Photoelasticity applied in industry

There are several optical methods of experimental stress analysis, including moire, speckle, and photoelasticity. Among these methods, photoelasticity has advantages in that it is less expensive, simpler, and yields complete information relatively quickly. Photoelasticity methods are useful for both the inspection and measurement of the magnitude and direction of stresses in structures, which leads to improved designs and efficient damage detection. In this project we describe the photoelastic technique and show experimental results that may benefit the industry.