Photoelastic method to quantitatively visualise the evolution of whole-field stress in 3D printed models subject to continuous loading processes

- A method was proposed to quantify continuous whole-field stress evolution.
- Photosensitive materials were used to create models using 3D printing techniques.
- Fringe orders were determined by numbering the peak and valley of light intensity.
- Whole-field stress was characterized using continuous dense fringe orders.
- The method was validated through both experiments and theoretical solutions.

The combination of three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques and photoelastic testing is a promising way to quantitatively determine the continuous whole-field stress distributions in solids that are characterized by complex structures. However, photoelastic testing produces wrapped isoclinic and isochromatic phase maps, and unwrapping these maps has always been a significant challenge. To realize the visualization and transparentization of the stress fields in complex structures, we report a new approach to quantify the continuous evolution of the whole-field stress in photosensitive material that is applicable to the fabrication of complex structures using 3D printing technology. The stress fringe orders are determined by analyzing a series of continuous frames extracted from a video recording of the fringe changes over the entire loading process. The integer portion of the fringe orders at a specific point on the model can be determined by counting the valleys of the light intensity change curve over the whole loading process, and the fractional portion can be calculated based on the cosine function between the light intensity and retardation. This method allows the fringe orders to be determined from the video itself, which significantly improves characterization accuracy and simplifies the experimental operation over the entire processes. To validate the proposed method, we compare the results of the theoretical calculations to those of experiments based on the diametric compression of a circular disc prepared by a 3D printer with photosensitive resin. The results indicate that the method can accurately determine the stress fringe order, except for points where the deformation is too large to differentiate the fringes pertaining to photoplasticity.