Speckle interferometry for measurement of continuous deformations

Improvements of a method for measurement of continuous displacements and deformations with digital phase shifting speckle pattern interferometry are presented. The method is based on an algorithm that, with the knowledge of the initial phase, only needs one image at a time to evaluate continuos phase changes due to object deformations. In the improved method, the initial random phase of the speckle pattern is evaluated using a number of phase-shifted images before the deformation under study. This is used for increasing the accuracy of the initial phase estimation and reducing influences from image noise and other measurement disturbances. The phase-shifted speckle patterns are used as references for comparison with the speckle patterns of the deformed object, thereby increasing the reliability and accuracy of the phase estimations of the deformed patterns. The technique can be used for measuring deformations such as transients and other dynamic events, heat expansion as well as other phenomena where it is difficult to accomplish phase shifting during deformation.     

Polarisation interferometry flying height testing

The in-depth analyses of polarisation interferometry flying height testing are presented. The drawbacks of the oblique incidence polarisation interferometry method are discussed. The application of the dual-beam normal incidence polarisation interferometry method is illustrated. It is shown that with this normal incidence polarisation interferometer, not only the flying height can be measured down to contact without losing accuracy, but the optical parameters of the head-slider can also be determined.     

Deformation field induced by spherical indentation: numerical analysis and experimental measurement by speckle interferometry

The present paper describes an experimental procedure for the measurement of the displacement field around a spherical indentation. The measurements were performed by a speckle interferometer designed for the detection on small areas of one or more oblique components of displacement; the indentations were made by a standard durometer used for metals.The experiments were carried out on a hardened and tempered steel, previously characterized by a standard tensile test; the results are in accordance with the numerical results obtained by an elasto-plastic FEM analysis.     

Adaptive filter for unwrapping noisy phase image in phase-stepping interferometry

An adaptive filter for preprocessing wrapped phase image with high noise content has been developed. The window size of this median filter is adjustable according to its location in the noisy phase image. This size-adjustable median filter has not only high noise-rejection ability, but also both good phase-jump identification and image-detail preservation properties. Phase unwrapping can then be done to recover the real phase image without the hampering influence of noise, especially the noise near the phase jumps. Both numerical simulation and experimental results used to examine the effectiveness of this adaptive filter are presented.     

Signal processing method of phase correction for laser heterodyne interferometry

A novel signal processing method of movement direction identification and phase correction is presented for laser heterodyne interferometry. Based on the reference signal, four intervals with phase difference of 90° each other are set up. The real-time movement direction identification and the integer fringe counting are realized by detecting the times that the rising-edge of the measurement signal crosses the intervals. The phase correction approach is proposed in detail to solve the fraction phase compensation when the initial phase difference is not equal to the zero phase difference. Three experiments of the stability test, the nanometer and micrometer displacement tests on bi-directional movement were performed to demonstrate the usefulness and feasibility of the presented signal processing method.     

Continual deformation analysis with scanning phase method and time sequence phase method in temporal speckle pattern interferometry

If a laser beam illuminates a continual deformation object surface, it will lead to a temporal speckle pattern on the observation plane. Recording this time-dependent speckle pattern the deformation of the surface of an object can be obtained. Two methods, scanning phase method (SPM) and time sequence phase method (TSPM), have been introduced for measuring the displacement caused by the deformation in temporal speckle pattern interferometry (TSPI). Their principle is that by capturing a series of speckle interference patterns related to the object deformations, the fluctuations in the intensity of the interference patterns can be obtained. Through scanning these fluctuations and estimating both the average intensity and modulation of the temporal speckle interference patterns, the phase maps for whole-field displacements are calculated. In this way one is capable of quantitatively measuring continual displacements simply using a conventional electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) system without phase shifting or a carrier. The elaboration on the new methods is given in this paper and experiments are performed to demonstrate their performance with a conventional ESPI system.     

Two-dimensional measurement of laser-induced target movement by face-on interferometry

Initial movement of laser irradiated foil targets has been measured by face-on interferometry with two-dimensional resolution. This interferometric method provides direct and precise information about the initial movement of the rear surface of the target compared with conventional diagnostics. Target movement of 20–500 nm from the original position has been observed.     

Measurement of fiber chromatic dispersion using spectral interferometry with modulation of dispersed laser pulses

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method for fiber dispersion measurement based on the modulation of laser pulses stretched by the fiber under test. The measured spectrum of the modulated pulses is the result of the interference between the stretched pulse spectra shifted by the modulation harmonics. The interference pattern is processed as in Fourier transform spectral interferometry. Unlike to conventional spectral interferometry, environmental conditions do not affect the interferogram due to the lack of any interferometer; additionally, large dispersions can be characterized by the method proposed. Its high accuracy is demonstrated in experimental comparison with the widely used phase shift technique.     

高频聚焦换能器声场的激光测量法

本文描述了一种使用激光测振技术测量高频聚焦换能器声场布的方法，并给出了使用该方法对一种高频聚换能器进行测量的结果，通过理论计算对结果的正确性进行了验证。     

Comparison between instantaneous and integral intensities in dynamic speckle pattern interferometry

A new speckle measurement technique called temporal speckle pattern interferometry or time sequential speckle pattern interferometry has been developed recently. Its principle is that by capturing the temporal speckle patterns related to the object deformation or displacement, the whole-field displacement, the amplitude of the vibrating object and the shape of the tested object can be calculated through speckle intensity fluctuation scanning technique or Fourier-transforming method. In this paper, we combine the analytical and numerical methods to simulate the properties of the time demodulation in temporal speckle patterns interferometry techniques. The performance of three kinds of temporal phase sequences, power, exponential and harmonic phase sequences, are studied with the parameters of temporal speckle intensity fluctuation, the value of the spatial phase term, optical integral time of the recording camera and the initial phase of the temporal speckle intensities. The results indicate that the normalized value and period change of the instantaneous intensity are nearly coincident with that of the integral intensity for the harmonic temporal phase sequences and are different for the power and exponential temporal phase sequences.     

Measurement of sub-surface delaminations in carbon fibre composites using high-speed phase-shifted speckle interferometry and temporal phase unwrapping

A high-speed phase-shifted speckle interferometer has been developed recently for studying dynamic events. Speckle interferograms are continuously recorded by a CCD camera operating at 1 kHz with temporal phase shifting carried out by a Pockels cell running at the same frequency. Temporal phase unwrapping through sequences of more than 1000 frames allows the determination of time-varying absolute displacement maps. This paper presents the application of this speckle interferometry system to the detection and measurement of sub-surface delamination defects in carbon fibre specimens. The influence of re-referencing the temporal phase unwrapping algorithm after different time intervals is analysed to reduce the random phase errors produced by speckle decorrelation and vibration. The performance of several phase-shifting algorithms to minimize the influence of the vibration noise caused by the vacuum pump used to load the specimen is also investigated.     

Feasibility of optical computerized tomography for measuring the species concentration distribution of flow fields

In this paper, the feasibility of using optical computerized tomography (OCT) methods for measuring the distribution of species concentration for flow fields is analyzed and discussed. First, feasible methods are chosen for two or three objects composed flow fields from the perspective of the measurable principle. Second, both common gas and plasma are chosen as two typical examples for specific analysis and discussion. The results show that the feasibility and applicable range of OCT methods are related to the temperature, pressure, and species composition of the measured flow fields. Finally, the study indicates that OCT methods are more suitable for measuring the distribution of species composition for common gas rather than plasma. In a word, this study could be helpful for extending the applicable range of OCT methods, which are based on the measurement of the refractive index.     

Low-cost speckle interferometry for measuring 3D deformation fields: Hardware and software

In the present paper the authors propose a portable and low-cost speckle interferometer for evaluating 3D deformation fields. The interferometer was designed and realized with the aim of carrying out measurements on small areas, hence it can be used to approach problems characterized by displacement field with highly localized gradients, such as the strain relief occurring in residual stress evaluation or the displacements which arise around notches or crack tips. The costs of the experimental equipment were reduced by employing laser diodes as light sources, a PZT actuator designed and calibrated by the authors and a control electronics realized on purpose. Moreover the configuration which was adopted allows further saving on optical components. The experimental results reported at the end of the paper, and obtained by a specimen subjected to 3D rigid body motions, show a high repeatability and accuracy. Furthermore the experimental results have shown that the geometry of the optical setup implies the variation of the sensitivity vectors on the inspected area, but this effect can be evaluated (analytically and/or experimentally) and taken into account in order to increase the accuracy of the measurements.     

Measurement of parallelism of the surfaces of a transparent sample

An interferometric method for the measurement of parallelism of the end faces of a transparent material is described. It is based on the measurement of fringe displacement caused by the wedge angle of the material by using the Lau effect.     

THz laser field effect on the optical properties of cylindrical quantum well wires

The oscillator strength and the linear and third order nonlinear refractive index changes of a cylindrical quantum well wire under intense non-resonant laser field have been investigated within the effective mass-approximation by using a finite element method. We found that the laser amplitude, the incident light and the intersubband relaxation time have an important influence on the refractive index changes.     

Speckle interferometry, fibre optic sensors and laser induced ultrasounds as solutions to industrial demands

Industrial operators have been taking interest in optical diagnostics through years. Optical methods are mainly well appreciated for their attitude to be used as non-contact and non-invasive techniques. The paper presents three examples of applications carried-out by researchers of Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano (CESI) in collaboration with people working in industrial fields. The first part shows the applications of speckle interferometry to measure residual stresses in association with the traditional blind-hole drilling, while the second part presents the installation of fibre optic sensors in a power plant for monitoring possible overheating to avoid fires and finally the last presentation outlines a particular application in the field of laser generated ultrasounds that is the monitoring of the variation of ultrasonic speed propagation due to residual stresses.     

Comparison of the laser ablation process on Zn and Ti using pulsed digital holographic interferometry

Pulsed digital holographic interferometry has been used to compare the laser ablation process of a Q-switched Nd-YAG laser pulse (wavelength 1064 nm, pulse duration 12 ns) on two different metals (Zn and Ti) under atmospheric air pressure. Digital holograms were recorded for different time delays using collimated laser light (532 nm) passed through the volume along the target. Numerical data of the integrated refractive index field were calculated and presented as phase maps. Intensity maps were calculated from the recorded digital holograms and are used to calculate the attenuation of the probing laser beam by the ablated plume. The different structures of the plume, namely streaks normal to the surface for Zn in contrast to absorbing regions for Ti, indicates that different mechanisms of laser ablation could happen for different metals for the same laser settings and surrounding gas. At a laser fluence of 5 J/cm², phase explosion appears to be the ablation mechanism in case of Zn, while for Ti normal vaporization seems to be the dominant mechanism.     

Measurement of impurity and temperature variations in water by interferometry technique

Refractive index is an important optical parameter of liquids, which is temperature, concentration and wavelength-dependent. Therefore, precise measurement of refractive index variation can be used for precise determination of the above parameters. In this paper a laser-based interferometry technique was introduced for accurate measuring of the refractive index variation due to temperature, and concentration changes. Distilled water was used as a test liquid sample, however the technique can be applied for any similar liquids. The concentration variations of distilled water due to three different impurities i.e. ethanol, salt water and tap water were examined. The technique gives measurement for concentration and temperature variations typically at the order ∼10⁻⁴(g/l)⁻¹ and 10⁻⁵ K⁻¹ respectively. The results show the variations of refractive index with respect to temperature or concentration can be measured typically with an accuracy of ∼6%, and 10% respectively. The method is useful for fast and precise monitoring of temperature and concentration variations in transparent liquids.     

Volume-grating phase-shifting digital speckle pattern interferometry used for measurement of out-of-plane displacement field

A new digital speckle pattern interferometry, called volume-grating phase-shifting digital speckle pattern interferometry, is discussed in this paper. The out-of-plane displacement field of a bent plate can be quantitatively measured using volume-grating phase-shifting digital speckle pattern interferometry proposed in this paper. Theoretical and experimental results, as well as absolute errors, are given.