A note on the strains at a distance from an ellipsoidal inhomogeneity

Summary. Eshelby discusses the problem of how the presence of an ellipsoidal inhomogeneity in an otherwise homogeneous isotropic elastic medium disturbs an applied strain field which is uniform at large distances. He gives solutions for the strain field due to the inhomogeneity for points immediately adjacent to the inhomogeneity and for points at great distances from it. In this note we solve his equations to give the strain field at intermediate distances from the inhomogeneity. These solutions may be useful in practice for interpreting strain measurements made near open fissures or in regions of jointed or fractured rock.