and issued a few
instructions. The guests streamed into the great ball-room, sat down
in the front chairs, crowded together in the corners. The pavane was
danced in the middle of the room, to an old trailing melody: a long,
winding curve of graceful steps, deep bows and satin gleaming with
sudden lustre like that of porcelain ... with the occasional flutter of a
cape ... and a flash of light on a rapier.

CHAPTER XLVIII
"Urania, I beseech you, help me!"
"What is it?"
"Come with me...."
She had seized Urania by the hand and dragged her away from De
Breuil into one of the deserted rooms. The suite of rooms was
almost entirely deserted; the dense throng of guests stood packed
along the sides of the great ball-room to watch the pavane.
"What is it, Cornélie?"
Cornélie was trembling in every limb and clutching Urania's arm. She
drew her to the farthest comer of the room. There was no one
there.
"Urania," she entreated, in a supreme crisis of nervousness, "help
me! What am I to do? I have met him unexpectedly. Don't you know
whom I mean? My husband. My divorced husband. I had seen him
once or twice before, in the street and on the Jetée. The time when
I was so startled, you know, when I almost fainted: that was
because of him. And he has been talking to me now, here, a
moment ago. And I'm afraid of him. He spoke quite nicely, said he
wanted to talk to me. It was so strange. Everything was finished
between us. We were divorced. And suddenly I meet him and he
speaks to me and asks me what sort of time I have had, tells me
that I am looking well, that I have grown beautiful. Tell me, Urania,
what I am to do. I'm frightened. I'm ill with anxiety. I want to get
away. I should like best to go away at once, to Florence, to Duco. I
am so frightened, Urania I want to go to my room. Tell Mrs. Uxeley
that I want to go to my room."
She hardly knew what she was saying. The words fell incoherently
from her lips, as in a fever. Men's voices approached. They were
those of Gilio, De Breuil, the Duke of Luca and the young journalists,
the two who were pushing their way into society.
"What is the Signora de Retz doing?" asked the duke. "We are
missing her everywhere."
And the young journalists, standing in the shadow of these eminent
noblemen, confirmed the statement: they had been missing her
everywhere.
"Fetch Mrs. Uxeley here," Urania whispered to Gilio. "Cornélie is ill, I
think. I can't leave her here alone. She wants to go to her room. It's
better that Mrs. Uxeley should know, else she might be angry."
Cornélie was jesting nervously, in feverish gaiety, with the duke and
with De Breuil and the journalists.
"Would you rather I took you straight to Mrs. Uxeley?" Gilio
whispered.
"I want to go to my room!" she whispered, in a voice of entreaty,
behind her fan.
The pavane appeared to be over. The buzz of voices reached them,
as though the guests were scattering about the rooms again.
"I see Mrs. Uxeley," said Gilio.
He went up to her, spoke to her. She simpered at first, leaning on
the gold knob of her cane. Then her wrinkles became angrily
contracted. She crossed the room. Cornélie went on jesting with the
duke; the journalists thought every word witty.
"Aren't you well?" whispered Mrs. Uxeley, going up to her, ruffled.
"What about the cotillon?"
"I will see to everything, Mrs. Uxeley," said Urania.
"Impossible, dear princess; and I shouldn't dream of letting you
either."
"Introduce me to your friend, Cornélie," said a deep voice behind
Cornélie.
She felt that voice like bronze inside her body. She turned round
automatically. It was he. She seemed unable to escape him. And,
under his glance, as though hypnotized, she appeared, very
strangely, to recover her strength. It seemed as though he were
willing her not to be ill. She murmured:
"Urania, may I introduce ... a fellow-country-man?... Baron Brox ...
Principessa di Forte-Braccio...."
Urania knew his name, knew who he was:
"Darling," she whispered to Cornélie, "let me take you to your room.
I'll see to everything."
"It's no longer necessary," she said. "I'm much better. I only want a
glass of champagne. I am much better, Mrs. Uxeley."
"Why did you run away from me?" asked Rudolph
Brox, with his smile and his eyes in Cornélie's eyes. She smiled and
said the first thing that came into her head.
"The dancing has begun," said Mrs. Uxeley. "But who's going to lead
my cotillon presently?"
"If I can be of any service, Mrs. Uxeley," said Brox, "I have some
little talent as a cotillon-leader."
Mrs. Uxeley was delighted. It was arranged that De Breuil and
Urania, Gilio and Countess Costi and Brox and Cornélie should lead
the figures in turns.
"You poor darling!" Urania said in Cornélie's ear. "Can you manage
it?"
Cornélie smiled:
"Yes, yes, I'm all right again," she whispered. And she moved
towards the ball-room on Brox' arm. Urania stared after her in
amazement.

CHAPTER XLIX
It was twelve o'clock when Cornélie woke that morning. The sun was
piercing the golden slit in the half-parted curtains with tiny eddying
atoms. She felt dog-tired. She remembered that Mrs. Uxeley, on the
morning after one of these parties, left her free to rest: the old lady
herself stayed in bed, although she did not sleep. And Cornélie
lacked the smallest capacity to rise. She remained lying where she
was, heavy with fatigue. Her eyes wandered through the untidy
room her handsome ball-dress, hanging listlessly, limply over a chair,
at once reminded her of yesterday. For that matter, everything in her
was thinking of yesterday, everything in her was thinking of her
husband, with a tense, hypnotized consciousness. She felt as if she
were recovering from a nightmare, a bout of drunkenness, a swoon.
It was only by drinking glass after glass of champagne that she had
been able to keep going, had been able to dance with Brox, had
been able to lead the figure when their turn came. But it was not
only the champagne. His eyes also had held her up, had prevented
her from fainting, from bursting into sobs, from screaming and
waving her arms like a madwoman. When he had taken his leave,
when everybody had gone, she had collapsed in a heap and been
taken to bed. The moment she was no longer under his eyes, she
had felt her misery and her weakness; and the champagne had as it
were suddenly clouded her brain.
Now she lay thinking of him in the dejected slackness of her
overwhelming morning fatigue. And it seemed to her as if her whole
Italian year had been an interlude, a dream. She saw herself at the
Hague again, with her pretty little face and her little flirting ways and
her phrases always to the point. She saw their first meetings and
how she had at once fallen under his influence and been unable to
flirt with him, because he laughed at her little feminine defences. He
had been too strong for her from the first. Then came their
engagement. He laid down the law and she rebelled, angrily, with
violent scenes, not wishing to be controlled, injured in her pride as a
girl who had always been spoiled and made much of. And then he
subdued her as though with the rude strength of his fist—and always
with a laugh on his handsome mouth—until they were married, until
she created a scandal and ran away. He had refused to be divorced
at first, but had consented later, because of the scandal. She had
freed herself, she had fled!...
The feminist movement, Italy, Duco.... Was it a dream? Was the
great happiness, the delightful harmony, a dream, and was she
waking after a year of dreams? Was she divorced or was she not?
She had to make an effort to remember the formalities: yes, they
were legally divorced. But was she divorced, was everything over
between them? And was she really no longer his wife?
Why had he done it, why had he pursued her after seeing her once
at Nice? Oh, he had told her, during that cotillon, that endless
cotillon! He had become proud of her when he saw how beautiful
she was and how smart, how happy she looked driving in Mrs.
Uxeley's or the princess' elegant victoria; it was then that he had
seen her, beautiful, smart and happy; and he had grown jealous.
She, a beautiful woman, had been his wife! He felt that he had a
right to her, notwithstanding the law. What was the law? Had the
law taught her womanhood or had he? And he had made her feel his
right, together with the irrevocable past. It was all irrevocable and
indelible....
She looked about her, at her wits' end what to do. And she began to
weep, to sob. Then she felt something gaining strength within her,
the instinctive rebellion that leapt up within her like a spring which
had at length recovered its resilience, now that she was resting and
no longer under his eyes. She would not. She would not. She
refused to feel him in her blood. Should she meet him once more,
she would speak to him calmly, very curtly, and order him to leave
her, show him the door, have him put out of the door.... She
clenched her fists with rage. She hated him. She thought of Duco....
And she thought of writing to him, telling him everything. And she
thought of going back to him as quickly as possible. He was not a
dream, he existed, even though he was living so far away, at
Florence. She had saved a little money, they would find their
happiness again in the studio in Rome. She would write to him; and
she wanted to get away as quickly as possible. With Duco she would
be safe. Oh, how she longed for him, to lie so softly and quietly and
blissfully in his arms, against his breast, as in the embrace of a
miraculous happiness! Was it all true, their happiness, their love and
harmony? Yes, it had existed, it was not a dream. There was his
photograph; there, on the wall, were two of his water-colours—the
sea at Sorrento and the skies over Amalfi—done in those days which
had been like poems. She would be safer with him. When she was
with Duco, she would not feel Rudolph, her husband, in her blood.
For she felt Duco in her soul; and her soul would be the stronger!
She would feel Duco in her soul, in her heart, in all the most fervent
part of her life and gather from him her uppermost strength, like a
sheaf of gleaming swordblades! Already now, when she thought of
him with such longing, she felt herself growing stronger. She could
have spoken to Brox now. Yesterday he had taken her by surprise,
had squeezed her between himself and that looking-glass, till she
had seen him double and lost her wits and been defeated. That
would never happen again. That was only due to the surprise. If she
spoke to him again now, she would triumph, thanks to what she had
learnt as a woman who stood on her own feet.
And she got up and opened the windows and put on her dressing-
gown. She looked at the blue sea, at the motley traffic on the
Promenade. And she sat down and wrote to Duco. She told him
everything: her first startled meeting, her surprise and defeat at the
ball. Her pen flew over the paper. She did not hear the knock at the
door, did not hear Urania come carefully, fearing lest she should still
be asleep and anxious to know how she felt. Excitedly she read out
part of her letter and said that she was ashamed of her weakness of
yesterday. How she could have behaved like that she herself was
unable to understand.
No, she herself could not understand it. Now that she felt somewhat
rested and was speaking to Urania, who reminded her of Rome, and
holding her long letter to Duco in her hand ... now she herself did
not understand it all and wondered which had been a dream: her
Italian year of happiness or that nightmare of yesterday....

CHAPTER L
She stayed at home for a day, feeling tired and, deep down within
herself, almost unconsciously, afraid, in spite of all, of meeting him.
But Mrs. Uxeley, who would never hear of illness or fatigue, was so
much put out that Cornélie accompanied her next day to the
Promenade des Anglais. Friends came up to talk to them and
gathered round their chairs, with Rudolph Brox among them. But
Cornélie avoided any confidential conversation.
Some days later, however, he called on Mrs. Uxeley's at-home day;
and, amid the crowd of visitors paying duty-calls after the party, he
was able to speak to her for a moment alone. He came up to her
with that laugh of his, as though his eyes were laughing, as though
his moustache were laughing. And she collected all her thoughts, so
that she might be firm with him:
"Rudolph," she said, loftily, "it is simply ridiculous. If you don't think
it indelicate, you might at least try to think it ridiculous. It tickles
your sense of humour, but imagine what people would say about it
in Holland!... The other evening, at the party, you took me by
surprise and somehow—I really don't know how it happened—I
yielded to your strange wish to dance with me and to lead the
cotillon. I frankly confess, I was confused. I now see everything
clearly and plainly and I tell you this: I refuse to meet you again. I
refuse to speak to you again. I refuse to turn the solemn earnest of
our divorce into a farce."
"If you look back," he said, "you will recollect that you never got
anything out of me with that lofty tone and those dignified airs, but
that, on the contrary, you just stimulate me to do what you don't
want...."
"If that is so, I shall simply tell Mrs. Uxeley in what relation I stand
to you and ask her to forbid you her house."
He laughed. She lost her temper:
"Do you intend to behave like a gentleman or like a cad?"
He turned red and clenched his fists:
"Curse you!" he hissed, in his moustache.
"Perhaps you would like to hit me and knock me about?" she
continued, scornfully.
He mastered himself.
"We are in a room full of people," she sneered, defiantly. "What if we
were alone? You've already clenched your fists! You would thrash me
as you did before. You brute! You brute!"
"And you are very brave in this room full of people!" he laughed,
with his laugh which incited her to rage, when it did not subdue her.
"No, I shouldn't thrash you," he continued. "I should kiss you."
"This is the last time you're going to speak to me!" she hissed,
furiously. "Go away! Go away! Or I don't know what I shall do, I
shall make a scene."
He sat down calmly:
"As you please," he said, quietly.
She stood trembling before him, impotent. Some one spoke to her;
the footman handed her some tea. She was now in the midst of a
circle of men; and, mastering herself, she jested, with loud, nervous
gaiety, flirted more coquettishly than ever. There was a little court
around her, with the Duke of Luca as its ringleader. Close by,
Rudolph Brox sat drinking his tea, with apparent calmness, as
though waiting. But his strong, masterful blood was boiling madly
within him. He could have murdered her and he was seeing red with
jealousy. That woman was his, despite the law. He was not going to
be afraid of any more scandal. She was beautiful, she was as he
wished her to be and he wanted her, his wife. He knew how he
would win her back; and this time he would not lose her, this time
she should be his, for as long as he wished.
As soon as he was able to speak to her unheard, he came up to her
again. She was just going to Urania whom she saw sitting with Mrs.
Uxeley, when he said in her ear, sternly and abruptly:
"Cornélie...."
She turned round mechanically, but with her haughty glance. She
would rather have gone on, but could not: something held her back,
a secret strength, a secret superiority, which sounded in his voice
and flowed into her with a weight as of bronze that weakened and
paralysed her energy.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I want to speak to you alone."
"No."
"Yes. Listen to me calmly for a moment, if you can. I am calm too,
as you see. You needn't be afraid of me. I promise not to ill-treat
you or even to swear at you. But I must speak to you, alone. After
our meeting, after the ball last week, we can't part like this. You are
not even entitled to show me the door, after talking to me and
dancing with me so recently. There's no reason and no logic in it.
You lost your temper. But let us both keep our tempers now. I want
to speak to you...."
"I can't: Mrs. Uxeley doesn't like me to leave the drawing-room
when there are people here. I am dependent on her."
He laughed:
"You are almost even more dependent on her than you used to be
on me! But you can give me just a second, in the next room."
"No."
"Yes, you can."
"What do you want to speak to me about?"
"I can't tell you here."
"I can't speak to you alone."
"I'll tell you what it is: you're afraid to."
"No."
"Yes, you are: you're afraid of me. With all your airs and your
dignity, you're afraid to be alone with me for a moment."
"I'm not afraid."
"You are afraid. You're shaking in your shoes with fear. You received
me with a fine speech which you rehearsed in advance. Now that
you've delivered your speech ... it's over and you're frightened."
"I am not frightened."
"Then come with me, my plucky authoress of The Social Position of
the What's-her-name! I promise, I swear that I shall be calm and tell
you calmly what I have to say to you; and I give you my word of
honour not to hit you ... Which room shall we go to?... Do you
refuse? Listen to me: if you don't come with me, it's not finished yet.
If you do, perhaps it will be finished ... and you will never see me
again."
"What can you have to say to me?"
"Come."
She yielded because of his voice, not because of his words:
"But only for three minutes."
"Very well, three minutes."
She took him into the passage and into an empty room:
"Well what is it?" she asked, frightened.
"Don't be frightened," he said, laughing under his moustache. "Don't
be frightened. I only wanted to tell you ... that you are my wife. Do
you understand that? Don't try to deny it. I felt it at the ball the
other night, when I had my arm round you, waltzing with you. Don't
try to deny that you pressed yourself against me for a moment.
You're my wife. I felt it then and I feel it now. And you feel it too,
though you would like to deny it. But that won't help you. What has
been can't be altered; and what has been ... always remains part of
you. There, you can't say that I am not speaking prettily and
delicately. Not an oath, not an improper word has escaped my lips.
For I don't want to make you angry. I only want to make you
confess that what I say is true and that you are still my wife. That
law doesn't signify. It's another law that rules us. It's a law that rules
you especially; a law which, without our ever suspecting it, brings us
together again, even though it does so by a very strange,
roundabout path, along which you, especially, have strayed. That
law rules you especially. I am convinced that you still love me, or at
least that you are still in love with me. I feel it, I know it as a fact:
don't try to deny it. It's no use, Cornélie. And I'll tell you something
besides: I am in love with you too and more so than ever. I feel it
when you're flirting with those fellows. I could wring your neck then,
I could break every bone in their bodies.... Don't be afraid: I'm not
going to; I'm not in a temper. I just wanted to talk to you calmly and
make you see the truth. Do you see it before you? It is in-con-tro-
ver-tible. You see, you have nothing to say in reply. Facts are facts....
Will you show me the door now? Do you still propose to speak to
Mrs. Uxeley? I shouldn't, if I were you. Your friend, the princess,
knows who I am: leave it at that. Had the old woman never heard
my name, or has she forgotten it? Forgotten it, I expect. Well, then,
don't trouble to refresh her ancient memory. Leave things as they
are. It's better to say nothing. No, the position is not ridiculous and
it's not humorous either. It has become very serious: the truth is
always serious. It is strange, I admit: I should never have expected
it. It's a revelation to me as well.... And now I've said what I had to
say. Less than five minutes by my watch. They will hardly have
noticed your absence in the drawing-room. And now I'm going; but
first give your husband a kiss, for I am your husband ... and always
shall be."
She stood trembling before him. It was his voice, which fell like
molten bronze into her soul, into her body, and lamed and paralysed
her. It was his voice of persuasion, persuasive charm, the voice
which she knew of old, the voice that compelled her to do
everything that he wanted. Under the influence of that voice she
became a thing, a chattel, something that belonged to him, once he
had branded her for ever as his mate. She was powerless to cast
him out of herself, to shake him from herself, to erase from herself
the stamp of his possession and the brand which marked her as his
property. She was his; and anything that otherwise was herself had
left her. There was no longer in her brain either memory or thought..
She saw him come up to her and put his arm around her. He took
her to his breast slowly but so firmly that he seemed to be taking
possession of her entirely. She felt herself melting away in his arms
as in a scorching flame. On her lips she felt his mouth, his
moustache, pressing, pressing, pressing, until she closed her eyes,
half-fainting. He said something more in her ear, with that voice
under which she seemed not to count, as though she were nothing,
as though she existed only through him. When he released her, she
staggered on her feet.
"Come, pull yourself together," she heard him say, calmly,
authoritatively, omnipotently. "And accept the position. Things are as
they are. There's no altering them. Thank you for letting me speak
to you. Everything is all right between us now: I'm sure of it. And
now au revoir. Au revoir...."
He kissed her again:
"Give me a kiss too," he said, with that voice of his. She flung her
arm round his body and kissed him on the lips.
"Au revoir," he said, once more.
She saw him laugh under his moustache; his eyes laughed at her
with flames of gold; and he went away. She heard his feet going
down the stairs and ringing on the marble of the hall, with the
strength of his firm tread.... She remained standing as though bereft
of life. In the drawing-room, next to the room in which she was, the
hum of laughing voices sounded loudly. She saw Rome before her,
saw Duco, in a short flash of lightning.... It was gone.... And,
collapsing into a chair, she uttered a suppressed cry of despair, put
her hands before her face and sobbed, restraining her despair before
all those people, dully, as from a stifling throat.

CHAPTER LI
She had but one thought: to take to flight. To fly from his mastery,
to fly from the emanation of that dominion which, mysteriously but
irrevocably, wiped away with his caress all that was in her of will,
energy and self. She remembered having felt the same thing in the
old days: rebellion and anger when he became angry and coarse,
but an eclipse of self when he caressed her; an inability to think
when he merely laid his hand upon her head; a swooning away into
a vast nothingness when he took her in his arms and kissed her. She
had felt it from the first time of seeing him, when he stood before
her and looked down upon her with that light irony in the smile of
his eyes and his moustache, as though he took pleasure in her
resistance—at that time prompted by flirting and fun, soon by
petulance, later by anger and fury—as though he took pleasure in
her futile feminine attempts to escape his power. He had at once
realized that he ruled this woman. And she had found in him her
master, her sole master. For no other man pressed down upon her
with that empire which was of the blood, of the flesh. On the
contrary, she was usually the superior. She had about her a cool
indifference which was always provoking her to destructive criticism.
She had a need for fun, for cheerful conversation, for coquetry, for
flirtation; and, always a mistress of quick repartee, she invited the
occasion for repartee; but, apart from this, men meant little to her
and she always saw the absurd side of each of them, thinking this
one too short, that one too tall, a third clumsy, a fourth stupid,
finding something in every one of them to rouse her laughter, her
mockery or her criticism. She would never be a woman to give
herself to many. She had met Duco and given herself to him with her
love, wholly, as one great, inseparable, golden gift; and, after him,
she would never fall in love again. But, before Duco, she had met
Rudolph Brox. Perhaps, if she had met him after Duco, his mastery
would not have swayed her. She did not know. And what was the
good of thinking about it? The thing was as it was. In her blood she
was not a woman for many; in her blood she was the wife, the
spouse, the consort. Of the man who had been her husband she was
in her flesh and in her blood the wife; but she was his wife even
without love. For she could not call this love: she gave the name of
love only to that other passion, that proud, tender and intense
completion of life's harmony, that journey along one golden line, the
marriage of two gleaming lines.... But the phantom hands had risen
all about them in a cloud, the hands had mysteriously and inevitably
divided their golden line; and hers, a winding curve, had leapt back,
like a quivering spring, crossing a darker line of former days, a
sombre line of the past, a dark track full of unconscious action and
fatal bondage. Oh, the strangeness, the most mysterious
strangeness of those lines of life! Why should they curl back, forcing
her backwards to her original starting-point? Why had it all been
necessary?
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