Notes on Quantitative Photoelastic Analysis

To date we have examined the theory behind photoelastic stress analysis. Let us now examine how we can use photoelastic information in a more quantitative manner. A key parameter in any such analysis is the determination of the fringe constant for the birefringent material being used.This can ideally be obtained from the manufacturer, however it can also be determined through a calibration procedure. Recall that for a dark-eld arrangement 1 2 = n f , h n = 1, 2, ... (1)

where n is the fringe order, h is the eective specimen thickness, and f is the fringe constant. Note that the eective thickness of the specimen is twice its actual thickness when using reected light, i.e., h transmitted light he = 2h reected light This equation can be rearranged as f = ( 1 2 ) he , n n = 1, 2, .. (2)

Thus if we use a simple loading procedure for which a known principal stress dierence can be easily expressed in terms of the applied load we can determine the fringe constant. Let us see how this can be done in a couple of examples.

Axial Loading of a Tensile Specimen

Suppose we consider the axial loading of a standard tensile specimen and examine the fringe pattern formed in the center of the specimen. There we expect a simple, principal stress state xx = 1 = P , bh yy = 2 = 0 xy = 0 (3)

Expressing the stress dierence in terms of the fringe constant, we have P f = n bh he f h nJ P = b he

(4)

and thus a plot of Load vs. Fringe-Order gives a line with slope (f /b) and a linear regression produces the desired value.

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Figure 1: Schematic diagram for the geometry for the tensile specimen

Figure 2: Plot of loading vs. fringe order for the tensile specimen; the linearity is clear.

Four-Point Bending
A second classic loading that we can use is the four-point bending setup. This arrangement replicates the idealized condition of a beam in pure-bending in the region between the supports. For a rectangular beam of thickness h and depth d the state of stress varies linearly
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with the distance from the neutral axis: xx = 1 = , 1 hd3 12 Mz yy = 2 = 0 xy = 0 (5)

and the bending moment is simply M = (P/2) where P is the applied loading and is the separation between the upper/lower supports. Then we have in terms of experimental

Figure 3: Schematic diagram for the geometry for the four-point bending specimen quantities xx = 1 = 6P hd3 z, yy = 2 = 0 xy = 0 (6)

Linking this to the fringe orders, f 6P z = n 3 hd he 3 h d f nJ z = 6P he

(7)

Thus, for a given geometry and applied load P , a plot of fringe order vs. the depth within the beam leads a linear plot from which the fringe constant can be determined.

The Diametrically-Loaded Disk

A slightly more dicult loading for which the stress distribution is known is that of a diametric loading of a circular disk. This will be the focus of Part 2 of the photoelasticity lab experiment. The stress distribution in this problem has been obtained from elasticity theory. In particular, along the horizontal symmetry plane at the center of the disk, the

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Figure 4: Plot of loading vs. fringe order for the four-point bending specimen; the linearity is clear through the depth of the beam.

Figure 5: A photograph of the circular disk under diametric compression in the Instron machine. dierence in the stress distribution is given by 4P 1 x2 xx = 1 = 2 Rh (1 + x2 4 ) 1 4P 1 yy = 2 = 2 Rh (1 + x2 4 ) ME124 - Spr 03 xy = 0

D.L. Hitt

(8)

where x = x/R and thus ranges between 1. The dierence in principal stresses along this line is 1 x2 4P 1 2 = (9) 2 Rh (1 + x2 ) Equating this to the dark-eld fringe orders we obtain f 4P 1 x2 n = he Rh (1 + x2 )2 P he 1 x2 4 J f = 2 R n h (1 + x2 )

(10) (11)

The important aspect of this result is that there is a nonlinear relation between the fringe order and its position for a given loading. There are two approaches that can be taken: A nonlinear curve t can be performed (e.g. Matlab) to determine the coecient for the nonlinear term. This requires a bit of computational experience One may simply compute the fringe constant as above for an ensemble of (n, x ) pairs and perform statistics on the resulting distributionShown below is an experimental

Figure 6: The theoretical variation of the dimensionless dierence in principal stresses for the diametrically-loaded disk along the horizontal symmetry plane. fringe pattern obtained for the the rst 5 fringes.A linear relationship can be obtained if we conne ourselves to the disk center (x = 0) where we have R h P = f nJ (12) 4 he
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Figure 7: Dark-eld photograph taken with a circular polariscope for the diametrically-loaded disk at maximum compression (n=5)

Figure 8: Plot of loading vs. fringe order for the circular disk specimen as determined at the disk center; the expected linearity is clear. Shown below is the fringe/loading data for this instance as well as the spatial variation::

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Figure 9: Plot of fringe order vs. dimensionless horizontal position for the circular disk specimen as determined along the symmetry plane at maximum loading; note the nonlinear relationship.

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D.L. Hitt