Deformation (mechanics)
![The deformation of a thin straight rod into a closed loop. The length of the rod remains almost unchanged during the deformation, which indicates that the strain is small. In this particular case of bending, displacements associated with rigid translations and rotations of material elements in the rod are much greater than displacements associated with straining.](/Images/godic/202501/08/DeformationOfRod_plain.svg0817.png")
![](/Images/godic/202501/08/BernoullisLawDerivationDiagram.svg0817.png")
![Two-dimensional geometric deformation of an infinitesimal material element.](/Images/godic/202501/08/2D_geometric_strain.svg0817.png")
![Figure 1. Motion of a continuum body.](/Images/godic/202501/08/Displacement_of_a_continuum.svg0817.png")
Deformation in continuum mechanics is the transformation of a body from a reference configuration to a current configuration. A configuration is a set containing the positions of all particles of the body.
A deformation may be caused by external loads, body forces (such as gravity or electromagnetic forces), or changes in temperature, moisture content, or chemical reactions, etc.