Application of frozen stress photoelasticity to linear elastic fracture mechanics: Historical developments

This paper contains a historical perspective of studies the author conducted after first meeting Dr Irwin in around 1952, It includes how an idea of Irwin for extracting the stress intensity factor from photoelastic fringe patterns was expanded for use in the frozen stress technique for determining stress intensity factor distributions in three dimensional fracture problems and illustrates its use with an application during his years of association with Dr Irwin through the ORNL Heavy Section Steel Technology Program. Many contributions by others to the field have been omitted in order to attempt to maintain the focus of the volume in which this paper appears.