Some aspects of the optical techniques for strain determination

In a general view, a comparison is made of different optical methods where either photoelastic models, opaque bodies with transparent coatings or noncontacted objects are examinèd with coherent light. Further, it is tried to show that some common features are contained by the three groups. These aspects concern the separation, by controlled determination, of displacement, rotation and strain (or of certain of their components), the multiplication of the optical effects in the detection and the elimination of secondary influences. In particular, the noncontacting method of wavefront reconstruction with double-exposure holograms is discussed and the role of the localization condition for the fringes in space is analyzed. On the other hand, it is illustrated that, besides the generally known birefringence and diffraction. use could be made of nonorthodox effects like rotation of the plane of polarization, second-harmonic generation in nonlinear optics, etc. This may, for instance, contribute to the optical instrumentation when transparent models and bodies with photoelastic coatings are investigated under the above aspects.