A class of zero-birefrngent polymers

A class of photoelastically insensitive materials consisting of a blend of rigid and flexible polyesters is described. The mechanical and optical response of these polymers is viscoelastic in character. For a wide range of the compositions, the birefringence changes from positive to negative under constant load or constant displacement. The influence of composition, time under load, and principal stress difference on the birefringence is studied. Isochromatic-fringe development in a diametrally loaded disk shows that a major region of the stressed body becomes optically insensitive after a reasonable period of time under load and remains insensitive for a time sufficiently large for associated photoelastic operations. A typical operating-time band is presented during which the optical response of a model characterized by the fringe order per unit thickness is reasonably small. It appears that this class of photoelastically insensitive materials can be employed to produce composite models with glass-fiber reinforcements. Compared to other zero-birefringent polymers, the present material has the advantage of easier processing (casting and curing), improved adhesion to glass fibers and closer matching of the refractive index with that of glass.