Theoretical analysis and digital photoelastic measurement of circular disks subjected to partially distributed compressions

The disk in diametral compression has been quoted most frequently on developing conventional/digital photoelasticity to illustrate new theories and experimental techniques for several decades. Theoretically, the compression as a concentrated force is more conducive to analysis, but it is impossible to achieve such loading condition experimentally. The distributed compression on a finite area at rim is relatively closer to actual testing and it is complicated to seek an analytical solution. In this paper, we extend the work of Hondros to derive the full-field stress distribution of disk subjected to diametral distributed compression in an explicit functional form. The principal stress difference and principal stress orientation related to isochromatic and isoclinic fringes, respectively, are also expressed in a simple closed form. The maximum shear stress for the whole disk and the validity of using isochromatic fringes to interpret the maximum shear stress are discussed in detail. The isoclinic fringes are compared with theory, and the fringe multiplication isochromatic is compared with simulated image. All of the comparisons are in good agreement with respect to full field.