Experimental Mechanics of Solids and Structures [Hardcover]

From the characterization of materials to accelerated life testing, experimentation with solids and structures is present in all stages of the design of mechanical devices. Sometimes only an experimental model can bring the necessary elements for understanding, the physics under study just being too complex for an efficient numerical model. 

This book presents the classical tools in the experimental approach to mechanical engineering, as well as the methods that have revolutionized the field over the past 20 years: photomechanics, signal processing, statistical data analysis, design of experiments, uncertainty analysis, etc.

Experimental Mechanics of Solids and Structures also replaces mechanical testing in a larger context: firstly, that of the experimental model, with its own hypotheses; then that of the knowledge acquisition process, which is structured and robust; finally, that of a reliable analysis of the results obtained, in a context where uncertainty could be important. 

Foreword  ix

Introduction  xi

Chapter 1. Mechanical Tests  1

1.1. Introduction 1

1.2. Measurable quantities 2

1.3. Tensile test 3

1.3.1. Optimal testing conditions 5

1.3.2. Result of a standard tensile test 7

1.3.3. Stiffness of a tensile testing machine 9

1.4. Bending test  10

1.4.1. Test principle 10

1.4.2. Optimal realization conditions 10

1.4.3. Determination of flexural modulus  11

1.4.4. Damage to the structure 13

Chapter 2. A Few Sensors Used in Mechanics  15

2.1. Introduction 15

2.2. Strain measurement&nbsl“j