Development of Optimal Multiscale Patterns for Digital Image Correlation via Local Grayscale Variation

In many applications of digital image correlation (DIC), it is advantageous to have measurements at multiple scales. Because it is rare to have natural features that can be used for DIC at multiple magnifications, an appropriately multiscale DIC pattern is needed. This work develops a multiscale DIC pattern that (1) contains features appropriate for both high and low magnification, (2) does not need to know the location of high magnification a priori, and (3) does not require specialized DIC equipment beyond what is necessary to achieve the two magnifications. The pattern is developed based on an optimization framework that minimizes expected DIC error while constraining sub-regions of the pattern to biased average grayscale values. The inclusion of local grayscale biases in the pattern has the effect of introducing resolvable features at a length scale much larger than the speckles of which the pattern is composed. Numerical and physical experiments were performed to illustrate the functionality and utility of the designed patterns. Notable among the findings is the trade off between DIC accuracy at the two scales and how it is controlled by grayscale bias.     

A Review of Speckle Pattern Fabrication and Assessment for Digital Image Correlation

As a carrier of deformation information, the speckle pattern, or more exactly the random intensity distributions, which could be naturally occurred or artificially fabricated onto test samples’ surface, plays an indispensable role in digital image correlation (DIC). It is now well recognized that the accuracy and precision in DIC measurements not only rely on correlation algorithms, but also depend highly on the quality of the speckle pattern. Considering the huge diversity in test materials, spatial scales and experimental conditions, speckle pattern fabrication could be a challenging issue facing DIC practitioners. To obtain good speckle patterns suitable for DIC measurements, some key issues of fabrication methods and quality assessment of speckle patterns must be well addressed. To this end, this review systematically presents the speckle pattern classification and fabrication techniques for various samples and scales, as well as some typical quality assessment metrics.     

白光散斑相关法多尺度分析Portevin-Le Chatelier剪切带变形

在适当的温度、应变率或预变形下,合金材料的拉伸试验中,将会出现伴随雪崩式剪切变形带的锯齿形塑性失稳、即PLC(Portevin-Le Chatelier)效应。本文利用图像相关求位移场的方法,对恒定加载应变率下(10-4/s),拉伸铝合金(A2017)试件时出现的PLC效应从宏观剪切带变形到微观晶粒变形等多尺度进行了观察和定量化的分析。通过对PLC效应发生时采集的试件表面的白光散斑图进行相关运算,得到试件表面剪切变形区域各点的精细位移,并在此基础上计算出剪切带区域的应变分布及剪切带的宽度。实验结果显示,当PLC效应发生时,剪切带区域的应变曲线呈台阶型,带的前后边缘应变梯度较大,中间近似呈平台状,带外区域应变值接近零,塑性拉伸变形主要集中在带内。     

数字图像相关方法中散斑图的质量评价研究

在利用数字图像相关方法测量物体表面变形时,被测物体表面必需覆盖有灰度随机分布的散斑场,该散斑场作为试件表面变形信息的载体随试件一起变形。在实际情况下,不同的散斑场会显示出完全不同的灰度分布特征,并对数字图像相关方法的测量结果有着重要影响。因此如何定量评价散斑图的优劣是数字图像相关方法中一个重要的基本问题,也是该方法的使用者非常关心的问题。基于最近数字图像相关方法基本理论研究的进展,本文提出平均灰度梯度这一新参数用于散斑图质量的评价。为证实该参数的有效性,本文对五幅明显不同的散斑图进行了精确平移,并将数字图像相关方法测量的位移与预加的平移量进行比较,分析了位移测量结果的均值误差和标准差。结果显示位移测量结果的均值误差和标准差均与散斑图的平均灰度梯度有关,一个好的散斑图应该具有较大的平均灰度梯度。     

Cross Polarization for Improved Digital Image Correlation

Digital image correlation (DIC) is a surface deformation measurement technique for which accuracy and precision are sensitive to image quality. This work presents cross polarization, the use of orthogonal linear polarizers on light source(s) and camera(s), as an effective method for improving optical DIC measurements. The benefits of cross polarization are characterized through quantitative and statistical comparisons from two experiments: rigid body translation of a flat sample and uniaxial tension of a superelastic shape-memory alloy (SMA). In both experiments, cross polarization eliminated saturated pixels that degrade DIC measurements, and increased image contrast, which enabled higher spatial precision by using smaller subsets. Subset sizes are usually optimized for correlation confidence interval (typically with subsets of 21×21 px or larger), but can be decreased to achieve the highest possible spatial precision at the expense of increased correlation confidence intervals. Smaller subset sizes (such as 9×9 px) require better images to maintain correlation within error thresholds. By comparing DIC results from a uniaxial SMA tension test with unpolarized and cross-polarized images, we show that for 9×9 px subsets, the loss of valid DIC data points was reduced almost ten-fold with cross polarization. The only disadvantage we see to cross polarization is the decrease in specimen illumination due to transmission losses through the polarizers, which can easily be accommodated with sufficiently intense light sources. With the installation of relatively inexpensive linear polarizing filters, an optimum optical DIC setup can provide even better DIC measurements by delivering images without saturated pixels and with higher contrast for increased DIC spatial precision.     

Combining Image Compression with Digital Image Correlation

Experimental Mechanics - Digital image correlation (DIC) is a powerful experimental technique to determine displacement and strain fields. DIC methods usually require a large number of high...     

Augmented Lagrangian Digital Image Correlation

Experimental Mechanics - Digital image correlation (DIC) is a powerful experimental technique for measuring full-field displacement and strain. The basic idea of the method is to compare images of...     

Digital Image Correlation and Color Cameras

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a well-known experimental technique. It works by constructing a (surjective) mapping of pixel intensity from reference to target image, where the mapping parameters are identified using a Least Squares approach. Because it makes use of the luminance component of the image, Digital Image Correlation is usually implemented by assuming monochrome cameras. In this work, we will discuss its implementation when color cameras are used, focusing on pitfalls and potential advantages of this solution. Since most cameras implement color acquisition using a Color Filter Array (CFA), much of the article will focus on this technology. However, we will not limit ourselves to this aspect and will show that Three-CCD cameras can provide significant advantages over both CFA and monochrome cameras.     

Recent Progress in Digital Image Correlation

In this paper, we report the following important progress recently made in the basic theory and practical implementation of digital image correlation (DIC) for deformation measurement. First, we answer a basic but confusing question to the users of DIC: what is a good speckle pattern for DIC? We present a simple, easy-to-compute yet effective global parameter, called mean intensity gradient, for quality assessment of the entire speckle pattern. Second, we provide an overview of various correlation criteria used in DIC for evaluating the similarity of the reference and deformed subsets, and demonstrate the equivalence of three robust and most widely used correlation criteria, i.e., a zero-mean normalized cross-correlation (ZNCC) criterion, a zero-mean normalized sum of squared difference (ZNSSD) criterion and a parametric zero-mean normalized sum of squared difference (PSSD_ab) criterion with two additional unknown parameters, which elegantly unifies these correlation criteria for subset-based pattern matching. Third, we describe an iterative least squares (ILS) algorithm for accurate subpixel motion detection, which is proved to be equivalent to the existing Newton–Raphson algorithm, but the principle and implementation of ILS algorithm is more straightforward and easier. Finally, to overcome the two limitations of existing subset-based DIC technique, we introduce a robust and generally applicable reliability-guided DIC technique, in which the calculation path is guided by the ZNCC coefficients of computed points, to determine the genuine full-field deformation of an object with complex shape.     

Digital Image Correlation for Specimens with Multiple Growing Cracks

Measuring the surface displacements of specimens having multiple, growing cracks is difficult with most implementations of the digital image correlation (DIC) method. This difficulty arises from the need to exclude the cracked area from the analysis, a process that oftentimes requires significant and time-consuming user input to achieve successful results. This work presents a set of modifications to the Newton–Raphson based DIC process that allows the method to automatically analyze specimens with multiple growing cracks. The modifications combine a relatively simple crack identification process that takes advantage of the consistency of quasi-regular speckle patterns with a method to reestablish the analysis in areas segregated by the crack growth. The use of a regular dot pattern does, however, introduce a greater chance for registration error in the correlation process. A method to minimize possible registration problems is also presented. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is demonstrated using images of concrete specimens with a complex and growing crack pattern.     

橡胶材料弹性模量数字图像相关测定法

利用数字图像相关方法测量了小应变下柔性橡胶的弹性模量.用CCD相机记录单轴压缩实验中圆柱体橡胶试样表面人工散斑图像,作为数字图像相关测量技术中的变形信息载体.分析了镜头畸变对位移测量的影响,运用数字图像相关法得出小应变范围内像胶的应力应变曲线,计算出橡胶的弹性模量.并与采用千分表所得到的结果进行了比较,两者符合较好.实...     

Digital Image Correlation Using Stochastic Parallel-Gradient-Descent Algorithm

This article proposes a digital image correlation (DIC) method based on the stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. Stochastic parallel perturbations are imposed on deformation parameters to make the correlation coefficients converge to a global extremum; thus, this allows the final measured values of the deformation parameters to be obtained and the DIC measurement to be made. Both simulated and real data processing, including rigid body and strain deformation, show that the proposed method can achieve nearly the same accuracy as the Newton–Raphson (NR) method in most cases and higher accuracy in some cases, such as the simulated experiments of rigid body translation with and without noise. It also has a good noise-robustness. Furthermore, a series of experiments have been designed to evaluate the convergence characteristics of the proposed method, and it has been proved able to process large displacement and have a stable convergence process, good robustness, and a high convergence speed when bilinear interpolation is adopted.     

Digital Image Correlation with Self-Adaptive Gaussian Windows

A novel subpixel registration algorithm with Gaussian windows is put forward for accurate deformation measurement in digital image correlation technique. Based on speckle image quality and potential deformation states, this algorithm can automatically minimize the influence of subset sizes by self-adaptively tuning the Gaussian window shapes with the aid of a so-called weighted sum-of-squared difference correlation criterion. Numerical results of synthetic speckle images undergoing in-plane sinusoidal displacement fields demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve displacement and strain measurement accuracy especially in the case with relatively large deformation.     

网格数字图像相关方法测量位移场的研究

本文将数字图像相关方法与古老的网格法相结合,给出了一种测量面内位移场的新方法——网格数字图像相关方法,实现了高精度的测量,精度可达0.02亚像素．在该方法中网格点采用圆标记点,使该方法特别适用于小线应变位移场的研测．本文运用Windows下的新的图像采集方法测量物体位移场,突破了Dos系统下对内存操作的限制,并使每一帧图像的像素数由512×512增至768×576,提高了图形的分辨率．     

Diffraction Assisted Image Correlation: A Novel Method for Measuring Three-Dimensional Deformation using Two-Dimensional Digital Image Correlation

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provides a full-field non-contact optical method for accurate deformation measurement of materials, devices and structures. The measurement of three-dimensional (3D) deformation using DIC in general requires imaging with two cameras and a 3D-DIC code. In the present work, a new experimental technique, namely, Diffraction Assisted Image Correlation (DAIC) for 3D displacement measurement using a single camera and 2D-DIC algorithm is presented. A transmission diffraction grating is placed between the specimen and the camera, resulting in multiple images which are then used to obtain apparent in-plane displacements using 2D-DIC. The true in-plane and out-of-plane displacements of the specimen are obtained from the apparent in-plane displacements and the diffraction angle of the grating. The validity and accuracy of the DAIC method are demonstrated through 3D displacement measurement of a small thin membrane. This technique provides new avenues for performing 3D deformation measurements at small length scales and/or dynamic loading conditions.     

Absolute Nodal Coordinates in Digital Image Correlation

A great deal of progress has been made in recent years in the field of global digital image correlation (DIC), where higher-order, element-based approaches were proposed to improve the interpolation performance and to better capture the displacement fields. In this research, another higher-order, element-based DIC procedure is introduced. Instead of the displacements, the elements’ global nodal positions and nodal position-vector gradients, defined according to the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, are used as the searched parameters of the Newton–Raphson iterative procedure. For the finite elements, the planar isoparametric plates with 24 nodal degrees of freedom are employed to ensure the gradients’ continuity among the elements. As such, the presented procedure imposes no linearization on the strain measure, and therefore indicates a natural consistency with the nonlinear continuum theory. To verify the new procedure and to show its advantages, a real large deformation experiment and several numerical tests on the computer-generated images are studied for the standard, low-order, element-based digital image correlation and the presented procedure. The results show that the proposed procedure proves to be accurate and reliable for describing the rigid-body movement and simple deformations, as well as for determining the continuous finite strain field of a real specimen.     

Digital Image Correlation for Improved Detection of Basal Cell Carcinoma

Border detection is a critical aspect during removal of a basal cell carcinoma tumor. Since the tumor is only 3% to 50% as stiff as the healthy skin surrounding it, strain concentrates in the tumor during deformation. Here we develop a digital image correlation (DIC) technique for improved lateral border detection based upon the strain concentrations associated with the stiffness difference of healthy and cancerous skin. Gelatin skin phantoms and pigskin specimens are prepared with compliant inclusions of varying shapes, sizes, and stiffnesses. The specimens with inclusions as well as several control specimens are loaded under tension, and the full-field strain and displacement fields measured by DIC. Significant strain concentrations develop around the compliant inclusions in gelatin skin phantoms, enabling detection of the tumor border to within 2% of the actual border. At a lower magnification, the lateral border between a pigskin/inclusion interface is determined within 23% of the border. Strain concentrations are identified by DIC measurements and associated with the lateral edges of the compliant inclusions. The experimental DIC protocol developed for model specimens has potential as a tool to aid in more accurate detection of basal cell carcinoma borders.     

Modal Analysis Using a Virtual Speckle Pattern Based Digital Image Correlation Method: An Application for an Artificial Flapping Wing

Experimental Mechanics - A conventional three-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) based on painted speckle patterns has been used widely as a non-contact measurement method to study modal...     

数字图像相关分析法增量位移场测试技术

利用位移场的连续性,对亚像素位移场的算法进行了一些改进,设计了一套分步计算位移场、应变场的测量计算方法,较好地解决了数字图像相关分析法计算精度和效率.采用增量位移场叠加的方法计算大应变位移场,采用局部平面拟合的方法计算应变场.通过对高分子材料拉伸试验位移场的测量和结果标定,说明该方法具有较强的实用性和计算精度.同时,由于避免了对亚像素点的搜索,大大提高了计算效率.