DeterminingK and related stress-field parameters from displacement fields

A general algorithm is presented that computes the stress-field parameters for opening-mode crack problems in a least-squares sense from full-field moiré or speckle-displacement fringe patterns. The algorithm can be used in the presence of rigid-body rotation and does not require absolute fringe numbering. Extensive numerical experiments were conducted with the algorithm to determine the sensitivity of the method to experimental errors. Small random position errors in locating the fringe maxima were found to have a negligible influence on the stress-intensity-factor calculation when the number of data points was about ten times greater than the number of unknown stress-field parameters. It was also found that systematic position errors due to an incorrectly specified crack-tip location could be minimized by assuming various crack-tip locations in the vicinity of the actual crack tip and selecting the best fit results. Bothu andv fields were found to be equally suitable for determination of the stress-intensity factor. Paper was presented at 1983 SESA Spring Meeting held in Cleveland, OH on May 15–19, 1983.