Application of digital-image-correlation techniques in analysing cracked cylindrical pipes

Cracks induced by external excitation on a material that has defects may generate the stress concentration phenomenon. The stress concentration behaviour causes local buckling, which will induce the damage of the members made of this material. Thus, developing techniques to monitor the strain variation of a cracked member is an important study. The traditional technique (such as strain gauge) can only measure the average strain of a region. The strain variation within this region cannot be determined. Therefore, it cannot sufficiently reflect the mechanical behaviour surrounding the crack. The Digital image correlation technique recently developed is an image identification technique to be applied for measuring the object deformation. This technique is capable of correlating the digital images of an object before and after deformation and further determining the displacement and strain field of an object based on the corresponding position on the image. In this work, this technique is applied to analyse the mechanics of a cylindrical pipe experiencing crack destruction. The fixing device is used to avoid shaking the specimen during the pressurizing process. The image capture instruments are fixed on the stable frame to measure the deformation of specimen accurately. Through the cylindrical pipe cracking test, the capacity of the digital image correlation technique for surveying the strain variation in a tiny region is validated. Then, the experimental results obtained using the digital image correlation analysis is used to demonstrate the crack development tendency in defect materials and the stress concentration zone.     

AFM image reconstruction for deformation measurements by digital image correlation

The scanner drift of the atomic force microscope (AFM) is a great disadvantage to the application of digital image correlation to micro/nano-scale deformation measurements. This paper has addressed the image distortion induced by the scanner drifts and developed a method to reconstruct AFM images for the successful use of AFM image correlation. It?presents such a method, that is to generate a corrected image from two correlated AFM images scanned at the angle of 0° and 90° respectively. The proposed method has been validated by the zero-deformation test. A buckling test of a thin plate under AFM has also been demonstrated. The in-plane displacement field at the centre point of the buckling plate has been successfully characterized by the application of the image correlation technique on reconstructed AFM images.     

Experimental characterization of meso‐scale deformation mechanisms and the RVE size in plastically deformed carbon steel

The local deformation response of low carbon steel subjected to uniaxial tensile loading is investigated, and the local strain field at sub‐grain scale is obtained using high‐spatial‐resolution digital image correlation. The implemented digital image correlation method enables the observation and study of inhomogeneous deformation response at microstructural levels. Detailed local deformation mechanisms including mesoscopic slip bands are captured. Furthermore, the local information is used for the determination of representative volume element size in polycrystalline low carbon steel. To obtain the representative volume element size, we proposed and successfully implemented a strain variation method. Further, the influence of global strain on the local deformation mechanisms and representative volume element size is discussed. The challenges associated with the local strain measurement using digital image correlation are also discussed.     

An Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria for Strain Mapping Applications

Abstract:  The performance of four digital image correlation criteria widely used in strain mapping applications has been critically examined using three sets of digital images with various whole-field deformation characteristics. The deformed images in these image sets are digitally modified to simulate the less-than-ideal image acquisition conditions in an actual experiment, such as variable brightness, contrast, uneven local lighting and blurring. The relative robustness, computational cost and reliability of each criterion are assessed for precision strain mapping applications. Recommendations are given for selecting a proper image correlation criterion to efficiently extract reliable deformation data from a given set of digital images.     

Basic principle of digital image correlation for in-plane displacement and strain measurement

The basic principle and the algorithm of a digital image correlation method, and the procedure for obtaining displacements and strains are described. In order to describe the basic principle precisely, only in-plane displacement and strain measurement of a planar object are explained. Gray levels between integer pixels of a digital image after deformation are interpolated to obtain displacements with subpixel resolution. Displacements are then determined by solving nonlinear simultaneous equations taking the deformation of a subset into consideration. Strains are obtainable by differentiating the measured displacements. In addition to the basic principle of digital image correlation, the example of the measurement and its results are shown.     

Nanoscale deformation measurement of microscale interconnection assemblies by a digital image correlation technique

The continuous miniaturization of microelectronic devices and interconnections demand more and more experimental strain/stress analysis of micro-?and nanoscale components for material characterization and structure reliability analysis. The digital image correlation (DIC) technique, with the aid of scanning probe microscopes, has become a very promising tool to meet this demand. In this study, an atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to scan and digitally image micro-interconnection assemblies in a micro-thermoelectric cooler. AFM images of the scan region of interest were obtained separately when the microelectronic device was operated before and after the cooling and heating stages. The AFM images were then used to obtain the in-plane deformation fields in the observed region of the micro-assembly. AFM image correlation is performed for nanoscale deformation analysis using the authors' AFM-DIC program. The results show that the observed region was subjected to cyclic strains when the device worked between its cooling and heating stages, and cyclic strain in the vertical direction was found to be a significant deformation mode. The thermally induced deformation behavior of the micro-assembly device was modeled by finite element analysis (FEA). Both thermal-electric analysis and thermal stress analysis were conducted on a 3D finite element model of the device. It is shown that the experimental results were able to validate the finite element analysis results.     

数字图像相关测量钢绞线弹性模量的应用研究

该文利用非接触式数字图像相关方法测量了预应力钢绞线的弹性模量。测量过程中用CCD相机记录不同载荷下钢绞线表面的数字图像,再利用数字图像相关方法对所采集的序列数字图像进行分析从中精确提取不同载荷下钢绞线表面的纵向平均正应变。根据试验机的载荷信息、钢绞线的参考截面积和由数字图像相关方法测量的平均正应变绘制出钢绞线的应力-应...     

非接触数字图像相关应变测量的仿真与实验研究

数字图像相关法测量全场位移和应变是一种新的实验力学方法.该测量算法中相关函数和子区大小的选择是影响最终应变测量精度的重要因素.本文采用已知应变变形的仿真散斑图,研究了测量算法中主要相关函数和子区大小在正常光照与高斯不均匀光照条件下,对应变测量精度的影响.得出了不同测量要求下,可选择的相关函数和最佳计算窗口.通过实验验证与分析了此算法的测量精度.研究结果表明,数字图像处理技术测量应变的测试精度满足基本要求.     

Study on Shear Test of New Style Automotive Structural Adhesive using Digital Image Correlation Method

In this paper, digital image correlation method (DICM) is employed to measure the shear behavior of the spot welding specimens and the ones using adhesive under quasi-static lap shear testing. The images of the specimens' surfaces are captured in real-time by CCD and corresponding computer system. DICM is subsequently used to obtained strain by correlating the images captured before and after deformation. Then, both force-displacement curves and stress-strain curves of the specimens including the cracking load are obtained. The results and analysis show that the mechanical properties of specimens using adhesive compared with the spot welding specimens have an obvious advantage. This paper provides some experimental basis for improving this new type of structural adhesive. In this experiment, the method of non-contact measurement was used to obtain the strain. It has greater significance.     

Uneven intensity change correction of speckle images using morphological Top-Hat transform in digital image correlation

By comparing two digital speckle images recorded before and after deformation, two-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) method can accurately determine the in-plane displacement fields and strain fields. In a practical measurement, however, the variance of light source intensity, location and direction will cause the random uneven intensity change of the random speckle images and will lead to the obvious measurement error. Numerical simulation experiment is first carried out to analyse the influence of the recorded speckle images undergoing uneven light variation on DIC measurement accuracy. Then, a correction method for speckle images with uneven intensity change is proposed based on morphological Top-Hat transform. In addition, quantitative measurements of both in-plane rotation of a rigid body and three-point bending beam are investigated experimentally by DIC to verify the feasibility of the correction method. Experimental results show that the measurement accuracy of DIC is improved dramatically after the procedure of uneven light variation correction.     

金属薄膜屈服强度的鼓包法表征

本文采用鼓包法研究金属薄膜的屈服强度,对具有圆形自由窗口的镍薄膜一侧施加压力,薄膜受压变形的全场形貌用数字散斑相关法(DSCM)进行测量,并应用板壳理论分析小挠度变形下膜内应力分布情况。结果表明:圆形薄膜受压时首先从边缘开始屈服,从压力-挠度曲线偏离线性关系的临界点得到金属镍膜的屈服强度为467MPa,这和单轴拉伸法测量所得到的屈服强度值吻合较好。     

A domain coupling method for finite element digital image correlation with mechanical regularization: Application to multiscale measurements and parallel computing

A general method is proposed to couple two subregions analyzed with finite element digital image correlation even when using a mechanical regularization (regularized digital image correlation). A Lagrange multiplier is introduced to stitch both displacements fields in order to recover continuity over the full region of interest. Another interface unknown is introduced to ensure, additionally, the equilibrium of the mechanical models used for regularization. As a first application, the method is used to perform a single measurement from images at two different resolutions. Secondly, the method is also extended to parallel computing in regularized digital image correlation. The problem is formulated at the interface and solved with a Krylov‐type algorithm. A dedicated preconditioner is proposed to significantly accelerate convergence. The resulting method is a good candidate for the analysis of large data sets. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Full-Field Strain Rate Measurement by White-Light Speckle Image Correlation

Abstract:  This paper explains a numerical procedure to process sequences of digital images and to return a full-field evaluation of the strain rate. The processing procedure is based on a nonlinear least squares fitting performed globally, on the whole image, and simultaneously on several images. The use of a highly optimised code allows the analysis of long sequences in a few minutes. The results of calculations are presented as movies built by blending the colour maps of the measured strain field with the specimen pictures used in the correlation procedure. Our application is focused on studying the plastic behaviour of metals and, in particular, on highlighting any transient phenomena that might occur during yielding and strain-hardening phases on thin sheets used in the manufacture of sheet metals. A typical example for such phenomena is the Portevin-Le Châtelier effect, a repetitive yielding of alloys during plastic deformation.     

Cross‐Correlation and Differential Technique Combination to Determine Displacement Fields

Abstract: This study presents a method to measure the displacement fields on the surface of planar objects with sub‐pixel resolution, by combining image correlation with a differential technique. First, a coarse approximation of the pixel level displacement is obtained by cross‐correlation (CC). Two consecutive images, taken before and after the application of a given deformation, are recursively split in sub‐images, and the CC coefficient is used as the similarity measure. Secondly, a fine approximation is performed to assess the sub‐pixel displacements by means of an optical flow method based on a differential technique. To validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, several numerical tests were carried out on computer‐generated images. Moreover, real images from a static test were also processed for estimating the displacement resolution. The results were compared with those obtained by a commercial digital image correlation code. Both methods showed similar and reliable results according to the proposed tests.     

Application of Elastic Image Registration and Refraction Correction for Non‐Contact Underwater Strain Measurement

Abstract: The refraction‐induced image distortion introduces large errors in the deformation measurement of fluid submerged specimens using digital image correlation (DIC). This study provides a review of the nature of the refraction‐induced image distortion, assesses experimental conditions that interact with refraction and proposes an elastic image registration technique to correct the refraction distortion of underwater images. In the elastic image registration technique, control points are selected on reference and refracted images of a template object and locally sensitive transformation functions that overlay the two images are obtained. The transformation functions so obtained are then used to reconstruct undistorted images from underwater images and the former are used as input to a DIC system. The proposed approach has shown to improve the refraction error in the order of 5–8% for typical material test samples undergoing deformation inside a water‐filled glass chamber.     

Investigation of the Uncertainty of DIC Under Heterogeneous Strain States with Numerical Tests

Abstract: In this research, numerical 2D digital image correlation (DIC) tests are carried out to assess the uncertainty of DIC under heterogeneous strain states. DIC is implemented to measure the deformation of the numerically deformed images with respect to the undeformed counterparts, which are taken from the real tensile specimens. The tensile specimens are made of three materials, that is, steel DC06, steel DX54D+Z and aluminium alloy Al6016 and cut into three different geometries, namely one standard design and two complex designs. The specimens are all painted manually with random speckle patterns. The original images are deformed by imposed displacement fields, which are obtained by simulating uni‐axial tensile tests of the specimens with finite element analysis (FEA). In this way, the errors sourcing from the hardware of the image system are excluded. According to the geometries of the specimens, homogeneous and heterogeneous strain states are achieved by FEA. The optimum mesh sizes of the models are identified to minimise theirs influence on the imposed fields. The impacts of subset sizes, step sizes and strain window sizes are studied for an optimum correlation. Finally, the influence of the strain state is investigated. It is found that the DIC accuracy and precision decrease under highly heterogeneous strain states.     

基于数字散斑相关方法的VCM深冲钢板力学性能评价

目的针对VCM深冲钢板各组分材料在变形过程中很难达到屈服和破坏的同步,材料很容易在附加应力的作用下沿薄弱方向产生失效乃至断裂的问题,研究在外加及内在因素影响下材料的变形机理和变形过程。方法采用数字散斑相关方法对VCM深冲钢板及其组分材料的力学性能进行研究。引入偏离系数、影响系数、梯度系数来计算VCM深冲钢板及其组分材料之间的关系,获取试样拉伸过程中三维变形的几何数据。结果得到了VCM深冲钢板及其组分材料的抗拉强度、弹性模量、上屈服强度、最大力下总伸长率和断后伸长率,其中,深冲基板影响系数达到2.582,影响最小的是最大力下总伸长率,影响系数为0.806。通过XJTUDIC系统检测并分析获得了x和y方向的位移值、应变值和最大主应变值。结论增加VCM薄膜后,VCM深冲钢板的应力应变能力有所提高,VCM薄膜最大应变值为91.632%,深冲基板最大应变值为40.068%,VCM深冲钢板的最大应变值为41.632%,其力学性能介于深冲基板和VCM薄膜力学性能之间。     

Compressive mechanical properties of closed-cell aluminum foam–polymer composites

The compressive mechanical properties of two kinds of closed-cell aluminum foam–polymer composites (aluminum–epoxy, aluminum–polyurethane) were studied. The nonhomogeneous deformation features of the composites are presented based on the deformation distributions measured by the digital image correlation (DIC) method. The strain fluctuations rapidly grow with an increase in the compressive load. The uneven level of the deformation for the aluminum–polyurethane composite is lower than that for the aluminum–epoxy composite. The region of the preferentially fractured aluminum cell wall can be predicted by the strain distributions in two directions. The mechanical properties of the composites are investigated and compared to those of the aluminum foams. The enhancement effect of the epoxy resin on the Young’s modulus, the Poisson’s ratio and the compressive strength of the aluminum foams is greater than that of the polyurethane resin.     

Automated Fast Initial Guess in Digital Image Correlation

A challenging task that has hampered the fully automatic processing of the digital image correlation (DIC) technique is the initial guess when large deformation and rotation are present. In this paper, a robust scheme combining the concepts of a scale‐invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm and an improved random sample consensus (iRANSAC) algorithm is employed to conduct an automated fast initial guess for the DIC technique. The scale‐invariant feature transform algorithm can detect a certain number of matching points from two images even though the corresponding deformation and rotation are large or the images have periodic and identical patterns. After removing the wrong matches with the improved random sample consensus algorithm, the three pairs of closest and non‐collinear matching points serve for the purpose of initial guess calculation. The validity of the technique is demonstrated by both computer simulation and real experiment.