Light scattering from twisted metal cylinders
Richard R. Zito and William S. Bickel
The twisting of polished cylinders beyond the elastic limit results in the formation of surface cracks in the
smooth surface. These surface cracks scatter light in a characteristic way. For small plastic deformations,
the light scattering properties of the surface depend linearly on the permanent twist angle. Therefore, light
scattering may be used as a kind of strain gauge.
1. Introduction
It is a well-known principle of mechanics' that dur-
ing the twisting of cylindrical rods plastic deformation
of the surface occurs before plastic failure of the interi-
or. Plastic deformation of the surface of a cylinder
typically manifests itself in the formation of micro-
scopic cracks. If these surface features are illuminat-
ed with light at visible wavelengths, significant
amounts of scattered light may be collected.2 3 This
scattered light will have a well-defined wavelength,
intensity, and polarization in each direction in which it
is detected.2 3 Furthermore, this unique scattered
light signature will change systematically as a function
of the permanent angle through which the specimen is
plastically deformed. Therefore, light scattering may
be used as a kind of strain gauge capable of detecting
plastic deformations prior to structural failure.
11. Specimen Preparation
Figure 1 shows the geometry of the twist specimens
employed. The twist specimen was machined from
2024 aluminum alloy in the T351 condition. One end
of the specimen has a tang which allowsit to be gripped
by a vise. The other end was cut into a hexagon to
allow it to be gripped by an impact socket. The central
portion of the specimen was polished to better than A/
10 as judged by SEM examination of the surface after
polishing.
The authors are with University of Arizona, Physics Department,
Tucson, Arizona 85721.
Received 26 September 1985.
0003-6935/86/111833-04$02.00/0.
© 1986 Optical Society of America.
111. Twisted Specimen
Loads may be applied to the specimen through the
impact socket either by a series of sharp impacts or
quasi-statically with a torque wrench. The latter
loading was used in these experiments. Specimens
were twisted at a rate of 10/s by a torque of 10 ft lb. A
tight-fitting sleeve around the specimen was used to
maintain its straightness during twisting. Figure 2
shows the microscopic appearance of a typical crack
formed on the surface of the sample after twisting to
900. These cracks are scattering centers which are
capable of changing the polarization of incident radia-
tion. This polarization change will be described in
more detail in the next section.
IV. Light Scattering
The instrument used in these experiments is capable
of preparing and analyzing light in any of four possible
states: unpolarized, horizontally linearly polarized,
slant 450 linearly polarized, and right circularly polar-
ized. Each of these polarization states corresponds to
a component of the Stokes vector.4 5 The geometry
used to analyze the scattered light is summarized in
Fig. 3. There are sixteen possible combinations of
polarization states for preparation and analysis of
light. For each combination the scattered intensity or
polarization efficiency 2 may be plotted as a function of
detector angle. Each plot is called a matrix element
(denoted by Si), and only four of the sixteen possible
matrix elements are independent. 6 7 The four inde-
pendent combinations are unpolarized to unpolarized
(S,,), unpolarized to horizontal linear (S12), slant lin-
ear to slant linear (S3 3), and slant linear to circular
(S34).
The independence of the S,,, S12 , S3 3, and S3 4 matrix
elements was confirmed by experiment. Other matrix
elements can be obtained by operating on and combin-
ing the basic four elements. These four matrix ele-
ments are the only ones that survive as probes for
changes of surface structure. The number of indepen-
dent matrix elements depends on the symmetry of the
1 June 1986 / Vol. 25, No. 11 / APPLIEDOPTICS 1833

Fig. 1. Geometry of the twist specimen. The angles y and
coming out of the plane of the paper.
scattering particles. Different symmetries survive de-
pending on whether the particles are single scatterers
or a randomly oriented collection of many scatterers.
A single ellipse will have its Sij dependent on its orien-
tation, and these Sij will be different from those of a
randomly oriented collection of the same ellipses.
The role of single particle symmetries and their contri-
bution to the Sij is described by van de Hulst. 7
To gain an intuitive feel for how unique information
is destroyed by random orientations, consider light
scattering from a long, thin fiber (which may be consid-
ered the special case of an infinitely long elliptical
particle) oriented perpendicular to the plane in which 0
is measured. A single deformed (noncircular
section) fiber will create an asymmetric scattering pat-
tern; that is, the Sqjmeasured scanning clockwise ( =
0-180°) will be different from those measured while
scanning counterclockwise. Nevertheless, on each
side, the same four independent Sij will hold, but the
two sets of matrix elements will be different. If many
fiber scatterers are involved, all rotated randomly in
the 0 direction relative to one another, the two sets of
matrix elements will be identical. That is, the asym-
metry will be erased.
Similar ideas apply to the surface scattering work
described in this paper. Each particular defect has its
own symmetry. However, scattering from many de-
fects with polydispersed sizes,shapes, and orientations
destroys the individual particle symmetry and obeys
the resultant symmetry of the surface as a whole. This
randomness contributes both to phase loss in the indi-
1834 APPLIEDOPTICS / Vol. 25, No. 11 / 1 June 1986
Fig. 2. Appearance of a specimen before and after twisting to 900.
These SEM micrographs were taken at magnifications of 15000X
and 4000X,respectively. Before plastic deformation, only an occa-
sional polishing remnant could be found. However, these generally
had an exceedingly low profile. The before micrograph shows the
are worst of the remnants we found. After twisting, numerous surface
cracks were formed. These latter features act as scattering centers
for incident visible light.
specularreflections
detector
beamwidth (O.7nm)
scatteredray , I/
8t ray
- fO)L}-41Ta
input franHe-Cdlaser
~>sample
Fig. 3. Geometry for illumination and examination of the speci-
men.
vidual scattering matrix elements as well as averaging
over the possible individual particle symmetries which
establish the net number of independent Sij-in this
case, four. Experiments with any new scatterer
should include measurements of all sixteen Sij until
the independent scattering matrix elements are confi-
cross dently established. When this is done, one of the four
matrix elements can be chosen as the most sensitive
probe for change and be used to monitor the system.
Little systematic information is carried by the Sl
matrix element, because beam pointing errors due to
small geometrical distortions from sample placement
errors and minute amounts of bending during twisting
result in specular reflections out of the detector plane.
This condition causes the total intensity to vary wildly
from test to test. Furthermore, laser power fluctua-
tions from test to test also cause measurable changes in
the total scattered intensity as a function of detector
angle. The other independent matrix elements (12,
S33, and S34) do not have these problems because they
are normalized to the scattered intensity (S11).
Figure 4 shows the relative scattering efficiency as a
function of the detector angle for the S12 matrix
element (unpolarized light in, horizontal linear polar-
 0
0
.4I
ci
4)
SCATTERING ANGLE (DEGREES) 9 45
Fig. 4. The S12 matrix element. The relative scattering efficiency
(in percent) is graphed as a function of the scattering angle (0).
ized light out). These curves have the general charac-
ter of the S12 matrix element for spherical Rayleigh
scatterers.8 Each of the three curves corresponds to a
different permanent twist angle (). There are many
features which can be exploited here as a kind of strain
gauge. For example, the dip at 0 = 260 begins system-
atically to vanish as the plastic deformation angle of
twist is increased. However, the curves for twist an-
gles between 60° and 90° show little change. Another
interesting feature which may be exploited is the peak
at a scattering angle of 690 which gradually diminishes
for twist angles between 00 and 600. The zero crossing
of the S1 2 curve is unstable as a function of twist angle
and is therefore not useful as a prognostic indicator of
specimen failure. The value of the scattering efficien-
cy (E) at 0 = 260 is especially interesting because it is
related linearly to the twisting angle 0 (for 00 • 0
600) according to the equation
= 2.67E + 138, (1)
where E is measured in percent and 0 in degrees. In
terms of the plastic shear strain yp, Eq. (1) may be
rewritten as (see Fig. 1)
lyp= 0.012E + 0.602, (2)
where yp is in radians and E is in percent. Equation
(2) is valid for 0 • yp • 0.262.
Next, the S33 matrix element (linear 450 polarized
light in and linear 450 polarized light out) may also be
exploited for strain detection. The basic shape of the
S33 element may be understood either in terms of
spherical Rayleigh or Mie scatterers. In each case the
S3 3 curve starts at +100%, then passes through a zero,
and finally terminates at -100%.8 Figure 5 shows the
S33 matrix element for twist angles of 00, 300, 600, and
900. A peak at 0 = 610, which is a very prominent
feature of samples with a high random polish, is dimin-
ished after the specimen has been twisted 300. After a
600 twist, the peak has totally vanished. Again, after a
900 twist, the peak at0 = 610 is not to be seen. Anoth-
a
0
F
4
-100
90 135 180
SCATTERING ANGLE (DEGREES) 0
Fig. 5. The S33 matrix element. The relative scattering efficiency
(in percent) is graphed as a function of the scattering angle (0).
er interesting change occurs in the zero crossing of the
S 3 3 curve. The untwisted specimen shows a zero cross-
ing at 0 = 310. However, after plastically deforming
the specimen 300, the zero crossing increases to 370
and remains there for all twists in the 30-900 range.
For twists between 600 and 900, a rapid change occurs
in the backscatter region (1350 • 0 < 1800) for the S 3 3
element, although only small changes were noted in
this region for twists between 00 and 600. A simple
empirical formula relates twist angle 40(in degrees) to
the scattering efficiency peak height (AE) above back-
ground at 650. When AE is measured in percent, we
have
= -3.95(AE) + 60. (3)
If we express Eq. (3) in terms of the plastic shear strain
Yp,
= -0.017(AE) + 0.262, (4)
where yp is in radians and AE is in percent as before.
Equation (4) is valid over the region 0 • yp • 0.262.
V. Conclusion
The central question about light scattering tech-
niques is "how good are they?" As a strain gauge for
the case considered here, light scattering seems prom-
ising over the interval 00 • 0 600. In this region,
some features of the matrix elements change linearly.
In the interval 600 • 0 • 900, nonlinearity sets in so
that changes in scattering are not simply proportional
to the deformation. The region 0 2 900 is currently
unexplored. However, experimenters should be
aware that, in this latter region, light scattering prop-
erties may not even vary monotonically with deforma-
tion.
The algorithms described in this paper are extreme-
ly system dependent. They must be determined for
each case of specimen geometry and type of strain
(twisting, bending, etc.). We have shown here that, if
1 June 1986 / Vol. 25, No. 11 / APPLIEDOPTICS 1835
 light scattering is to be used as a probe to identify
certain physical changes in a system undergoing stress,
polarization signals, in addition to the total scattered
intensity, can be sensitive, specific, and valuable. Al-
though a change in the light scattering signal implies a
change in the structure, the actual change should be
determined and quantified once by other means (light
or electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, etc.) to relate
the change in the light scattering signal to the actual
change in structure. Although the first comparative
measurements might be time-consuming and expen-
sive, the resulting algorithm can be used for fast in-situ
nondestructive measurements.
We thank the Army Armament R&D Command and
the Department of Energy for support.
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References
1. E. F. Byars, and R. D. Snyder, Engineering Mechanics of Defor-
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2. W. S. Bickel and R. R. Zito, "Light Scattering from Metal Surfa-
ces," J. Appl. Phys. submitted.
3. R. R. Zito, W. S. Bickel, and W. M. Bailey, "The Physical and
Optical Properties of Agglomerated Gold Films," Thin Solid
Films 114, 241 (1984).
4. S. R. Cloude, "Polarmetric Techniques in Radar Signal Proces-
sing," Microwave J. 26(7), 119 (1983).
5. W. S. Bickel and W. M. Bailey, "Stokes Vectors Mueller Matrices,
and Polarized Scattered Light," Am.J. Phys. 53, 468 (1985).
6. E. S. Fry and G. W. Kattawar, "Relationship Between Elements
of the Stokes Matrix," Appl. Opt. 20, 2811 (1981).
7. H. C. van de Hulst, Light Scattering by Small Particles (Wiley,
New York, 1957).
8. W. S. Bickel, "The Mueller Scattering Matrix Elements for Ray-
leigh Spheres," in Applications of Circularly Polarized Radia-
tion Using Synchrotron and Ordinary Sources, F. Allen and C.
Bustamante, Eds. (Plenum, New York, 1985).
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continuedonpage 1853