Optical Methods in Stress Measurement

Abstract

Stress will be produced in most of the engineering components related to their manufacturing process or because of their loading condition. For some special cases, both types also combined together and produce stress. Manufacturing processes like casting, welding, machining, and hot forming are creating the stress in the components. This stress will produce due to alteration of the microstructure (size, shape, phase composition, and orientation). Loading conditions are also produced stresses in the engineering components. This stress may be classified into compression, shear, tension, and fatigue. These depend on the load. Measuring the stresses in the components is very important because it can save a lot in terms of money, material, and manpower. A lot of techniques are used in industries to measure the stresses. Based on that, measurement techniques are broadly classified into two category, namely destructive and non-destructive techniques. Each method has its own advantages and limitations too. In this chapter, the optical method of measuring stress is discussed briefly.