Optical in-plane strain field sensor

A whole-field speckle strain sensor is presented. The speckle strain sensor allows the measurement of all three in-plane components of the strain field simultaneously without touching the surface of the sample. The strain fields are extracted from the in-plane motion of defocused laser speckles in a telecentric imaging system. To distinguish the contribution to the speckle motion from surface translation, rotation, and strain, the speckle motion from three lasers with different illumination directions and wavelengths has to be analyzed separately. Simultaneous acquisition of the three individual speckle patterns is achieved by means of splitting the light from the lasers onto separate but synchronized detectors with the aid of dichroic mirrors. The motion of the speckles is calculated with digital speckle photography (speckle correlation), which enables the strain sensor to measure strain fields with noise levels as low as 10 microstrain.     

The Extension of the Electronic Speckle Photography to the Measurement of In-Plane Displacement

In this paper, a modified speckle photography technique is demonstrated for the measurement of a variable range of the in-plane displacement. The modification focuses on coupling the diode pump solid state laser DPSS with the conventional speckle photography technique. The DPSS laser emerges different wavelengths to provide speckle patterns of suitable size to measure the desired range of the in-plane displacement. The second harmonic generation in a nonlinear crystal of wavelength 532 nm and the principle diode laser wavelength 808 nm are employed in identifying the object positions within a lateral displacement made by a standard linear stage in the range from few microns up to 1.2 mm. The sensitivity and the correlation of the speckles formed by both wavelengths suit both small and large movements. A continues measurement by the modified technique can be achieved by identifying a scale factor in the uniform area in which both wavelengths are effective, and high correlation between the results obtained by 532 and 808 nm is maintained. The uncertainty in measuring 1.2 mm lateral movement by the modified speckle photography is found to be 26.8 μm.     

Accuracy in electronic speckle photography

Electronic speckle photography is an accurate, easy-to-use, video-based technique for the analysis of two- and three-dimensional deformation fields and in-plane strain fields, based on numerical cross correlation. Through the use of statistical optics, simulated speckle patterns, and experiments the accuracy in electronic speckle photography was found to depend on correlation, speckle size, window size, and correlation filter. The estimated correlation was found to be the combined effect of three mutually competing factors because of classical speckle correlation, subimage overlap, and displacement gradients. In many applications white-light speckle patterns provide a more accurate estimate of the displacement field than do laser speckle patterns.     

混凝土单轴压缩CT观测及三维变形场计算分析

利用微焦点工业CT对混凝土试件单轴压缩过程分阶段进行原位扫描,获得相应的系列CT图像。由数字体散斑法（Digital Volumetric Speckle Photography,DVSP）获得了试件内部三维位移场与应变场。混凝土内部非均匀细观结构可以作为散斑结构成为变形信息的载体用于试件内部变形的测量;通过位移场和应变场的分析,揭示了试件内部变形局部化区域的演化及破坏过程,局部化区域与试件最终破坏面位置相一致。根据试件的体积应变随轴向应力的变化曲线分别定义了小于CT尺度微裂隙和CT尺度裂隙的发育点,分别为峰值应力的54.7 %和82.0 %,这两点同时对应着试件扩容的起始点及塑性变形的起始点。结果表明,DVSP与CT技术相结合能够直观地揭示混凝土试件内部变形局部化产生及发展过程,为三维变形的精细测量及可视化提供了方法。     

Phase object data obtained from defocused laser speckle displacement

An optical technique that is based on defocused digital speckle photography is proposed for the evaluation of phase objects. Phase objects are different kinds of transparent or semi-transparent media that allow light to be transmitted. A phase object inserted in a laser speckle field introduces speckle displacement, from which information about the object may be extracted. It is shown that one may use speckle displacements to determine both the phase gradients and the positions of phase objects. As an illustration the positions and focal lengths of two weak lenses have been derived from defocused laser speckle displacement.     

Digital speckle techniques for measuring light deflection profiles of inhomogeneous phase objects

Digital speckle pattern photography is applied to the measurement of light deflection profiles of inhomogeneous transparent objects by transmission of a He-Ne laser speckle field through the object. The speckles are recorded with a CCD camera, and the local displacements are evaluated by comparison of the deflected speckle field with the undeflected field by a digital cross-correlation technique. In this way a complete two-dimensional deflection field can be obtained from a single pair of CCD records. The basic technique and two experimental setups suitable for objects with a size larger than that of the CCD chip are described. These novel techniques are applied to determine profiles of the refractive index of a free-burning arc in air. In addition, a cinematographic setup is described, which allows the investigation of transient objects by means of a video tape recorder.     

Displacement measurement of speckles using a 2-D level-crossing technique

This paper proposes a new displacement method for measuring speckles using a 2-D level-crossing technique. The crossing points in space of the speckle intensity traversing a specified level are analyzed two-dimensionally by using a TV-computer system. In an actual analysis, an occurrence rate histogram of the distance vectors determined by connecting the crossing points obtainable before and after displacement of speckles is investigated. It is found that the vectorial displacement of speckles can be measured from the position of the maximum occurrence in the bivariate histogram with respect to the magnitude and angle by which the displacement vector is characterized. The vectorial displacement of speckles is related to the movement of an object.     

Phase object data obtained by pulsed TV holography and defocused laser speckle displacement

Transient events in optically transparent media occur in many engineering applications. Using pulsed TV holography to capture a laser speckle field propagated through an optical disturbance makes it possible to obtain both the position and the phase gradients of the disturbance. The technique depends on the fact that speckles transmitted through an optical disturbance will be displaced by an amount that depends on the relation of the defocus to the object. First the speckle field is captured holographically, without and with disturbance present. Then the recorded fields are numerically refocused in a computer to a number of different focal planes. With a cross-correlation technique a number of speckle displacement fields are obtained, and from them the data about the disturbance are obtained. So far the technique has been shown to work for thin objects.     

New possibilities of investigating blood flow in soft tissues of the mouth

It has been shown that the method of digital dynamic photography is an effective technique for quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of the microcirculatory state of mouth tissues. As a result of the signal processing, one can obtain information on microcirculation indices from the spectral distribution of low-frequency variations of the speckle structure. The investigated method of digital dynamic speckle photography can be used to elucidate the haemodynamic features in tissues of the oral cavity even at early stages of the disease and then at the examination and treatment stages. New possibilities of digital laser speckle technologies for tomographic investigations of the near-surface blood flow at various depths with the use of two-lens optical configurations are illustrated. __________ Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 81, No. 3, pp. 508–517, May–June, 2008.     

Femtosecond laser speckles

The concept of femtosecond laser speckles is put forward. The theory of a speckle pattern in light of finite bandwidth is applied to describe femtosecond laser speckles. Basic representations of the contrast and the spectral correlation of femtosecond laser speckles are presented. The relationship between the speckle contrast and the bandwidth of a femtosecond laser is given. Experimental results are given that indicate an obvious difference between the speckle patterns produced by a continuous-wave laser and those produced by a femtosecond laser.     

Effect of compensation for spherical aberration on the transverse displacement of laser speckle patterns

When a rough surface illuminated by coherent light is displaced perpendicularly to the optical axis of an imaging optical system the speckle pattern in the conjugate plane is transversally displaced too. This displacement has two components. The first one is proportional to the object displacement, and the second one depends on wave-front aberrations and, consequently, is strongly related to the optical system that is used. Usually, well-corrected photographic objectives are used for the measurement of transverse displacements by double-exposure laser speckle photography. Since in well-corrected objectives aberrations tend to compensate one another, it seems that the complementary displacement of the speckle pattern, caused by aberrations, is near zero and does not affect the accuracy of the measurement. Here it is analytically shown that the compensation of spherical aberrations does not guarantee a negligible complementary displacement. From the results obtained it follows that well-corrected objectives for laser speckle photography can be regarded as a particular class of photographic objectives, since they not only yield high-quality images but also minimize complementary displacement.     

Full-Field Displacement Measurement of a Speckle Grid by using a Mesh-Free Deformation Function

Abstract:  In the present study, a combined experimental–numerical technique for the determination of the displacement and strain fields in the surface of a deformable body is described. The experimental part of this technique is based on the recording of the pair of images of the surface before and after deformation of the body, by means of a digital camera. This is done after spraying the surface with a random field of speckles (dots). Then the dots (having finite dimensions) of the second image are identified and uniquely paired with the dots of the first image. This permits the experimental determination of the deformation field in the surface. Then, by means of a mesh-free numerical method, a smoothed deformation field can be constructed. For that, the moving least square method is applied. The deformation field being available, the corresponding strain field can easily be obtained. Numerical simulation of this technique in three simple examples indicates that promising applications are expected.     

Quantitative visualization of ultrasonic acoustic waves by means of digital laser speckle-technologies

An original version of digital laser speckle photography has been used for visualization and quantitative diagnosis of acoustic waves in liquids in the megahertz frequency range. Standing acoustic waves were generated in tanks of special configuration which permitted obtaining analytical dependences of refraction angles of the probe laser radiation on the wave intensity. These refraction angles were determined experimentally by the change in contrast of the speckle fields arising in the scattered probe radiation and recorded by means of high-resolution digital CCD matrices. Quantitative diagnosis of the pressure and velocity fields in acoustic waves was carried out by measuring the deformation of the laser intensity correlation functions in recorded speckle fields. __________ Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp. 229–239, March–April, 2008.     

Digital speckle radiography—a new ballistic measurement technique

Abstract

Digital speckle radiography is a measurement technique which is capable of visualizing internal flow fields within an opaque material undergoing a ballistic impact. This recent development has been successfully applied to the study of polyester, cement, sand and glass targets. The technique is based on digital speckle photography but, instead of producing the required speckle pattern by traditional means, the specimen is seeded with a layer of X-ray opaque filings. By utilizing two X-ray heads and varying the delays and position of the seeded layer, a full three-dimensional displacement map can be built up. The theories behind the technique are introduced, and results presented from two-dimensional displacement measurements on sand subjected to rod impact and three-dimensional measurements of cement being impacted by a shaped charge jet.     

Dynamic measurements of internal three-dimensional displacement fields with digital speckle photography and flash x rays

A metrology system is presented that measures internal three-dimensional (3-D) displacement fields. The system uses a stereo pair of flash x-ray heads and correlation analysis to measure the true deformation of a layer of x-ray-absorbent particles inside the specimen. The 3-D deformation field inside blocks of polyester was determined. The polyester blocks were impacted by a 9-mm steel ball bearing fired from a 9-mm-bore gas gun at a speed of 373.5 +/- 3.0 m s(-1). At a given time after impact, a short-duration (30 ns) flash x-ray pulse exposes the x-ray radiographs and freezes the events during impact. Thereafter, the x-ray radiographs are scanned into a personal computer and analyzed as in digital speckle photography.     

Measurement of temperature using speckle shearing interferometry

A laser speckle shearing interferometric technique is used for measuring the temperature profile inside a gaseous flame. The experimental results are compared with the values obtained by a thermocouple and also by speckle photography. Good agreement is seen among the temperatures measured by speckle shearing interferometry, speckle photography, and the thermocouple. Speckle shearing interferometry is easier to implement than speckle photography. This is because in speckle shearing interferometry the accurate positions of the fringes can be known without point-by-point analysis and correction for the halo effect.     

Application of digital speckle photography to flash X-ray studies of internal deformation fields in impact experiments

A technique to measure two-dimensional deformation fields of a layer inside materials during dynamic events such as impact experiments is presented. Even optically opaque materials like cement can be evaluated when flash x rays are used. Blocks of polyester and cement were prepared with a layer of x-ray-absorbing lead particles. The specimens were then hit by a 9-mm-diameter steel sphere (ball bearing) fired from a 9-mm-bore gas gun at a velocity of 373.5 +/- 3.0 ms(-1). A 30-ns-long x-ray pulse exposed one radiograph before impact; another radiograph was exposed a short time after the impact on the specimen. The two-dimensional displacement field was obtained when the x-ray radiographs were digitized by a conventional flatbed scanner, and a digital speckle photography algorithm was used to calculate the displacements. The flash x-ray technique allowed examination of the deformation at the layer inside the material during failure, thus giving interesting data about the material flow field around the impactor.     

Insight into the fracture evolution behavior of pre-flawed hollow-cylinder granite under multi-stage increasing-amplitude cyclic loads: A lab-scale testing

The structural deterioration and associated fracture evolution behavior of pre-flawed hollow-cylinder granite subjected to multi-stage increasing-amplitude (MSIA) cyclic loads are studied herein. The influences of rock structure on volumetric deformation, damage accumulation, energy dissipation, and failure pattern were investigated. It is shown that the volumetric deformation is relatively large for rock having high flaw angle, and it is the minimum and maximum for rock having a 10° and 70° flaw angle. A damage evolution model that can describe a first fast and then steady damage propagation was proposed based on the irreversible axial strain. Much energy needs to be consumed to drive crack propagation and hole collapse for rock having high angle flaws. A series of 2D computed tomography (CT) images reveal the different crack network pattern and how it is affected by the rock structure. A more complicated crack network is found for rock having a high flaw angle.     

Experimental study on the effects of the boundary conditions on the deformations of composite plates

In this study, the effects of the boundary conditions on the out-of-plane displacements and through-the-thickness strain distribution of symmetric composite laminated plates are reported. The plates are subjected to bending by a central force and supported by two-line or four-point supports. The out-of-plane displacement field is measured using a full field electronic speckle pattern interferometry technique and the through-the-thickness distribution of the deformations by fibre Bragg gratings, embedded at selected locations during preparation of the plates. The experimental data are correlated with the results from elasticity-based 2D and 3D finite element models of the actual experimental configuration. The results clearly exhibit the effects of the boundary conditions on the deformation behaviour of the plates. Non-linear through-the-thickness strain distributions appear in the thick plate range. Aspects such as force and displacement distributions on the contact areas of both loading and supports are also considered.