Photoelasticity for Designers

Photoelasticity for Designers covers the fundamental principles and techniques of photoelasticity, with an emphasis on its value as an aid to engineering design. This book is divided into 12 chapters, and begins with an introduction to the essential optical effects necessary for an understanding of the photoelastic phenomena. The next chapters describe the concept and features of polariscopes; the characterization of photoelastic materials; the formulation and testing of two-dimensional models of photoelasticity; and the application of model stresses to prototypes for the analysis of stresses occurring in the plane of the model, effectively of uniform thickness. These topics are followed by a discussion of the frozen stress technique and a comparison of the various materials that can be used for models in the technique. The ending chapters deal with the principles and application of the birefringent coating and distorted model techniques. This book will prove useful to photoelasticians, design engineers, and students.