Universal, Automatic, and Accurate Interferogram Analysis for Optics-based Experimental Mechanics and Its Open Source Implementation

Catholic University Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Universal, Automatic, and Accurate Interferogram Analysis for Optics-based Experimental Mechanics and Its Open Source Implementation Abstract Optics-based techniques, which are dominant in experimental mechanics field, produce interferograms or fringe patterns that must be analyzed to obtain whole-field mechanics descriptions. The objective of the research is to explore a universal, automatic, and accurate interferogram analysis tool for optics-based experimental mechanics, and apply the concept of open source from computer engineering field to the interferogram analysis in experimental mechanics field. The research involves exploring two techniques. The universal wavelet transform technique, which is insensitive to various errors when detecting the local characteristics of an interferogram, can automatically and accurately determine phases and their gradients from a single interferogram. The universal phase shifting technique can cope with all the practical problems and provide accurate, fast, and automatic analysis for multiple phase-shifted interferograms. The research also involves developing a corresponding open-source software package/tool, which is to be available to the technical communities through a forum-based Internet platform. This allows researchers to share, maintain, and improve the important tool together. The research would greatly enhance the capabilities of optics-based experimental mechanics, and provide a much-needed tool to support the relevant efforts in analytical and computational modeling. It has far-reaching significance for the design and analysis of advanced engineering structures where accurate whole-field experimental mechanics description is important and critical. The software tool allows researchers, experimentalists or non-experimentalists, to conduct many optics-based experimental mechanics measurements easily. The integration of research with education aims to enhance backgrounds and abilities of students with broader interdisciplinary knowledge, and it includes broadening the participation of underrepresented groups.