Determination of the flexural stiffness of thin plates from small deflection measurements using optical holography

Abstract

A technique is presented for accurate determination of the flexural stiffness of thin plates using optical holography. Measurements of the interference fringes on thin rhombic plates in anticlastic bending are used to calculate the components of curvature by a simple numerical method Control experiments on a metal plate give good agreement with the results of small deflection bending theory. The method appears ideally suited to the measurement of anisotropic flexural stiffness properties.