Stress analysis of an orthotropic material under diametral compression

The diametral compression test is commonly used to determine the tensile strength of brittle materials. For isotropic materials a simple relation based on specimen geometry and the applied load at failure is used to calculate the tensile strength. Previous to this work the effect of material orthotropy and material orientation on the specimen stress state had not been completely determined. In this study, both isotropic and orthotropic specimens were analyzed using a finite element analysis and experimentally verified by strain gage and photoelastic measurements. Further, this work investigated the effect of the applied load area on the specimen stress state. Results of this work show that there is a significant difference between the theoretical calculations based on the assumption of material isotropy when compared to an orthotropic material. This difference can be as much as 45 percent depending on the degree of orthotropy and the orientation. It was also determined that the applied load area and material orientation significantly influence the specimen stress state. An applied load area of 8 percent of the circumference was found to reduce the stresses in the applied load region.