The application of fracture mechanics methods for assessing the significance of defects in welded structures or components may require accurate determination of stress intensity solution for typical joint configurations (1). At present, numerical methods such as finite element analysis are most widely used (2). Thermoelastic technique (SPATE) is a new experimental technique based on the measurement of infra-red radiant flux emitting from the surface of a body under cyclic stress. It has been shown from Refs. 3 and 4 that accurate stress intensity solutions can be derived from SPATE results obtained by scanning a cracked body with simple geometry under mode I and mode II loading. Hence the SPATE method offers an attractive alternative to numerical analysis, or a means of validating the numerical methods. In addition, it is anticipated that the new technique could be used for analysing a cracked body with complex geometries not easily analysed by numerical methods, for example semi-elliptical surface cracks in plates and cylinders, or tubular connections with weld toe cracks.

Date Published: 31 July 1989
PDF: 3 pages
Proc. SPIE 1084, Stress and Vibration: Recent Developments in Industrial Measurement and Analysis, (31 July 1989); doi: 10.1117/12.952911

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1084:
Stress and Vibration: Recent Developments in Industrial Measurement and Analysis
Peter Stanley, Editor(s)