Automatic fringe analysis for moiré topography

Two digital systems are developed for the automatic measurement of 3-D shapes using moiré techniques—an automatic 3-D shape measuring system using the scanning moiré method and an interactive fringe analysing system for moiré fringe photographs. In the automatic 3-D shape measuring system, a deformed grating is scanned and sampled with an electronic image scanning device so that moiré fringes are generated in a computer. This technique of electronic fringe generation eliminates ambiguity with regard to the sign of the moiré fringes. The interactive fringe analyser provides a flexible and versatile tool for moiré fringe analysis. Medical applications of these analysing systems are discussed.     

Phase shifting nano-moiré method with scanning tunneling microscope

In this paper, a new nano-moiré method using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is proposed. This method is capable of measuring nanoscopic deformation of matter. The formation mechanism of the STM moiré fringe and the phase shifting technique used in STM moiré fringes are explained in details. Typical experiments are conducted with the crystal lattices of freshly cleaved highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, are used as specimen grating, to generate STM moiré fringe patterns. Phase shifting is realized in four steps from 0 to 2π by controlling the PZT in the STM system to shift the specimen in the vertical direction. This method provides a new way for disposal of moiré fringes pattern in the nano-moiré measurement.     

Analysis of moiré fringes for measuring the focal length of lenses

We describe a technique based on fast Fourier transform and least-squares fit for automated analysis of moiré fringe patterns for accurately measuring the focal length of lenses. An interference fringe pattern is produced by a reflective diffraction grating interferometer and illuminates the test lens. Moiré fringes are generated by digitally superimposing the magnified fringe pattern imaged by the lens on the interference fringe pattern without the test lens. We analyze two common ways to generate the digital moiré effect: multiplication and subtraction with successive rectification of the two digitally stored intensity distributions, and we show that in the latter case by means of the described technique it is possible to determine the moiré spatial frequency by a simple and fully automated procedure.     

Application of moiré method to the study of plastic deformation processes

The moiré method can be broadly applied in metal forming processes. Many moiré fringe patterns of plastic working processes have been obtained. Based on this information, the principle of flowing metal and the distribution of strain and stress have also been obtained. These results should help us to improve the metal forming processes.     

Localisation of fringes in moiré topography

The moiré pattern produced by two separate gratings is characterised by a fringe localisation phenomenon. A theory based on the geometric shadow of light can account for the spatial location of moiré fringes in topographical applications. The fringe location depends on the optical arrangement of the system and also on the surface slope of the specimen. Experimental results are introduced into practical usage.     

Flow visualization by an improved double exposure method in holography

Some optical differential interferometric techniques were investigated in order to measure the density distribution in the air jet flow of a small scale flow cell while excluding the effects of the optical distortion of its glass windows. A technique using moiré fringe formation by rotating the reference wave in one exposure of the double exposure method was found to be most suitable for this purpose. High contrast and multiplication of moiré fringes can be obtained by a moiré fringe sharpening and multiplication method.     

Investigation of dynamic displacements of lithographic press rubber roller by time average geometric moiré

Geometric moiré fringe formation method is a classical well-established experimental technique with numerous practical applications. This paper proposes the application of time-average geometric moiré analysis for the determination of dynamic displacements of the lithographic press rubber roller. This optical measurement technique is a natural extension of double-exposure geometric moiré for the identification of dynamic displacements of vibrating elastic structures. Experimental investigations prove the validity and effective practical applicability of the method.     

The application of automatic fringe analysis in fracture mechanics

The likelihood of propagation of a crack in a metallic plate under load can be assessed by evaluating an energy-based contour integral, the J integral, for the loaded specimen. Calculation of the integral requires that the local stresses in the specimen are known. These stresses can be obtained practically by the use of strain gauges or by moiré fringe methods. This paper describes a semi-automatic, computer vision-based method of calculating the J integral when moiré fringe methods are used to evaluate the stresses in the specimen.     

Moiré fringes

This review paper clarifies the characteristics of the incoherent-and-multiplicative type moiré fringe phenomenon, presents examples of the application of these characteristics to measurement and explains the profile prediction method and the sharpening conditions of moiré fringes formed by two binary gratings.     

Frozen strain moiré used in the analysis of impact loading

This paper presents a solution to the problem of the displacement fields and strains in a semi-infinite plate with two half-circular holes during the propagation of a stress wave. The solution was realized experimentally by means of the method of the frozen strain moiré using a double-pulse ruby laser. The load of impact was applied by a pendulum hammer. Two suitable external-trigger mechanisms were used to fire the ruby laser at predetermined intervals. The moiré fringe patterns of the U and V displacement fields were recorded on a holographic film adhered to the specimen at different time delays after impact.     

Holographic implementation of holographic moiré inspection

Implementation of holographic moiré inspection is demonstrated using one hologram to project the reference grating and a further hologram to produce moiré patterns. Well contrasted moiré fringes are obtained. Results of calibration tests are reported and an example of object contouring is presented.     

Moiré topography in odontology

For several decades, measurement of optical techniques has been used in different branches of science and technology. One of these techniques is the so-called moiré topography (MT) that enables the accurate measurement of different parts of the human body topography. This investigation presents the measurement of topographies of teeth and gums using an automated system of shadow moiré and the phase shift method in an original way. The fringe patterns used to compute the shape and the shape matrix itself are presented in the article. The phase shift method ensures precisions up to the order of microns. Advantages and disadvantages of using the MT are included. Besides, some positive and negative aspects concerned with the implementation of this technique in odontology are shown in the article.     

Realization of high sensitivity displacement field from moiré interferometer with rough phase shifting mechanism and pattern matching technique

In this study, phase shifting method is used to modify moiré system into micro moiré interferometer which can measure displacement field with highly improved sensitivity. Apart from existing micro moiré technique, a low cost and less precise translation stage with rough resolution (10 μm resolution) is adapted for the phase shifter. Least square algorithm is applied to estimate the arbitrary phase shifted amount and to minimize the errors induced by lowering the cost. Moreover, specimen grating is phase shifted instead of reference grating which enables simple construction from given moiré system. To compensate for rigid body in-plane translation of specimen that may occur during phase shifting, pattern matching algorithm is put into practice to ensure pixel correspondence for each phase shifted images. To verify the newly constructed micro moiré technique, local displacement fields of Fine pitch Ball Grid Array package and Wafer Level Chip Size Package with elevated sensitivity up to 26 nm per fringe was acquired.     

A moiré method of visualizing electromagnetic force lines

We propose a simple moiré method of visualizing electromagnetic force lines. The indicial equation is first derived for the tangent (or normal) curve to the electric field (or magnetic induction) around two parallel-line charges (or currents). The derived equation is then shown to have a one-to-one correspondence with that of the moiré fringe formed by two overlapped radial gratings. Since the tangent (or normal) curve to the electric field (or the magnetic induction) corresponds to the direction of the electric (or magnetic) force on a test charge (or current), the radial grating moirés can be used for the visualization of electric (or magnetic) force lines.     

Interpretation of fringes produced by time average reflection moiré on a circular disk

Inverse problem of reconstruction of dynamic displacements from the fringe pattern generated by time average reflection moiré is investigated in this paper. A technique for numerical simulation of time average smoothed reflection moiré fringes is proposed. The smoothing procedure is incorporated into the finite element formulation of the problem. Reconstruction of the field of deflections is illustrated for a centrally clamped disk. Such techniques can be effectively exploited in hybrid numerical–experimental procedures for different objects and grating geometries.     

Computer Aided Moiré Methods

Computer aided moiré methods (CAMM) use the versatility of the computer to manipulate gratings rapidly, the basis of all moiré methods. Application of CAMM to moiré teaching, in-plane moiré, shadow and projection moiré and reflection moiré are reviewed in this paper.     

Geometric micron-moiré

A high spatial resolution and high-sensitivity geometric micron-moiré method is presented. The method is based upon classical geometric moiré method and microscopic principle, the frequency of the specimen and reference gratings used in this method can be higher than 1000 lines/mm. By a microscopic moiré system, the high-frequency gratings could be magnified to a low-frequency level, so geometric moiré patterns can be formed. Experiments show that both the spatial resolution and the sensitivity can reach or exceed micron-level.     

Moiré fringes in metrology

Moiré fringe phenomena have been exploited in a wide range of transducers, particularly in the field of engineering metrology. Paying particular attention to developments which have taken place during the last 15 years, the paper presents a cross-section of moiré techniques for the measurement of displacement, surface topography, deformation, vibration and refractive index gradient.     

Monitoring/measurement of out-of-plane vibrations using shearing interferometry and interferometric grating

In this paper, an application of shear plate interferometry combined with moiré readout to monitor/measure out-of-plane vibrations is presented. Moiré fringes are produced between the fringe pattern from the shear plate and interferometric grating recorded by photographing the interference pattern generated from the shear plate. It is demonstrated that the method can be used to study periodic and non-periodic vibrations.