A semidestructive method for three dimensional photoelasticity

Abstract

Using the principle of optical equivalence and the experimentally determined characteristic parameters, it is possible to determine the variations of the secondary principal stresses and their directions across the thickness of a slice taken from a three dimensional photoelastic model. With these data, the shear difference method can be applied without cutting the slice into a subslice. This technique is applied to determine the stresses along a general line in a cone subjected to a compressive load at the apex. In practice, a fairly thick slice can be taken for analysis.