The method of caustics for static plane elasticity problems

By use of the complex stress function analysis of Muskhelishvili-Kolosov and conformal mapping procedures the general governing equations of the method of caustics or shadow spot technique have been developed for optically isotropic and anisotropic materials in static plane elasticity theory. Special cases of caustics formed about cutouts, cracks, and various singular regions in static elastic stress fields are obtained upon specialization.     

Study of half-space elastic contact problems by caustics

The optical method of caustics has been successfully applied to several two dimensional problems of elasticity. Up to now, no complicated three dimensional problems of elasticity have ever been treated by this method. In this paper, the experimental technique of caustics is developed, the caustics are obtained by annealing the stress-frozen epoxy slices. In applying this technique to Boussinesq's problem of a normal force and Cerruti's problem of a tangential force on the plane surface of a half-space, the experimentally obtained caustics for these problems are seen to be in satisfactory agreement with the corresponding theoretical forms. The treatment of the rather complicated three dimensional elasticity problems, including crack problems, by the author's method is also possible.     

Experimental determination of stress-intensity factors using caustics and photoelasticity

The optical method of caustics has been used with considerable success in recent years for determining stress-intensity factors in both static and dynamic problems. However the midplane analysis explaining the formation of transmission caustics has certain approximations that need to be examined. In this paper it is demonstrated that the midplane analysis is in good agreement with the numerical solution of the exact geometrical optical equations for mapping the light-ray path in a cracked plate. Since both these analyses are obtained by imposing a two-dimensional crack-tip stress field the sensitivity of the method to the deviations from the imposed stress field is examined next. The implications of this examination on the photoelastic technique are then discussed.     

Determination of stress-intensity factors by the method of caustics in anisotropic materials

This paper studied the applicability of the method of caustics to anisotropic materials under Mode I and mixed-mode static-loading conditions and introduced the procedure to obtain stress-intensity factors (SIF) in anisotropic materials by the method of caustics.The mapping equations for initial and caustic curves in anisotropic materials were introduced and their computer graphical images were compared to the experimental ones to check the validity of the mapping equations proposed in this paper. The agreement between them was found to be satisfactory.Two kinds of equations to determine SIF in anisotropic materials by the method of caustics are proposed in this paper. Corroborative experiments carried out by using the orthotropic materials under various loading conditions are presented. In the case of Mode I loading condition, the SIF's obtained by this paper's methods were found to be close to the results by another method, i.e., boundary-element method (BEM). And in the case of mixed-loading condition, the SIF's by this paper and BEM show little differences, (2.2–24.4 percent) with respect to the slanted angle of crack.     

线性规律功能梯度材料断裂行为实验研究

焦散线方法与高速摄影技术结合,对线性规律功能梯度材料的I型静、动态断裂特性进行实验研究,并利用有限元软件进行数值模拟. 首先推导了线性规律功能梯度材料静、动态裂尖的焦散线初始曲线方程和参数方程,提出通过迭代方法根据功能梯度材料的复杂焦散线方程求解应力强度因子. 为对比材料梯度对断裂行为的影响,利用重力沉降法制备了3种梯度变化规律的试件. 然后对功能梯度材料试件进行三点弯曲实验,通过CCD和高速摄影装置采集试件焦散线图像,提取各种静、动态断裂参数. 最后通过与有限元模拟结果进行对比,证明在功能梯度材料断裂实验中焦散线方法的有效性,并详细分析了不同梯度变化规律对材料静、动态断裂性能的影响.      

裂纹失稳扩展轨迹焦散线和伪焦散线实验研究

本文给出了复合型裂开裂角和称稳扩展和轨迹的焦散线参数方程，并采用Ｃ型试样，对裂纹扩展轨迹进行实验研究和数值分析，所得结果对裂纹控制和止裂设计具有实用价值。     

Caustics of nonlinear waves

The behavior at caustics is analyzed for weakly nonlinear wave solutions of hyperbolic equations. It is shown that short waves, weak enough to be governed by linear or weakly nonlinear geometrical optics away from caustics, are governed by linear theory at and near caustics. For somewhat stronger waves, for which linear theory does not suffice at caustics, a weakly nonlinear caustic theory is developed. It leads to an equation derived by Guiraud, Hayes, and Seebass for gas dynamics.     

On the method of caustics: An exact analysis based on geometrical optics

The method of caustics, as developed and applied to fracture mechanics over the last twenty years, contains several approximations which limit its applicability. In this paper the development of caustics is reviewed and the implicit assumptions made in the past are clarified and discussed. The exact equations are derived for caustics formed by the reflection of light from a general surface. In addition, the conditions for the formation of a caustic curve are derived and explained in detail. Numerically generated shadow spots are given for the case of light reflected from a surface deformed due to the presence of a plane stress, mode-I, elastic crack. Attention is focused on the near tip region where severe deformation gradients violate the assumptions made by previous approximate analyses. The results demonstrate significant deviation from the approximate analyses resulting in errors as large as 15% in the determination of the stress intensity factor from shadow spot measurements.     

Experimental estimation of the load distribution in bearings by the method of caustics

The objective of this paper is the experimental estimation of the load distribution in roller-bearing by the metrhod of caustics. Contact problems have many practical and important applications¹. For the solution of such problems, besides mechanical analysis, the experimental method of caustics² can also be applied. The optical method of caustics is suitable for the experimental study of singularities in stress fields created either by discontinuities or by loading. Previously, caustics has been applied to the study of singular stress fields developed near concentrated or uniformly distributed loads which are applied along straight boundaries.^3,4 In this work, it is applied to study the load distribution in rollerbearings.     

A study of dynamic caustics around running interface crack tip

Based on the first invariant of stress singular field in the vicinity of running tip of an interface crack, mapping equations of the caustic curve on the reference plane and the initial curve on the specimen plane are developed. The dynamic caustics are analyzed for the crack propagating along the interface between two bonded dissimilar materials. The variation of the caustic configurations is shown with the velocity change of the running crack and the ratio change of the stress intensity factors. Two characteristic dimensions are proposed that are not only practically measurable from optical caustic contours but also suitable to represent the behavior of transient caustics. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Scientific Commission of Yunnan Province of China     

裂纹扩展速度对焦散线的影响和动态应力光学常数的测定

本文从焦散线形成原理的数学描述出发,用扩展裂纹尖端附近的应力分量表达式,在前人工作的基础上,作了详细的数值计算。特别分析了裂纹扩展速度对焦散斑和初始曲线的形状、大小的影响,为测量扩展裂纹尖端的动态应力强度因子K_1~d提供了依据,并通过拟合得到了以裂纹扩展速度为参量的修正因子表达式。本文还提出了一种测定透明材料动态应力光学常数的方法,并用这一方法测定了有机玻璃的动态应力光学常数。     

The evolution of caustics from holes to cracks

The method of caustics was used for the study of the evolution of stress concentration around a circular hole, which progressively changes in shape and becomes an elliptic hole, tending to an internal crack. The influence of the amount of ellipticity of the holes and their orientation relative to the axis of the applied external loads at infinity on the form of caustics created around the discontinuity was studied, as the elliptic holes tended to become internal cracks. A series of experiments with tension specimens containing small elliptic holes of any ellipticity and orientation was performed. Comparison of experimentally obtained caustics with theory yielded a good agreement of both results. Finally, the use of small elliptic holes drilled all over a biaxial stress field for the determination of the individual principal stresses and the principal directions at the area of the holes was outlined.     

The determination of dynamic fracture toughness of AISI 4340 steel by the shadow spot method

Dynamic crack propagation experiments have been performed using wedge loaded double cantilever beam specimens of an austenitized, quenched and tempered 4340 steel. Measurements of the dynamic stress intensity factor have been made by means of the optical method of caustics. The interpretation of experimental data, obtained from the shadow spot patterns photographed with a Cranz-Schardin high speed camera, is based on an elastodynamic analysis. The instantaneous value of the dynamic stress intensity factor K^d_I is obtained as a function of crack tip velocity. Finally, the interaction of reflected shear and Rayleigh waves with the moving crack tip stress field is considered.     

Body-force stress fields defined by caustic rosettes

The method of reflected caustics was extended to the study of elastic fields due to body forces. It was shown that gage perforations create caustics under the influence of body forces which are different in shape and size than those developed in usual cases. The elastic solution of a perforated strip under the influence of an external loadp and body forcesqy was developed by defining a two-term Muskhelishvili complex stress function (z). The equations of the caustics and their initial curves were established. It was shown that as the body force intensity,q, was increased relative to the external loading,p, the classical two-lobe caustic for perforated strips without body forces evoluted to an open curve and, for a further increase ofq, to a three-lobe caustic. As the body force to external force ratio was increased this third lobe was rapidly increased, relative to the two principal lobes, whereas the position of the center of the caustic was displaced along the loading axis. The maximum diametersD _t of the caustics along the loading axis of the plate yield enough information for evaluating the body force intensity, if the mechanical properties of the material and the geometry of the optical set-up are known.     

Caustics created from simply supported plates under uniform loading

The method of caustics is applied to problems of simply supported plates under uniform loading. The shape and properties of the caustic, created by an initial curve lying inside the plate, as well as the pseudocaustic created by the edges of the plate, are completely investigated. It is shown that it is possible to determine the existing loading of the plate from the experimentally determined caustic or pseudocaustic. The cases of simply supported circular, triangular and square plates subjected to uniform loading are examined in detail. It is shown that the experimentally obtained caustics are in good agreement with their corresponding theoretical forms, indicating thus the accuracy of the method of caustics to the study of flexed plate problems.     

Perfectly plastic caustics for the opening mode of fracture

Exact expressions for the caustics generated by the reflection of light surrounding crack tips in perfectly plastic materials under plane stress loading conditions and tensile tractions at infinity (mode I) are derived. Two individual cases are examined involving two different yield criteria. The first case uses an approximation of the Mises yield condition, where in the principal stress plane two intersecting parabolas replace the standard ellipse. The second case uses the Tresca yield condition where the mode I caustic is obtained as a limit of an elliptical hole in a perfectly plastic material. In both cases, kinematically admissible velocity fields are employed to obtain strain fields from which the theoretical caustics are predicted.     

Ⅰ型焦散线图象的微机自动处理

根据焦散线的原理,分析了Ⅰ型焦散线实验图象的特点,提出确定图像中焦散线位置的准则。基于此准则的微机图象处理,可自动精确测量Ⅰ型焦散线的最大直径。     

Two dimensional flow of Reiner-Philippoff fluids in the inlet length of a straight channel

Summary In this paper, two dimensional boundary layer equations for Reiner-Philippoff fluids have been obtained for the two limiting cases when the shear stress parameter is small or large. These equations have been integrated using Karman-Pohlhausen's method in the inlet of a straight channel. Analytical expressions for the inlet length and the boundary layer thickness in both cases have been obtained. The pressure drop has also been obtained from kinetic energy end-correction.     

High-order theory for arched structures and its application for the study of the electrostatically actuated MEMS devices

A high-order theory for arched rods and beams based on expansion of the two-dimensional (2D) equations of elasticity into Legendre’s polynomials series has been developed. The 2D equations of elasticity have been expanded into Legendre’s polynomials series in terms of a thickness coordinate. Thereby, all equations of elasticity including Hooke’s law have been transformed to corresponding equations for coefficients of Legendre’s polynomials expansion. Then system of differential equations in term of displacements and boundary conditions for the coefficients of Legendre’s polynomials expansion coefficients has been obtained. Cases of the first and second approximations have been considered in details. For obtained boundary-value problems, a finite element method has been used and numerical calculations have been done with COMSOL Multiphysics and MATLAB. Developed theory has been applied for study pull-in instability and stress–strain state of the electrostatically actuated micro-electro-mechanical Systems.