CE 39007 - Concrete Lab: Photoelasticity

CE 39007 Concrete Lab
Mondays/Thursdays/Fridays
Instructors:
Nirjhar Dhang (CE, Monday)
Sudhirkumar Barai (CE, Monday)
S K Bhattacharyya (CE, Thursday)
Biswanath Banerjee (CE, Thursday)
Sushanta Chakrabarti (CE, Friday)
A George (ARP, Friday)
Photoelasticity
Background
Photo-elasticity permits the exploration of the whole of the stress

field using the optical anisotropy observed in certain stressed
transparent non-crystalline materials. The fundamentals were
discovered by David Brewster in 1816 and is known as the
temporary double refraction (Bi-refringence).
A light wave is an electromagnetic disturbance, propagated in
space
p
or in a transparent
p
media,, the magnitude
g
of which is
represented by a random vector in a plane at right angles to the
direction of propagation.
James W. Dally, William F. Riley - Experimental Stress Analysis (ISBN: 0070152047 / 0-07-015204-7) McGraw-Hill Inc.,US, 1978
Background
The light is said to be plane polarized if its direction at all times

is parallel to a fixed reference plane by plane polarizer. Another
plane polarizer, having its polarizing axis at right angles to this
plane polarizer is called an analyzer and this duo forms a plane
polariscope to an observer to whom no light should reach due to
this filtering. If a transparent unstressed material is kept in
between the polarizer and the analyzer, no change will be
observed.
Arrangements for a circular

polariscope
Background
This situation changes when such special transparent materials

are stressed, thereby changing the refractive indices along the
three mutually perpendicular directions of the three principal
stresses, thereby creating temporary double refraction, the effect
of which will persist as long as the loading is maintained.
Under stress, such material will break up the incident light into
two components polarized into the directions of the principal
stresses thereby transmitting light waves with different velocities,
stresses,
velocities
so that when they leave it, the light waves will acquire relative
path retardation.
This relative path retardation will depend upon two things(1) Difference of the principal stresses
(2) Thickness of the sample
Background
Further, the analyzer now transmits only the components of those

two waves parallel to its own plane of polarization. The
transmitted components now combine to give a resultant light
wave vector, but if the relative retardation is equal to an exact
multiple of wavelength of the light, extinction of the transmitted
light will occur, due to optical interference.
For white light it will become colored due to the absorption of a
particular color component in the spectra.
spectra
In monochromatic light (i.e. light of one particular wavelength)
is used, each time the relative retardation is equal to an exact
multiple of the wavelength, the light will be extinguished. If the
wavelength is very nearly equal to the relative retardation, partial
extinguishing will occur.
Background
Thus, if stress varies from point to point into the stressed sample,
the corresponding changes into the intensity of light observed
through the analyzer will also have similar changes. It is found
that the relative retardation is proportional to the differences in
Principle Stresses. So, it will be possible to observe the contour
of same stress differences by observing the loci of points forming
lines of same light intensity and are known as Isochromatic
Lines. For monochromatic lights, the isochromatic lines are
replaced by black lines referred to as Fringes.
Isochromatics and isoclinics
Background
Background
Background
Objectives
To observe stress distribution in a structural model prepared out of

birefringment material
Apparatus
Photoelastic bench
Loading device
Materials
Model prepared from birefringment material
Example:
Stress Patterns in Pure Bending
Calibration using beam under pure

bending
Process of calibration for the

material fringe value
10
Alternative calibration method (may

be easier)
11

CE 39007 - Concrete Lab: Photoelasticity

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CE 39007 - Concrete Lab: Photoelasticity

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CE 39007 Concrete Lab

Photo-elasticity permits the exploration of the whole of the stress

The light is said to be plane polarized if its direction at all times

Arrangements for a circular

This situation changes when such special transparent materials

Further, the analyzer now transmits only the components of those

Isochromatics and isoclinics

To observe stress distribution in a structural model prepared out of

Model prepared from birefringment material

Calibration using beam under pure

Process of calibration for the

Alternative calibration method (may

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