Double-pulse electronic speckle interferometry for vibration analysis

Dynamic parallel phase-shifting electronic speckle pattern interferometer

Methods for measuring variations in diffuse surfaces using electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) are widely used and well known. In this research, we present an out-of-plane ESPI system coupled to a Michelson configuration to generate simultaneous parallel interferograms with different phase shifts. The system uses circular polarization states to generate parallel phase shifted interferograms. Due to the polarization states, the fringes do not experience a contrast reduction, thus avoiding measurement errors that affect spatial or temporal phase-shifting in interferometry. The basic operating principle of polarization modulation is described, and results that represent the temporal evolution of an aluminum plate are presented. The generation of two simultaneous patterns allows one to track the dynamic performance of the plate.

One-shot phase stepping with a pulsed laser and modulation of polarization: application to speckle interferometry

For applications involving time varying optical phase distributions, fast cameras and/or pulsed lasers have to be used. To apply phase-shifting interferometry techniques (PSI) as well, single shot capture is required. Among others, modulation of polarization and phase grating interferometry is a possible technique to be considered. In this paper, a report about the use of this technique based on a double pulse laser system is presented. Single-pulse and twin-pulse operations are considered both in optical interferometers as well as in ESPI systems (mainly in subtraction mode). In ESPI a reduction of the degree of polarization appears due to scattering, so some measures have to be taken to prevent such deletereous effect. To show the feasibility of the proposed variants some experimental results are presented.

From speckle pattern photography to digital holographic interferometry [Invited]

Speckles are inherently an interference phenomenon produced when an optically rough surface or a turbulent medium introduces some degree of randomness to a reflected or a transmitted electromagnetic field. Speckles are often nuisance in coherent image formation. Speckle patterns are however a useful tool for displacement and deformation as well as vibration and stress analysis. The development of speckle photography to speckle interferometry and digital holographic interferometry is described in this paper.

Double-exposure phase calculation method in electronic speckle pattern interferometry based on holographic object illumination

Multiple-exposure phase calculation procedures are widely used in electronic speckle pattern interferometry to calculate phase maps of displacements. We developed a double-exposure process based on holographic illumination of the object and the idea of the spatial carrier phase-shifting method to examine transient displacements. In our work, computer-generated holograms and a spatial light modulator were used to generate proper coherent illuminating masks. In this adjustment all phase-shifted states were at our disposal from one recorded speckle image for phase calculation. This technique can be used in the large scale of transient measurements. In this paper we illustrate the principle through several examples.

Measurement of transient deformations using digital image correlation method and high-speed photography: application to dynamic fracture

The digital image correlation method is extended to the study of transient deformations such as the one associated with a rapid growth of cracks in materials. A newly introduced rotating mirror type, multichannel digital high-speed camera is used in the investigation. Details of calibrating the imaging system are first described, and the methodology to estimate and correct inherent misalignments in the optical channels are outlined. A series of benchmark experiments are used to determined the accuracy of the measured displacements. A 2%-6% pixel accuracy in displacement measurements is achieved. Subsequently, the method is used to study crack growth in edge cracked beams subjected to impact loading. Decorated speckle patterns in the crack tip vicinity at rates of 225,000 frames per second are registered. Two sets of images are recorded, one before the impact and another after the impact. Using the image correlation algorithms developed for this work, the entire crack tip deformation history, from the time of impact to complete fracture, is mapped. The crack opening displacements are then analyzed to obtain the history of failure characterization parameter, namely, the dynamic stress intensity factor. The measurements are independently verified successfully by a complementary numerical analysis of the problem.

Three-wavelength electronic speckle pattern interferometry with the Fourier-transform method for simultaneous measurement of microstructure-scale deformations in three dimensions

We present the simultaneous measurement of three-dimensional deformations by electronic speckle pattern interferometry using five object beams and three colors. Each color, corresponding to an orthogonal direction of displacement, is separated through dichroic filtering before being recorded by a separate CCD camera. Carrier fringes are introduced by tilting the beam path in one arm of each of the three interferometers. The measured deformation modulates these carrier fringes and is extracted using the Fourier-transform method to achieve high displacement sensitivity. The field of view is on the order of a millimeter, making the system suitable for study of microstructural deformations. We compare experimental results with calculated values to validate out-of-plane and in-plane deformation measurements and demonstrate sensitivity on the order of 10 nm.

Deformation-phase measurement of diffuse objects that have started nonrepeatable dynamic deformation

We have developed what we believe is a new technique for obtaining a whole-field image representing the deforming amounts of a diffuse object. The object is supposedly continuously deforming and does not stop deforming during the measurement. This technique uses arccosine operations to extract the absolute, not signed, value of the phase. We assume that a right-phase change retains almost the same value in a small local area. This retention determines the sign of the phase and consequently the value of the phase change. The deformation phase during any term of the deforming process is shown as a map through the temporal-phase unwrapping of the calculated phase.

Pulsed digital holographic interferometry for dynamic measurement of rotating objects with an optical derotator

A method for measuring dynamic deformations of rotating objects with pulsed digital holography is described. An optical derotator is used to compensate for the rotation. A CCD camera is used to record two holograms with a short time separation (20 mus). Results of deformations between the recordings are obtained after subtraction of the phase distribution between the two digital holograms. Fringe phase maps of the phase subtraction of two holograms compensated by the derotator and recorded with a Q-switched double-pulsed ruby laser are presented. A flat disk and the blades of a fan were investigated. We used an optical arrangement that allowed us to improve laser illumination and energy efficiency. Experimental results on quantitative evaluation of dynamical out-of-plane deformations are presented.

Phase evaluation of speckle patterns during continuous deformation by use of phase-shifting speckle interferometry

A method for measurement of continuous displacements that uses phase-shifting speckle interferometry is presented. The initial random phase of the speckle pattern is evaluated by phase shifting before deformation. The changing phase thereafter is evaluated from only one image at a time by a least-squares algorithm. The technique can be used for measuring transients and other dynamic events, heat expansion as well as other phenomena, for which it is difficult to accomplish phase shifting during deformation. Theory along with computer simulations and experimental results are described.

Simultaneous three-dimensional dynamic deformation measurements with pulsed digital holography

The three deformation components x, y, z of a vibrating object are measured simultaneously by use of digital holography with a double-pulse ruby laser source. The object is illuminated from three different directions, each optically path matched with three reference beams such that three independent digital holograms are formed and added incoherently in one single CCD image. The optical phase difference between the two recordings taken for each hologram is quantitatively evaluated by the Fourier-transform method so that a set of three phase maps is obtained, representing the deformation along three sensitivity vectors. The total object deformation is obtained as a vector resultant from the data of the three phase maps. To give the full three-dimensional (3-D) description, the shape of the object is measured by the two-wavelength contouring method. Experiments are performed with a cylinder as the test object, transiently and harmonically excited. The 3-D deformation and shape measurement results are presented graphically.

Transient Deformation Measurement by Double-Pulsed-Subtraction TV Holography and the Fourier Transform Method

We report the measurement of transient bending waves with double-pulsed-subtraction TV holography. The correlation fringe patterns are automatically quantitatively analyzed by the application of Fourier methods. A novel optical setup with two different object-beam optical paths is demonstrated for the generation of carrier fringes. The proposed system is highly immune to environmental disturbances because the optical setup imposes no lower limit on the time separation between laser pulses. One removes the linear phase distribution due to the spatial carrier in the spatial domain by subtracting the phase of the undeformed carrier fringes from the phase of the modulated fringes. Experimental results obtained with an aluminum plate excited by the impact of a piezoelectric translator are presented.

Phase evaluation and speckle averaging in pulsed television holography

Double-pulsed (image-plane) TV holograms of transient bending waves in plates are recorded on separate frames in a CCD camera. A small angular offset between the reference and object beams, giving a spatial-frequency bias to the recorded pattern, permits quantitative evaluation of the phase of the interference. The Fourier spectrum of the image exhibits distinct parts that can be filtered out and inverse transformed to yield the phase information. Three different apertures of the imaging system are tested: a single slit, a double slit, and a three-hole aperture. Spatial speckle averaging is possible in the cases of the double-slit and three-hole apertures.

Study of transient deformations with pulsed TV holography: application to crack detection

We report the measurement of reproducible transient deformations with single-pulsed-subtraction and double-pulsed-addition TV holography with both in-plane and out-of-plane optical configurations. An original synchronization system (controlling mechanical excitation of the object, firing the laser pulses, and image acquisition) used to obtain the subtraction and the addition correlation fringes is described. Experimental results are presented for the propagation of mechanical shock waves in a cantilever specimen and their subsequent diffraction by a crack in the specimen. These preliminary results show that the technique may be used for crack detection.

Simultaneous measurement of three orthogonal components of displacement by electronic speckle-pattern interferometry and the Fourier transform method

The measurement of three-dimensional displacement by electronic speckle-pattern interferometry with three object beams and one reference beam is presented. Multiple interference fringes corresponding to different sensitivity vectors are recorded in a single interferogram and separated by means of the Fourier transform method to give three components of displacement. The relationship between the ratio of the speckle size to the pixel size of a TV camera and the measurement error is investigated experimentally and compared with the research of others. The optimum condition leading to a minimum measurement error occurs when the speckle size is approximately equal to the pixel size. With this condition satisfied, the measurement error varies from 1.5% to 6.0%.

Simultaneous quantitative evaluation of in-plane and out-of-plane deformations by use of a multidirectional spatial carrier

An optical system for the parallel evaluation of in-plane and out-of-plane deformations is described. The object is illuminated from two different directions and imaged onto a CCD sensor. Each illumination interferes with its corresponding reference beam. This produces two sensitivity vectors. The references have different directions in order to produce two-directional spatial carriers. Two separate interferograms of an object under test in its undeformed and deformed states are recorded. The Fourier method is used for the quantitative evaluation. The measurements along different sensitivity vectors are separated in the Fourier domain. The phases of the two interferograms are obtained from the complex amplitudes, and the two-dimensional deformation is calculated from the phases. Two different arrangements (with and without a lens system) are presented together with some experimental results.