A Novel Technique for Viewing Stress Distribution with Mechanoluminescence Materials

We have successfully demonstrated that the stress distribution of a metal substrate can be directly displayed by coating SrAl2O4:Eu (SAO), a representative of strong mechanoluminescent materials, on the surface of test objects. An aluminum plate with SAO sensing film had been applied to experimental analysis of stress concentrations, and a numerical calculation via a finite element method confirmed that the observed real time mechanoluminescence images displayed the stress distribution. As a result, visualization of stress distribution on metal surface has been realized by ML images using SAO sensing film, and this novel visualization technique can be applied for viewing the stress concentration in various fields such as modeling, manufacturing and demonstration of an industrial product.