and location of the principal stresses with a high degree

of accuracy can be used in conjunction with other experi-

mental methods for measuring the magnitude of the
stresses with higher accuracy. An excellent approach
would be to use information about the location and direc-
tion of the stress to mount the strain gages.

Strain Gages
Of the several types of strain gages available—mechani-
cal, optical, acoustical, pneumatic, and electrical (resist-
ance, capacitance, and inductance types)—our focus will
be on the electrical-resistance type only. Several short-
Figure 1. Typical crack pattern produced in a strain- comings render the rest of them rather limited in scope.
sensitive coating after being strained.
The technique is based on the fact that the resistance of
The assumption that the surface strains occurring on the an electrical element increases with the strain applied to
part are transmitted to the coating without magnification it. Use of the Wheatstone bridge for static strains and
or attenuation is based on the thickness of the coating ballast-type circuit for dynamic strains gives an accurate
being very small (usually 0.005–0.010 inch) in relation to measurement of the change in resistance  R, thereby
the part thickness. providing a measurement of strain () with the relation-
ship:
The method is fast and economical for obtaining the
R 1
location and direction of the principal stresses with a = x
R Gf
high degree of accuracy. Approximate magnitude of the
stresses can also be determined by using the equation: where R is the gage resistance and Gf, is the gage factor
(provided by the manufacturer). Strain measurement

p = Ep • t down to one millionth of an inch per inch is possible
using this technique. Stress, which is related to strain by
where
p is the principal stress in the part at the location Hooke’s law, can be calculated from the strain values
of the coating crack, Ep is the modulus of elasticity of the thus obtained. There are four major categories of electri-
part material, and t, is the threshold strain required to cal-resistance strain gages:
crack the coating when the part is subjected to uniaxial • Unbonded wire gages
stress. • Bonded wire gages
• Bonded foil gages
Threshold strain for the coating can easily be determined • Piezoelectric gages
by using a calibration strip along with the test part. This
value of
p is, at best, correct within ±10% of actual Although the most popular ones are bonded foil gages,
value as several factors, such as composition of the coat- the piezoelectric gages represent the latest technology
ing, coating temperature, coating thickness, environmen-
with high gage factors providing ultra-precise strain
tal conditions, and biaxiality of the stress field signifi-
cantly affect the experimental results. Durelli, Phillips, measurements. They complement the foil gages in mak-
and Tsao have listed a total of 40 factors that can affect ing dynamic strain measurements and extremely low stat-
the results. Also, the brittle coating technique cannot be
ic measurements. For strain measurement in molded plas-
easily used to study residual stress in the molded parts.
tic parts, bonded foil gages are most useful and practical.
The strength of this method in determining the direction A typical foil gage is shown in Figure 2.

2
 Rosettes can be successfully used to determine residual
stresses in molded parts also. The technique is generally
referred to as a blind-hole-drilling technique. A rosette is
mounted at the place of strain measurement on the sur-
face of the molded part and instrumented. Drilling a
small, blind hole at the center of the rosette relieves the
residual strain at a point, which can be measured by the
change in resistance of the foil elements.

Figure 2. Typical electrical-resistance bonded foil gage Photoelasticity

(Micro-Measurement, Inc.). Some transparent isotropic plastics exhibit temporary
double refraction when stressed. The index of refraction
Foil gages, being very thin, can be applied easily to changes in relation to the applied stress. This unusual
curved surfaces. They must be cemented rigidly to the clean optical property is the basis of the theory of photoelasticity.
surface of the molded part to be analyzed. Foil gages are sen- When a photoelastic model is strained and viewed under
sitive to temperature changes and transverse strain effects. polarized light, beautiful fringe patterns are produced that
Temperature compensation is easily accomplished by using a represent overall stress distribution in the part. Figure 4
dummy gage, which is wired into the electric circuit, on the shows a typical fringe pattern. Interpretation of the pat-
unstressed surface of the part. In a biaxial stress field, the tern leads to accurate quantitative measurements of the
gage will show erroneous results unless corrected for trans- direction and the magnitude of the strain at any point.
verse strain effects by using another gage in the transverse
direction and calculating for it. Gage setups should be protect-
ed from environmental humidity and magnetic fields generat-
ed by nearby instrumentation.

The brittle coatings technique can indicate the location and

direction of the principal stresses. In case of uniaxial stress,
using a single strain gage mounted at this location with the
foil element in the direction of the stress, the strain measure-
ment is easy. When the state of the stress in the part is
unknown, multi-element foil gages have to be employed to
completely define the stress field. These are generally two-,
three-, or four-element rosettes. Typical three-element rosettes
are shown in Figure 3. Figure 4. Fringe pattern created by applying a tensile
load on the legs of a fork (2D-photoelastic model of a plas-
tic bicycle rim).

According to the stress optic law, the relative retar-dation

() between the two components of light produced by
temporary double refraction is:

 = K . t . (1- 2)

where 1, and 2 are the principal strains, t is the plate

thickness, and K is the strain optic coefficient
Figure 3. Some three-element rosette stiles (Micro-
Measurement, Inc.).

3
of the material. The K values of some common materials However, this technique does not differentiate between
are given in Table 1. the birefringence created by molecular orientation in the
part and the residual internal stresses.

Material K
When an injection molded transparent part is viewed
through a polariscope, the fringe pattern observed is
Glass 0.14 mostly due to the molecular orientation created during
Polycarbonate 0.15 the flow of melt. Some residual stress that is created by
Epoxy Resins 0.07 to 0.13 the interlaminar shear associated with trying to force
Polyurethane 0.008 melt into the mold by injection pressure can be mixed
with the orientation in the fringe pattern. Thermal
Table 1. Strain optic coefficient (K) for glass and some stresses, on the other hand, have generally no effect on
plastic materials. such fringe patterns. Most thermal stresses in a molded
part are created by the quenching effect of the cold mold
There are three major photoelastic techniques: walls on the melt. The outer layers of the molded part are
• Two-dimensional model analysis thus generally under compressive stress, and the inner
• Three-dimensional model analysis layers that cool down after demolding are under tensile
• Photoelastic coating analysis stress. The molded part is under stress equilibrium
condition; therefore, the sum of the total tensile and
Polariscopes are used to perform these analyses in compressive stresses from wall to wall remains zero (see
conjunction with the use of little devices like tint plates Figure 5). Hence, no fringe pattern will be observed if
and compensators. From the use of plane and circular the polarized light passes through the part thickness. To
polariscopes, the sophistication in the technology is analyze thermal residual stresses, the part section has to
leading to the manufacture of automatic and computer- be sliced, and the section has to be viewed through the
assisted polariscopes. polariscope. In this application, the technique does not
remain nondestructive.
For two-dimensional model analysis, models of a part or
structural member are cut to shape from a flat and Part
stress-free photoelastic sheet. This model is then placed Thickness
in a transmission polariscope, loaded, and the resulting
stress pattern analyzed. Three-dimensional model Compressive
analysis is much more complicated but is finding Stresses
increased use since this is the only technique that
provides a complete stress analysis throughout the
(-) (-)
thickness of the part. An extension of the conventional
photoelasticity is used in birefringence or photoelastic
coating techniques. For molded parts in opaque colors, a
(+)
thin layer of photoelastic plastic coating is applied to the
part surface. When the part is loaded and strained, the Tensile
photostatic coating responds, and the resulting fringe Stresses
pattern, observed in a reflected light polariscope, can be
interpreted for surface strains on the part. Outside Walls

Photoelastic methods are generally nondestructive Figure 5. Under the stress equilibrium condition, the
techniques of strain analysis. They can also be used to sum of all the tensile stresses are equal to the sum of the
study residual stresses in transparent molded parts. compressive stresses through the part thickness.

4
Solvent Testing rotated 360° in small steps, and the location and direction
This technique, though limited in scope, has been used to of maximum strains were determined by the cracks
estimate the level of internal tensile stress at or near the produced in the strain-sensitive coating, the direction of
surface of a molded transparent plastic part. The stress principal stress being at right angles to the cracks. Figure
could be either molded-in or applied. The molded part is 7 shows cracks in the brittle coating due to loading.
dipped in a solvent of predeter-mined strength at a specified
temperature and length of time, then cleaned, and
observed for crazes or cracks. Appearance of crazes or
cracks indicates that the stress levels in that area of the
molded part are equal to or higher than the critical stress
level of the employed solvent mixture. Different strengths
of the solvent mixture correspond to different critical or
threshold stress values that are indicated by the creation of
crazes or cracks. The limitation of the technique is that
accurate measurement of the stresses are not obtained as
the crazes only indicate the stresses that are equal to or
higher than the threshold values of the solvent mix.

Popular solvent mixtures used for polycarbonate are toluene

with n-propyl alcohol and ethyl acetate with methyl alcohol. Figure 6. Typewriter housing and pivot arm loaded with
a dead weight.
Experimental
Two of the techniques discussed were used in a complementary
fashion to perform stress analysis on a typewriter
housing molded in Bayblend® 'resin, a
polycarbonate/ABS blend produced by Bayer Corporation.
The brittle coating technique was used to determine the
location and direction of the principal stresses, and
electrical-resistance strain gages were used to accurately
measure the maximum strains from which the stresses were
then calculated.

The experiment consisted of loading one corner of the housing

to simulate the weight of a CRT display monitor and
studying the induced stresses in the housing. One end of a
free rotating pivot arm was mounted on one corner of the
housing. The other end was loaded by the weight of Figure 7. Crack pattern in the coating after loading.
the CRT.

The housing was properly cleaned and sprayed with

Tenslac* UN-10-A undercoating and then with Tenslac* 'Tenslac (a trademark of Measurements Group, Inc.) brand undercoat-
ing and brittle lacquer are no longer available in the market. However,
TL-500-75A brittle lacquer. After 24 hours of Stresscoat (a trademark of Stresscoat, Inc.) undercoating and lacquer
atmospheric drying, a 15.4-lb weight was placed on the are available from Stresscoat, Inc., 1334 North Benson Avenue, Unit A,
pivot arm to simulate the weight of the CRT. Figure 6 Upland, CA 91786 (phone/fax: 1-909-981-6990).
shows the housing and the pivot arm. The arm was

5
 Rosette Rosette Rosette
Element 1 Element 2 Element 3
Pivot
Arm 
Strain 1 Strain 2 Strain 3
Location Angle in/in in/in in/in

1 300 -30 -160 -330

120 -330 210 470
2 315 170 1505 1010
220 -25 530 360
3 300 -200 -260 -220
45 -435 -530 -320

Table 2. Strain with 15.4-lb weight.

Figure 8. Rectangular 45° strain gage rosettes mounted
on the housing at locations indicated by the brittle
coatings test.
Pivot Arm
1
2
Three rectangular 45° three-element foil-rosette-type Location Angle psi psi

strain gages were mounted at the maximum strain locations 1 300 -57.9 -130.6
as indicated by the brittle coating technique. One of the 120 139.3 -65.9
rosette elements was positioned parallel to the direction 2 315 551.0 67.0
of the principal stress. The strain rosettes were connected 200 186.4 -10.9
to the Wheatstone bridge circuit and the pivot arm 3 300 -97.7 -122.3
45 -158.7 -236.8
rotated 360° to pick up the maximum compressive (-)
and tensile (+) strains in each rosette. Figure 8 shows the
mounting of the strain-gage rosettes. Table 3. Calculated maximum stress from Table 2.

Results and Discussion where
1,
2 are the principal stresses in psi; E is the
Table 2 shows the three rosette locations with maximum modulus of elasticity of the material (330,000 psi for
strain readings. The rosette in location (1) experienced Bayblend resin); 1, 2 and 3 are the strains; and v is
maximum strain at 120° and 300° from the normal, the Poisson's ratio (0.37 for Bayblend resin). Table 3 shows
rosette in location (2) at 45° and 300°, and the rosette in that the maximum stresses induced by the weight of the
location (3) at 220° and 315°. Normal position (0°) of the CRT display unit will be under 600 psi, which is well within
pivot arm was con-sidered when it was extended towards the permissible stress limit of Bayblend resin. Thus, it
the typist and the arm was rotated clockwise from the can be assumed that the housing can be used safely with-
position. The resulting stresses shown in Table 3 were out any additional structural supports.
calculated using the following formula:

6
Acknowledgements Health and Safety Information
Help provided by Mr. John T. Ley in completing the Appropriate literature has been assembled which provides
laboratory experiments is gratefully acknowledged. information concerning the health and safety precautions
that must be observed when handling Bayer products men-
References tioned in this publication. Before working with any of
1. J. Durelli, E. Phillips and C. H. Tsao, "Introduction to these products, you must read and become familiar with
Theoretical and Experimental Stress Analysis," the available information on their hazards, proper use and
McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY11958. handling. This cannot be overemphasized. Information is
available in several forms, e.g., material safety data sheets
2. S. Redner and W. E. Nickola, "Measurement of and product labels. Consult your local Bayer Corporation
Residual Strains and Stresses in Transparent Materials," representative or contaet Bayer's Product Safety and
Experimental Techniques, Vol. #2, February 1984. Regulatory Affairs Department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

3. J. W. Dally and W. F. Riley, "Experimental Stress

Analysis," McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, 1965.

7
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