Comparison in the Stress Analysis of 2D Solid Mechanics Problems of Finite Element Method and Photoelasticity

Abstract

Finite Element Method and photoelasticity technique are presented to predict the stress distributionfor solid mechanics problems. The paper first describes 2D solid mechanics theory. Finiteelement formulation, the computational procedure and its boundary conditions are then represented.Photoelasticity theory and its procedure are described. The validated examples of both techniquesare four-point bending problem and chain-gear contact problem. The solutions show the efficiency offinite element method and have a good agreement with the photoelasticity results.

Keywords : Finite Element Method / Photoelasticity