The present paper generalizes the method for solving the derivatives of symmetric isotropic tensor-valued functions proposed
by Dui and Chen (2004) to a subclass of nonsymmetric tensor functions satisfying the commutative condition. This subclass
of tensor functions is more general than those investigated by the existing methods. In the case of three distinct eigenvalues,
the commutativity makes it possible to introduce two scalar functions, which will be used to construct the general nonsymmetric
tensor functions and their derivatives. In the cases of repeated eigenvalues, the results are acquired by taking limits.
Key words nonsymmetric tensor - derivative of tensor function - scalar function - fourth-order tensor
Chinese Library Classification O331 - O183.2
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 74A20 - 74C15
Communicated by HUANG Zhu-ping
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50539030)