Strain-optic law for a certain class of birefringent composites

A strain-optic law for a certain class of birefringent fiber-reinforced composite materials is developed. The strain-optic law requires both mechanical and optical characterization of the material. Previous investigations have hypothesized the existence of three independent optical properties for the anisotropic birefringent material. The strain-optic relation developed in this study, however, requires only a single strain-optic coefficient, coupled with four independent mechanical material properties, for prediction of the optical response of a birefringent anisotropic material. Experimental results are presented which show good agreement with the developed strain-optic relation. Finally, the isoclinic parameter is investigated and preliminary evidence is presented which indicates a correspondence between principal-strain direction and optical isoclinic angle.