2-D Photo-elasticity

ME817 Expt. Stress Analysis

Photo-elasticity:
• It is a nondestructive whole field, graphic
stress analysis technique based on optical
property called birefringence.
• In this technique, a loaded specimen exhibits
color fringe patterns that are related to the
difference between the principal stresses in a
plane normal to the light propagation
direction.

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 Birefringent materials
• High polymer materials, are isotropic when
they are stress free and become optically
anisotropic upon loading.
• They act like a temporary wave plates, and
refracts the light differently for different light
amplitude orientations, depending upon the
state of stress.

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 Stressed photoelastic Specimen:
Circular Disk under compression

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 Birefringent effect

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 Wave Theory of Light
A sinusoidal electromagnetic wave having transverse
amplitude a: travels in the direction of z with a velocity v.
Let λ be the wavelength. The Phase of the wave is given by
φ= 2π/λ(z-vt), thus wave is represented by
 2 
a cos ( z  vt )   a coskz  vt 
  

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 Refraction
• When light passes through any medium, its
velocity varies (decrease) to a value,
v
v1 
n1

• Where n1 denotes the index of refraction of

the medium. Then the wave length λ1 also
decrease proportionately

• 1 
n 1

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 Light in a Denser Medium
The time t1 required for light to propagate
through a thickness h of medium having index of
refractive n1 is h h
t1   n1
v1 v

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 Double Refraction

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 Phase difference due to double refraction

• If refractive indices n2>n1 then the difference

in times t2-t1 will be t  t  h  h
2 1
v2 v1

 n2  n1 
h
v
• The Phase difference δ between the two
waves after the emerge from the media is
δ = v(t2-t1)=h(n2-n1)

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 Light Polarization
• A given light wave has an amplitude vector that is
always perpendicular to its direction of propagation.
• An ordinary light has random orientation of
amplitude vector.

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 Plane Polarized Light
• If the amplitude vectors all light rays emanating from
a source are restricted to a single plane, the light is
said to be plane polarized.

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 Addition of Plane Polarized Light waves

• If two waves are propagating in the same direction,

vector algebra may applied to the waves amplitude to
determine the resultant wave amplitude.
• [eg. Addition of two plane polarized waves that are in
phase, but they have different plane of polarization.

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 Elliptically polarized Light
• In special cases, two plane-polarized waves of
arbitrary amplitude and different phase are
combined.

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 Elliptically polarized Light
• The result of adding two plane-polarized
waves that are neither in phase nor in the
same plane.
• is a special kind of rotating wave called an
elliptically polarized wave, having the same
frequency as the components waves.
• It is not restricted to a single plane.

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 Circularly Polarized Light
• A special case of elliptically polarized light and is
created by combining orthogonal plane polarized
waves of equal amplitude that are out of phase
by exactly ¼ of the wavelength. i.e δ=λ/4

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 Optical Elements
• The method of Photoelasticity requires the use of
two types of optical element:
– The polarizer and the wave plate.
– A polarizer is an element that converts randomly
polarized light into plane polarized light

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 Wave Plates
• A wave plate resolves incident light into
components, but instead of rejecting one of the
these components, it retards relative to other
component.

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 Wave Plates
• A permanent wave plate has a fixed fast axis
orientation and fixed relative retardation.
• A temporary wave plate has ability to produce
double refraction in response to mechanical
stimulus, where axis orientation and relative
retardation varies point to point. A
photoelastic specimens are temporary wave
plates.

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 Quarter Wave Plate
• A permanent wave plate that induces a phase
shift δ = λ/4. This quarter wave plate is an
essential element in a polariscope

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 Birefringence
Photoelastic materials are birefringent, that is,
they act as temporary wave plates, refracting
light differently for different light amplitude
orientations, depending upon the state of stress
in the material.

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 Maxwell’s Equations
• Unloaded state: material exhibits an index of
refraction no that is independent of
orientation. There fore light traverse through
the material with speed (v/no)
• Loaded state: the orientation of the light
amplitude vector is with respect to principal
axes and magnitude of the principal
determines the index of refraction for that
light source.

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 Maxwell’s Equations
• The index of refraction changes from no to n1 in the
direction of maximum normal principal stress
n1  n0  c1 1  c2 ( 2   3 )
• Similarly in other principal stress directions
n2  n0  c1 2  c2 ( 1   3 )
n3  n0  c1 3  c2 ( 1   2 )
where c1 and c2 are stress-optic coefficients and above
equations are called Maxwell’s equations

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 Stress-Optic Relations
• For two dimensional photoelastic state,
(n1  n2 )  c( 1   2 )
• Where c is called relative stress-optic coefficient
• Substituting above in Eqn. δ = h(n1-n2)
• We get δ = hc(σ1- σ2)
• Where h is thickness of the specimen

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 Principal Stress Difference & Fringe Relations

• Relative retardation can expressed in terms of

N of complete cycles as follows
 hc( 1   2 ) h( 1   2 )
N  
2  f

Where fσ = λ/c is called as Fringe constant and this

constant is determined experimentally by the
method of calibration. Therefore
Nf
( 1   2 ) 
h
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 Summary
• Photoelastic material does two things:
It resolves the incoming light into 2 components
one parallel to σ1 and the other to σ2
and
It retards one of the components, M2 , with
respect to the other M1, by an amount δ that is
proportional to the principal stress difference
(σ1 – σ2)

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 Polariscopes
• A polariscope is an optical setup that allows the
birefringence in specimens to be analyzed.
• It consists of a Light source, a Polarizer, an
optional quarter-wave plate, a specimen, another
optional quarter-wave plate, and a second
polarizer called the Analyzer.
• Two types of polariscope are commonly
employed
– the plane polariscope and
– the circular polariscope

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 Physical Layout of Plane Polariscope
• The plane polariscope consists of a light source, a
polarizer, the specimen, and an analyzer that is
always crossed with respect to the polarizer.

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 Stressed photoelastic specimen in a
Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope

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 Light in Plane Polariscope
(Part- 1: Isoclinic fringes)

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 Light in Plane Polariscope
(Part- 1: Isochromatic fringes)

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 Some Photoelastic fringe Patterns

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 Some Photoelastic fringe Patterns

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 Some Photoelastic fringe Patterns

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 Some Photoelastic fringe Patterns

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