Automated photoelasticity: weighted least-squares determination of field stresses

The three-wavelength approach to phase-stepping photoelasticity as developed by the author is extended to determine automatically full-field stress tensor values. The only need for the user to calibrate the results is to give the material fringe value and the value of a stress at a single point. Four phase-stepped images illuminated by three wavelengths of light, that differ by prescribed increments, are collected using a semi-circular polariscope and an RGB CCD camera. A ramped phase map for the isochromatic parameter (α) is produced in the wrapped range −π/2<απ/2 that can be calibrated automatically. The value of the isoclinic angle (θ) is determined in the wrapped range −π/4<θπ/4. A discrete cosine transform algorithm has been developed to separate the stresses into Cartesian components. A convenience of the method is that accurate results can be obtained using a least-squares error minimisation process. The results obtained from experimental testing of a disc-in-compression specimen using transmission photoelasticity presented in comparison with theoretical solutions demonstrate the accuracy of the new approach.