Generalized Hooke's law for isotropic second gradient materials

In the spirit of Germain the most general objective stored elastic energy for a second gradient material is deduced using a literature result of Fortune & Vallee. Linear isotropic constitutive relations for stress and hyperstress in terms of strain and strain-gradient are then obtained proving that these materials are characterized by seven elastic moduli and generalizing previous studies by Toupin, Mindlin and Sokolowski. Using a suitable decomposition of the strain-gradient, it is found a necessary and sufficient condition, to be verified by the elastic moduli, assuring positive definiteness of the stored elastic energy. The problem of warping in linear torsion of a prismatic second gradient cylinder is formulated, thus obtaining a possible measurement procedure for one of the second gradient elastic moduli.