An Integrated Approach for the Determination of Young’s Modulus of a Cantilever Beam Using Finite Element Analysis and the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) Technique

Abstract

This paper is an extended paper from the 24th International Conference on Mechatronics Technology, ICMT 2021. The basic mechanical characteristic that gauges the stiffness of a solid material is known as the Young’s modulus. To evaluate the Young’s modulus, destructive material testing is frequently used. This paper describes how to determine a material’s dynamic Young’s modulus using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) in conjunction with numerical back-analysis. Three different materials (brass, aluminum, and steel) were examined for their static and dynamic reactions. A static transverse displacement was first applied at the free end of the beam before it was released and the beam was allowed to vibrate freely. The resulting vibrations at the free end were monitored using the DIC method, following which the natural frequencies of the beam were derived by applying the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the DIC measured time history. The Young’s modulus corresponding to the fundamental natural frequency of the beam was then obtained via modal back-analysis using the finite element program Ansys 2022 R1. In this way, the Young’s modulus of the material may be calculated using a combination of numerical and DIC techniques, thus allowing for the non-contact evaluation of the structural integrity without subjecting the material to destructive testing. Potential applications of this method include bridge and building assessments, and structural health monitoring (SHM).