Isochromatic fringe sharpening and interpolation along an isoclinic countour, with application to fracture mechanics

Abstract

A method is presented for photoelastic analyses whereby fractional fringe orders are determined with enhanced accuracy. It utilizes data from the Tardy compensation method and combines the data by a robust algorithm to produce highly sharpened isochromatic fringe contours in the immediate vicinity of an isoclinic line. Their sharpness provides accurate assessment of fractional fringe orders at a point, relative to that achieved with the broad fringes of the standard Tardy method. Errors introduced by small isoclinic deviations are quantified and found to be inconsequential. The method is well suited to the application of linear elastic fracture mechanics in fracture studies of threedimensional photoelasticity models of complex structures. It is demonstrated for the determination of stress intensity factor at a crack in the solid fuel element of a rocket motor, when the solid fuel is subjected to internal pressure. Other applications are practical, too.