Two new optical techniques to measure strain

A grating engraved on the surface to be analyzed is utilized to measure strain. The grating is illuminated by a monochromatic, plane wavefront. A lens produces the diffraction spectrum of the grating, and an opaque screen is located in the plane of the spectrum. A window allows a single diffraction order to go through the screen. Two techniques are presented. In the point-by-point technique, the illuminating wavefront is reduced to a very small area. Behind the window a light sensor detects the changes of light intensity that are produced by loading the specimen. In the field technique, an image of the specimen is produced, and the light sensor is located in the image plane. In both cases, changes of light intensity are related to strains. Using crossed gratings, a rosette strain gage is obtained. Examples of application of both techniques are presented, showing a very good agreement between the strains measured by the proposed methods and by independent means.