Real-time visualisation of deformation fields using speckle interferometry and temporal phase unwrapping

A real-time system for analysing data from speckle interferometers, and speckle shearing interferometers, has been developed. Interferograms are continuously recorded by a digital camera at a rate of 60 frames s⁻¹ with temporal phase shifting carried out at the same rate. The images are analysed using a pipeline image processor. With a standard 4-frame phase-shifting algorithm (phase steps of π/2), wrapped phase maps are calculated and displayed at 15 frames s⁻¹. These are unwrapped using a temporal phase unwrapping algorithm to provide a real-time colour-coded display of the relevant displacement component. Each camera pixel (or cluster of pixels) behaves in effect as an independent displacement sensor. The reference speckle interferogram is updated automatically at regular user-defined intervals, allowing arbitrarily large deformations to be measured and errors due to speckle decorrelation to be minimised. The system has been applied to the problem of detecting sub-surface delamination cracks in carbon fibre composite panels.     

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.     

Analysis of mechanical vibrations through speckle interferometry: A phase-space approach

The goal of this paper is to determine hidden periodicities (spatial frequencies) into speckles patterns obtained in a diffuser after reflection of an unexpanded laser beam over an aluminum membrane by means of the so-called Wigner Distribution Function (WDF). These spatial frequencies are used to find the temporal frequencies at which the mechanic system is vibrating.     

A microprism array as shearing device for speckle shearing interferometry

In most speckle shearing interferometers image shearing is performed by means of a Michelson interferometer or by means of a wedge prism covering half of the aperture of the camera objective. We present a speckle shearing interferometer which utilizes a microprism array for this purpose. It is placed between the test specimen and the camera. In comparision with a wedge prism it exhibits some advantages: it needs no exact alignment, it works with any camera lens, the shearing distance and direction of shearing can be easily changed by changing position (resp. angular orientation) of the element. Phase stepping for computer evaluation of the speckle shearing interferograms is performed by the translation of the shearing element. A special translation stage was developed. Experimental results are presented. The interferometer is suited for microcomponent and microsystem testing.     

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.     

Evaluation of the 1D empirical mode decomposition method to smooth digital speckle pattern interferometry fringes

The 1D empirical mode decomposition method is applied to reduce speckle noise in the correlation fringes produced in digital speckle pattern interferometry. This method is based on the decomposition of a signal in a sum of well-behaved fast and slow oscillation modes through a sifting process, which generates a fully data-driven technique. Consequently, this is an adaptive approach and the use of basis functions in the analysis process is not required. The denoised signal is given by the residue obtained after the fast oscillation modes are removed. The performance and limitations of the denoising technique are analyzed using computer simulated fringes and these results are compared with those obtained using a wavelet sub-band removal approach. An application of the EMD method to denoise experimental correlation fringes is also presented.     

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.     

Influence of in-plane displacement and strain components on slope fringe distributions in double-aperture speckle wedge-shearing interferometry

The influence of in-plane displacement and strain components on slope (first-order derivative of out-of-plane displacement component) fringe distributions in double-aperture speckle wedge-shearing interferometry is discussed in detail. The research results show that only the in-plane displacement component parallel to the centre line of double apertures has an influence on the slope fringe distributions. It is also shown that the in-plane strain components have no influence on the slope fringe distributions when utilising normal illumination and an axisymmetric system. A theoretical analysis and an experimental demonstration are given. The experimental results are in good agreement with the quantitative analysis.     

Statistics of the self-mixing speckle interference in a laser diode and its application to the measurement of flow velocity

The statistical analysis of self-mixing speckles interference using Fabry-Perot cavity is described based on the theory of the speckle and the self-mixing interference in a laser diode. Speckle signal processing based on Fourier transform is presented in this paper. The linear dependence between the spectrum mean frequency and velocity of solution is given by simulation and proved by experiment. The experimental results show that this speckle signal processing can be used to measure velocity of target.     

基于扫描白光干涉法的表面三维轮廓仪

在强调表面三维形貌测量重要性的基础上 ,介绍了利用扫描白光干涉法测量表面三维微观形貌的原理及三维轮廓仪测量系统的构成。通过给出的几个测量实例 ,反映了该三维轮廓仪的主要特点 ,适合于大范围、高精度、阶梯面的测量。最后分析了影响其测量精度的主要因素。     

Speckle interferometry methods for displacement and strain measurements using photorefractive crystal

Photorefractive crystals offer several attractive features such as high resolution and in situ processing. As the images are erasable, these crystals are suitable for read–write applications and hence find potential use in speckle photography, image processing and holography. The barium titanate (BaTiO₃) crystal as recording medium has been extensively used as a novelty filter for real-time in-plane displacement measurements employing two-beam coupling configuration. This paper presents new optical configurations in speckle shear photography to measure in-plan displacement and the strain in real time using BaTiO₃ crystal as recording medium. Speckle photography studies are made using a simple two-beam coupling configuration. In speckle shear photography, a diffused object illuminated with two parallel narrow laser beams is imaged inside the crystal, and a pump beam is added at this plane. The speckle patterns due to each beam and the pump beam produce index gratings. When the object is deformed, the speckle patterns shift consequently. We now have four speckle fields: two generated from the interaction of pump beam with the index gratings and two pertaining to deformed states directly transmitted through the crystal. Thus, the fields from respective points on the object interfere after passage through the crystal and produce the Young's fringe patterns. Due to strain, the fringes in each pattern are of different width and orientation, resulting in the generation of a Moiré pattern. The strain is obtained from the width and orientation of the fringes in the Moiré pattern. The experiments are conducted on a specimen with a notch, which is subjected to tensile loading. The in-plane displacement is measured separately in another experiment. The above studies are carried out at Nd–Yag laser.     

A method for measuring two-dimensional refractive index distribution with the total internal reflection of p-polarized light and the phase-shifting interferometry

Based on the total internal reflection of p-polarized light and the phase-shifting interferometry, an alternative method for measuring the two-dimensional refractive index distribution of a material is presented. The p-polarized light is incident on the boundary between a right-angle prism and a tested material. When the total internal reflection occurs at the boundary, and the p-polarized light has a phase variation. It depends on the refractive index of the tested material. Firstly, the two-dimensional phase variation distribution of the p-polarized light at the boundary is measured by the four-step phase shifting interferometric technique. Then, substituting the data into the special equations derived from Fresnel equations, the two-dimensional refractive index distribution of the tested material can be obtained.     

Theory and experiment of spatially and temporally partially coherent speckle shearing interferometry

The theory and experiment of spatially and temporally partially coherent speckle shearing interferometry is reported in this rapid communication for the first time. The general requirements for the surface roughness and coherence area of a diffuse object surface in spatially and temporally partially coherent speckle shearing interferometry are discussed. An experimental verification is presented and the results of theory and experiment are in good agreement.     

Characterization of the 3D resolution of topometric sensors based on fringe and speckle pattern projection by a 3D transfer function

The increasing importance of optical 3D measurement techniques and the growing number of available methods and systems require a fast and simple method to characterize the measurement accuracy. However, the conventional approach of comparing measured coordinates to known reference coordinates of a test target faces two major challenges: the precise fabrication of the target and - in case of pattern projecting systems - finding the position of the reference points in the obtained point cloud. The modulation transfer function (MTF) on the other hand is an established instrument to describe the resolution characteristics of 2D imaging systems. Here, the MTF concept is applied to two different topometric systems based on fringe and speckle pattern projection to obtain a 3D transfer function. We demonstrate that in the present case fringe projection provides typically 3.5 times the 3D resolution achieved with speckle pattern projection. By combining measurements of the 3D transfer function with 2D MTF measurements the dependency of 2D and 3D resolutions are characterized. We show that the method allows for a simple comparison of the 3D resolution of two 3D sensors using a low cost test target, which is easy to manufacture.     

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.     

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry deformation measurement on lightweight structures under thermal load

We report on the application of ESPI to measure deformations induced by thermal load on lightweight honeycomb panels for space applications. The panel was mounted isostatically onto a vibration isolated table. A housing for temperature stabilisation was constructed enclosing the panel, heating elements, fans and the ESPI-head made of Invar. Emphasis is put on the quantitative analysis of the deformation of this large object (0.8×0.8 m²) viewed from a relatively short distance of 1.1 m and illuminated sequentially from three non-orthogonal directions. Influences of laser stability, rigid body displacements, temperature inhomogeneities as well as possible deformations of the measurement head are discussed in order to derive the measurement uncertainty and to estimate corrections. Beside the sensitivity vector analysis it is important to take into account the optical light path changes due to temperature changes. Out-of-plane deformation fields of the panel are presented.     

3D deformation and shape measurement using phase-stepping DSPI

A new optical arrangement of phase-stepping digital speckle pattern interferom-etry is presented.The system can be used to measure 3D deformation and shape of a curvesurface simultaneously.The phase at each pixel can be determined by appling phase-steppingtechniques.This not only provides high accurate measurement results,but also permits auto-matic analysis of the experimental data.A speckled object reference beam is used,and itmakes the system has the advantage that the measurements are less sensitive to vibration andwhole body motion.