Stress concentration near an inhomogeneity and experimental clarification of the couple-stress effect

Abstract

Following the fundamental papers [1–3], many authors have recently exerted considerable efforts to develop a new mechanics of the microcontinuum in which displacements of microelements are taken into account. To apply these theories it is required to determine a sufficiently large quantity of new elastic constants. The effects which appear because of taking account of the microelement displacements have been examined theoretically by a number of authors. However, there is quite little experimental work in which the effect of this accounting would be explained and new elastic constants would be determined in materials [4–6]. The purpose of the present paper is to clarify the effect of the influence of couple stresses on stress concentration near an inhomogeneity in the case of plane strain by the experimental method of photoelasticity.