Determination of solid materials rigidity modulus by a new nondestructive optical method

We propose a new optical method for the determination of the rigidity modulus G of solid materials. The rigidity modulus is determined by measuring the twisted angle 0 as a response of the material sample, depending on the applied force. The measuring of this twisted angle can be carried out by using an adapted polarimetric sensor. The effective measurement of rigidity modulus G for aluminum, Plexiglas and steel was experimentally obtained 1.4464 x 10(10),0.99417 x 10(9) and 1.0395 x 10(11) N m, respectively. The study has demonstrated the effective usefulness of our method for evaluating the rigidity modulus. A good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results was achieved. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.