ON THE EFFECTS OF THROUGH-THICKNESS THERMAL CONDUCTION ON STRESS MEASUREMENT BY THERMOELASTIC TECHNIQUES

Stress measurement by means of the thermoelastic technique has been gr owing in popularity since the mid-1980s. This paper looks in detail at the effects of thermal conduction on such measurements. It is shown t hat for accurate quantitative stress determination, on all but the sim plest of geometries, thermal-conduction effects may have to be conside red. Such effects can be experimentally observed and modifications whi ch can be made to an experiment affected by thermal conduction are sug gested.