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DOI: 10.1177/0309324711401501
2011 46: 245 The Journal of Strain Analysis for Engineering Design
K Ramesh, T Kasimayan and B Neethi Simon
A comprehensive review Digital photoelasticity
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Digital photoelasticity A comprehensive review
K Ramesh*, T Kasimayan, and B Neethi Simon
Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
The manuscript was received on 25 April 2010 and was accepted after revision for publication on 2 February 2011.
DOI: 10.1177/0309324711401501
Abstract: Digital photoelasticity has rapidly progressed in the last few years and has matured
into an industry-friendly technique. This review thematically classifies all the developments
in digital photoelasticity and highlights the relative merits and drawbacks of the various tech-
niques. The overall objective is to provide enough information and guidance to allow an end-
user to make an informed choice on the type of technique to be used in a particular situation.
Keywords: isochromatics, isoclinics, phase-shifting, phase maps, inconsistency, ambiguity,
phase unwrapping, stress separation, digital polariscope, reflection photoelasticity, integrated
photoelasticity.
1 INTRODUCTION
Photoelasticity is a whole-field optical experimental
technique that is based on the principle of stress/
strain-induced birefringence. It directly gives infor-
mation about principal stress/strain difference (iso-
chromatics) and principal stress/strain direction
(isoclinics) in the form of fringe contours. In the
early days of its development, quantitative isochro-
matic data were obtained easily only at the fringe
contours and tedious compensation techniques
were required to evaluate them at other places.
Extensive use of digital computers coupled with
cost-effective image processing systems have signif-
icantly revolutionized photoelastic analysis and
paved the way for a new branch of photoelasticity,
known as digital photoelasticity [1, 2].
Digital photoelasticity is truly a whole-field experi-
mental technique and has now matured to the level
of being able to quantitatively evaluate information
on isochromatics and isoclinics at every pixel over
the model domain [1147]. For visual appreciation
of the whole-field experimental data, these values
are plotted as grey-scale images with intensity values
from zero to 255 and are termed as isoclinic and/or
isochromatic phase maps. In the early 1990s, the use
of digital computers was confined to automating the
conventional data collection techniques with suitable
techniques being developed for fringe thinning,
fringe skeletonization, and fringe multiplication
methodologies [1]. Once the acquisition of intensity
information of the whole image was made possible
at video rates through the development of suitable
digital hardware, photoelasticity saw a paradigm
shift in the data acquisition techniques. Intensity-
based processing methods became more common-
place, and these data acquisition methods can be
broadly classified into spatial and frequency domain
methods. Phase-shifting, polarization-stepping, load-
stepping, and multiple wavelengths are techniques
that belong to the spatial domain method.
The Fourier transform (FT) approach is an exam-
ple of a frequency domain approach; however, its
application proved to be computationally expensive
and it could only provide either isoclinic or isochro-
matic data but not the two together [57]. The
drawbacks of FT methods led to the conclusion that
this approach was not a promising route for future
developments in digital photoelasticity [1], and
recent works on FT methods [810] have reinforced
this statement. Keeping this in mind, the present
review focuses on spatial domain methods in digital
photoelasticity.
The earliest reviews [1113] on digital photoelas-
ticity appeared in the period 19971998 and were
focused on the use of digital computers in photo-
*Corresponding author: Department of Applied Mechanics,
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, India,
e-mail: kramesh@iitm.ac.in
REVIEW 245
J. Strain Analysis Vol. 46
elasticity and highlighted the potential of intensity-
based approaches for further research. The reviews
of [2] and [14] focused on specific issues and were
also quite brief. The last 5 years have seen rapid
strides in advancing digital photoelasticity, and
solutions for many subtle issues raised by research-
ers have been obtained. Also, considerable success
has been achieved in solving problems in industrial
environments. While initial digital photoelastic
methods required specific optical arrangements
which may not be obtainable in a conventional
commercial polariscope, newer techniques have
resolved this problem. Now there is a range of tech-
niques that can be used to obtain either quick
approximate solutions or detailed studies in cases
where the accuracy of the evaluated parameters is
crucial. From a users point of view, for any specific
problem, one needs to know which technique is the
best one to use. Knowledge of the merits/drawbacks
of the techniques/algorithms will enable a user to
make an informed choice as per the requirement,
and also aid in the development of newer techni-
ques to overcome the drawbacks and enhance the
advancement of digital photoelasticity. Keeping this
in mind, this paper reviews the current status of
digital photoelasticity and also attempts to provide
logical explanations on the development of the field
wherever possible. The various sections are orga-
nized thematically rather than chronologically, to
facilitate easy access of information to the user.
2 EARLY METHODS FOR PHOTOELASTIC
PARAMETER EVALUATION
In order to appreciate the various algorithms used
in digital photoelasticity, it is desirable to know the
generic plane, mixed, and circular arrangements in
the polariscope, and the corresponding expressions
for intensity of the transmitted light (Fig. 1). In the
intensity expressions, a and b refer to the orienta-
tion of the polarizer and analyser, j and h refer to
the orientation of the slow axis of the I and II
quarter-wave plates, I
a
accounts for amplitude of
light, and I
b
accounts for the background light
intensity. The model parameters at the point of
interest are the phase retardation, d, and the orien-
tation of the reference axis, u. The phase-shifted
images are obtained by suitably rotating the optical
elements in the polariscope. Ramesh [1] used the
example of Tardys method of compensation to
highlight that the rotation of an optical element is
akin to providing a phase-shift. By recording a few
phase-shifted images as intensity distributions, and
subsequently processing them, one can obtain the
photoelastic parameter distributions over the model
domain. Although there are many reports in the lit-
erature on techniques that use this principle, the
credit for calling these methodologies as phase-
shifting techniques (PSTs) goes to Asundi [15]. The
concept of phase-shifting in photoelasticity was
first introduced by Hecker and Morche [16] in 1986.
They recorded five phase-shifted images and dem-
onstrated the possibilities for the determination of
isochromatic data over the whole domain using
a circular polariscope arrangement.
Later, Kihara [17] reported an eight-step method
using a mixed polariscope arrangement for data
acquisition and analysed the exit light using a
quarter-wave plate and an analyser combination.
Patterson and Wang [18] extended the work of
Hecker and Morche [16] and proposed a six-step
PST for the determination of both isoclinic and iso-
chromatic data which gave a new impetus to digital
photoelasticity. They were the first to obtain both
isoclinic and isochromatic data over the model
domain. Table 1 lists the optical arrangements for
the six-step PST proposed by Patterson and Wang
[18] which uses left circularly polarized light as the
incident light in all six steps.
Using the equations listed in Table 1, the isoclinic
and isochromatic parameters are obtained as [18]
u
c
=
1
2
tan
1
I
5
I
3
I
4
I
6
_ _
=
1
2
tan
1
I
a
sind sin2u
I
a
sind cos 2u
_ _
for sind 6 0
(1)
d
c
= tan
1
I
4
I
6
I
1
I
2
cos 2u
c
_ _
=tan
1
I
a
cos 2u
c
sind
I
a
cos 2u
c
cos d
_ _
for cos 2u
c
6 0
(2)
d
c
= tan
1
I
5
I
3
I
1
I
2
sin2u
c
_ _
=tan
1
I
a
sin2u
c
sind
I
a
sin2u
c
cos d
_ _
for sin2u
c
6 0
(3)
where, the subscript c refers to the principal value
of the inverse trigonometric function.
Since only fringe order N and principal stress
direction u need to be determined, Sarma et al. [19]
focused on obtaining the smallest number of optical
arrangements to evaluate these parameters and
proposed a three-step method using a plane polari-
scope. Although conceptually appealing, true
whole-field determination of the parameters was
not possible [20]. Asundi [15] extended Tardys
method of compensation using four phase-shifted
246 K Ramesh, T Kasimayan, and B Neethi Simon
images for the evaluation of isochromatic para-
meters lying on a particular isoclinic contour.
Dupre et al. [21] attempted a five-step method
with different optical arrangements. Ramesh and
Ganapathy [20] performed a Jones calculus analysis
of the six-step phase-shifting method of Patterson
and Wang [18] and simplified the evaluation of the
expression for the intensity of transmitted light.
This approach opened up the possibility of conve-
niently exploring new optical arrangements.
The challenges in the initial development of digi-
tal photoelasticity were the identification of the
right combination of optical arrangements and the
efficient processing of the recorded intensity data.
One of the issues that affected the evaluation of iso-
chromatic parameters was that, depending on the
choice of the basic equation (equation (2) or (3))
the denominator can go to zero for particular
values of u; thereby the parameter estimation
over the domain is not uniform. This issue was
ably addressed by Quiroga and Gonza`lez-Cano [22]
Table 1 Optical arrangements for six-step PST when
the angle u refers to the slow axis of the
model
j h b Intensity equation
3p/4 0 p/4 I
1
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + cos d)
3p/4 0 3p/4 I
2
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 cos d)
3p/4 0 0 I
3
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 sin2u sind)
3p/4 p/4 p/4 I
4
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + cos 2u sind)
3p/4 p/2 p/2 I
5
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + sin2u sind)
3p/4 3p/4 3p/4 I
6
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 cos 2u sind)
Fig. 1 Generic arrangement of: (a) plane polariscope; (b) circular polariscope; and (c) mixed
polariscope
Digital photoelasticity A comprehensive review 247
who suggested the following form of intensity
processing
d
c
=tan
1
(I
5
I
3
) sin2u
c
+(I
4
I
6
) cos 2u
c
(I
1
I
2
)
_ _
=tan
1
I
a
sind
I
a
cos d
_ _ (4)
which whilst being deceptively simple is a significant
development as noted by Ramesh [1] in 2000; how-
ever, it took some time for researchers to see its
advantages.
Once the basic methodology was established for
whole-field parameter determination, the research
focus changed to refining the existing methodologies
for better accuracy. Mangal and Ramesh [23] using
a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, experimen-
tally recorded the characteristic intensity variations
in high-stress gradient zones created by the poor
monochromation of the light source. To enhance the
accuracy of data reduction in stress concentration
zones, Ramesh and Sreedhar [24] reported the use of
optically enhanced tiling and Xue-Feng et al. [25]
extended this approach to phase unwrapping.
In 1998, Ajovalasit et al. [26] proposed a subtle
modification of the basic six-step phase-shifting
algorithm that has both left and right circularly
polarized light incident on the model. They showed
that such a modification can reduce the influence of
mismatches of the quarter-wave plates on the accu-
racy of the results. Sai Prasad and Ramesh [27] per-
formed a systematic study on the role of background
intensity on the performance of various PSTs for
both plane and circular polariscope arrangements.
This study highlighted the importance of explicitly
accounting for the background light intensity in
designing an algorithm in order for it to satisfactorily
process experimentally recorded images. This study
also suggested a simple way to assess any new PST.
Although several different phase-shifting algo-
rithms have been proposed [1], the expressions
used for the intensity of the transmitted light tend
to be similar. Ramesh [1] reported that there are
multiple possible optical arrangements and pre-
sented these arrangements for the popular six-step
PST (appendix 1). Prashant and Ramesh [28]
observed that the choice of optical arrangement
influences the processing of the experimentally
recorded images since the role of the quarter-wave
plate error is highly dependant on the choice of the
optical arrangement. Although the multiple optical
arrangements for the dark and bright fields yield
different intensity equations in the presence of
quarter-wave plate error e (appendix 1), the
multiple optical arrangements yield the same inten-
sity equation for I
3
, I
4
, I
5
, and I
6
. However, when the
input handedness is changed, the term sin e gets
negated as 2 sin e in the intensity equations. This
offers the possibility of judiciously combining left
and right circularly polarized lights to minimize the
quarter-wave plate error, which is the principle pos-
sibly used by Ajovalasit et al. [26]. Prashant and
Ramesh [28] and Prashant [29] showed that six sets
of such arrangements are possible (Table 2).
In 1997, Ramesh and Deshmukh [30] introduced
PST for colour images. They suggested that the
green image plane (l 546 nm) in the colour
domain can act as an optical filter. Ji and Patterson
[31] performed a study on the simulation of error in
automated photoelasticity for the six-step PST pro-
posed in [18]. They considered the effect of quarter-
wave plate mismatch on photoelastic parameters
for a white light source and suggested that median
band filters, with a centre wavelength of 550 nm,
reduced quarter-wave plate mismatch error.
Tamrakar and Ramesh [32] reported a more com-
prehensive simulation of quarter-wave plate mis-
match error and optical misalignment in digital
photoelasticity for few PSTs using a Jones calculus
approach. Ajovalasit et al. [33] reviewed the
quarter-wave plate mismatch error in the evaluation
of photoelastic parameters for a few data acquisi-
tion techniques in automated photoelasticity.
Initial research in digital photoelasticity was con-
fined to evaluating only the isochromatic fringe
order. Although the six-step method proposed by
Patterson and Wang [18] allows the estimation of
both isochromatic and isoclinic parameter values,
the method is highly sensitive to any mismatch
of the quarter-wave plates. The contribution by
Ajovalasit et al. [33] to minimize the influence of
quarter-wave plate error by making pertinent
changes in the optical arrangement is a significant
step, but if one also wants the isoclinic parameter
values, these methods fail miserably [34].
Table 2 Combinations of intensity equations that
give the least error in the presence of
quarter-wave plate
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Set 6
I#
1
I#
1
I#
1
I#
1
I#
1
I#
1
I#
2
I#
2
I#
2
I#
2
I#
2
I#
2
I#
3L
I#
5L
I#
3L
I#
5L
I#
3L
I#
3R
I#
3R
I#
5R
I#
3R
I#
5R
I#
4L
I#
4R
I#
4L
I#
6L
I#
6L
I#
4L
I#
5R
I#
5L
I#
4R
I#
6R
I#
6R
I#
6R
I#
6R
I#
6L
Prime denotes intensity equation in the presence of quarter-wave
plate error, while L and R denotes optical arrangement with left
and right circularly polarized light, respectively.
3 METHODS TO EVALUATE ISOCLINIC
PARAMETERS
One of the earliest methods for isoclinic parameter
evaluation by processing intensity data was proposed
by Brown and Sullivan in 1990 [35]. They recorded
four isoclinics, i.e. 0, 22.5, 45, and 67.5 using
a monochromatic light source for whole-field isoclinic
evaluation, which they termed as a polarization-
stepping method. Since an isoclinic parameter cannot
be defined on an isochromatic skeleton they sug-
gested that, while recording polarization stepped
images, the load must be minimized such that only
fringe orders less than or equal to 0.5 are present.
Chen and Lin [36] proposed a polarization-stepping
method in which both the polarizer and the analyser
are kept parallel. In 1999, Mangal and Ramesh [37]
proposed a load-stepping method combined with
a PST to obtain the continuous isoclinic parameter
for the whole-field. The isoclinic parameters obtained
from two different loads are logically added to reduce
the isochromatic interaction in the isoclinics. Petrucci
[38] utilized the optical arrangement of Brown
and Sullivan [35] and replaced the monochromatic
light source with a white light source. In doing so, the
noise due to isochromaticisoclinic interactions was
significantly reduced even at moderate fringe orders.
Nurse [39] utilized a monochrome CCD camera
with three different filters to get three different wave-
lengths using a white light source. He adopted an
over-deterministic least squares approach to reduce
the noise in the evaluation of the isoclinic para-
meters. Kihara [40, 41] used three different wave-
lengths of linearly polarized light and proposed an
unwrapping technique using an arctangent function
to reduce the error due to quarter-wave plates.
Zhenkun et al. [42] proposed a five-step PST and per-
formed a comparative study between the use
of monochromatic light and white light. They con-
cluded that the isoclinic parameters obtained using
white light gave better results, except for the zones
where the fringe order was zero. Ajovalasit et al. [43]
studied the influence of spectral content of the light
source, spectral response of the camera, and quarter-
wave plate error on selected PSTs using white light.
The various PSTs for isochromatic parameter eval-
uation have resulted in isoclinic parameters with
variable accuracies. Ramji et al. [34] performed
a comparative study on various spatial domain algo-
rithms for the evaluation of isoclinic parameters.
They examined isoclinic values obtained using
plane, circular, and mixed polariscope arrangements,
and suggested that plane- polariscope-based algo-
rithms are better for isoclinic parameter evaluation.
4 SPECIAL ZONES IN PHASE MAPS AND PHASE
UNWRAPPING METHODOLOGIES
Wang and Patterson [44] noticed that whole-field
evaluation of the isochromatic parameter was errone-
ous in regions where u is beyond 6p/4, and proposed
the use of fuzzy sets to handle this problem. It is clear
that the evaluation of isochromatic parameters is
influenced by the isoclinics. As the initial focus in dig-
ital photoelasticity was to evaluate only isochromatic
data, researchers focussed on obtaining isochromatics
without considering the influence of u.
In 1996, Buckberry and Towers [45] proposed
a three wavelength approach to obtain isochromatic
parameters that were independent of isoclinic para-
meters and thereby free of ambiguous zones. This
approach was extended by Nurse [39] to obtain
both isochromatic and isoclinic parameters. In
1998, Ekman and Nurse [46] proposed a load-
stepping approach combined with a PST, which
was akin to the multiple wavelength approach, and
made an attempt to determine the isoclinic para-
meters using unwrapped isochromatic parameters.
However, the results were noisy and furthermore
the information obtained in the low-stressed
regions was of poor quality. Ramesh and Tamrakar
[47] proposed a new approach to the processing of
data recorded in the load-stepping approach [46]
and reduced the noise significantly in the evalua-
tion of the isochromatic phase map. Later, Asundi
et al. [48] and Liu et al. [49] proposed a two-step
load-stepping method. The main disadvantages of
load-stepping approaches are that they require
a large number of images (compared to a normal
PST) and are applicable only to live-loaded models.
There have been attempts to develop a suitable
expression for fractional retardation evaluation,
which does not use u and Ramesh and Mangal [50]
proposed one such method using a normal six step
PST. However, its use who proposed the use of
a normal six-step PST, unfortunately, its use intro-
duced an ambiguity in the sign of the fractional
retardation. This could be addressed by invoking
the fringe gradient direction and they called their
methodology to resolve this ambiguity an interac-
tive approach.
In conventional photoelasticity, the slow and fast
axes have no role to play in data interpretation.
However, Vinayak et al. [51] highlighted the role of
the fast and slow axes in digital photoelasticity by
incorporating them in the final intensity equations.
Their study reinforced the earlier observations on
the influence of the isoclinic value on the evalua-
tion of the isochromatic parameter. The arctangent
function used in most of the algorithms returns
a principal isoclinic value in the range -p/4 \u \
p/4, whereas physically the isoclinic value is in the
range -p/2 \u \p/2. In view of this, the evaluated
u corresponds to different principal stress directions
in different zones which can be seen in the isoclinic
phase map (Fig. 2(a)); the zones corresponding to
one of the principal stresses are labelled as incon-
sistent zones. Ramesh [3, 4] noted that the inconsis-
tent zones in the isoclinic phase map lead to the
formation of ambiguous zones (Fig. 2(b) in the iso-
chromatic phase map, in which the direction of
fractional fringe order gradient is reversed. Such an
understanding was missing in the early develop-
ments of digital photoelasticity. It is surprising that
although the consistency aspect of isoclinics has
influenced the evaluation of isochromatic data, the
noise present in the isoclinics did not affect it [1].
Regularized phase tracking (RPT) to demodulate
a single noisy interferogram [52] was extended to
digital photoelasticity by Quiroga and Gonza`lez-
Cano [53]. They used five images to estimate the iso-
clinic and isochromatic parameters and a quality
map to determine the path of the RPT. Since the iso-
clinic parameters were not used in the estimation of
the isochromatic parameters, they are free of ambi-
guity and also unwrapped directly. RPT is a sequen-
tial phase and frequency estimation strategy which
uses the information contained in previously demo-
dulated pixels to demodulate the subsequent pixels
in a fringe pattern. It works by minimizing a cost
function which has at least two terms: one to
account for the fidelity between the estimated func-
tion and the observed fringe field, and the other
(called the regularization term) to ensure smooth-
ness of the estimated function. The main drawback
of RPT methods is that a large processing time
is required to make a good estimation of the para-
meters. Moreover, the estimation is poor in areas of
high fringe density and the technique has been
shown to work only for simple fringe fields.
The isochromatic phase map needs to be free of
ambiguous zones for phase unwrapping to be mean-
ingful. Figure 3(a) shows the phase map of a disk
under diametral compression (from experimentally
recorded images) in which near the load application
points one observes a black streak, and after that
there is a reversal in the fractional fringe order gradi-
ent indicating an ambiguous zone. Even though the
ambiguous zone boundaries are not well defined,
the interactive approach [50] which operates on all
six phase-shifted images takes care of this and the
isochromatic phase map after the removal of ambig-
uous zones is shown in Fig. 3(e). To simplify data
processing, efforts have also been aimed at develop-
ing methodologies to work directly on the phase
map. Prasad et al. [54] developed an image proces-
sing methodology which works directly on the phase
map to remove the ambiguous zones; its limitation
is that the ambiguous zone boundary should be dis-
tinct and sharp. Figure 3(b) shows the problem of
a ring under diametral compression in which the
ambiguous zone boundaries are seen distinctly and
Fig. 3(f) shows the corrected phase map using the
image processing methodology. Prashant et al. [55]
introduced a theta checking approach to identify
subtle ambiguous boundaries by monitoring the iso-
clinic values, which was demonstrated for the prob-
lem of a beam under three-point bending (a small
portion near the central region is shown in Fig. 3(c)),
and the corrected phase map is shown in Fig. 3(g).
Figures 3(d) and 3(h) show the variation of isoclinics
over the depth of the beam. In 2006, Ashokan and
Ramesh [56] proposed two novel approaches: the
simulated dark field approach and the negation
Fig. 2 Theoretically simulated phase maps for disc
under diametral compression (one-quarter is
shown) (a) isoclinic phase map with inconsis-
tent zone and (b) isochromatic phase map with
ambiguous zone. The isochromatic skeleton
seen in (a) is where the isoclinic is not defined
Fig. 3 Ambiguous zone: (a) boundary not seen dis-
tinctly: (b) boundary seen distinctly; (c)
boundary is subtle; (d) isoclinics variation
along the depth of the phase map shown in
(c). Ambiguous zones are corrected by: (e)
interactive approach; (f) image processing
approach; (g) monitoring the isoclinic value;
(h) isoclinics variation along the depth of the
phase map shown in (g)
approach. The simulated dark field approach pro-
vides a simple way of identifying the ambiguous
zones in the isochromatic phase map.
In the case of isoclinic phase maps, unwrapping
refers to the process of obtaining the direction of
either of the principal stresses s
1
or s
2
consistently
over the domain, whereas in the case of isochro-
matic phase maps, unwrapping refers to suitable
addition of the integral value to the fractional retar-
dation values to get continuous fringe order data
[57]. Phase unwrapping in an isochromatic phase
map received initial attention in digital photoelasti-
city. For effective phase unwrapping, the phase map
has to be free of ambiguous zones [56]. The two key
issues are: how to avoid propagation of errors and
how to handle complex geometries with cut outs.
The simplest phase unwrapping scheme is to use
a raster scanning approach. Early algorithms adopted
this strategy and Madhu and Ramesh [58] proposed
an approach to unwrap complex geometries contain-
ing cut outs. The multiply connected models are
unwrapped by dividing them into an assembly of
simply connected domains; this concept is known as
domain delimiting. The boundary coordinate infor-
mation required for delimiting is obtained using
boundary extraction techniques [59]. Domain mask-
ing is used to mask out the zone outside the simply
connected domain which is currently being
unwrapped. Raster scanning in principle can propa-
gate noise and this topic has been extensively investi-
gated in the literature. Quiroga et al. [60] augmented
Bones technique [61] and used the second difference
of the phase of the neighbourhood pixels as a selec-
tion criterion for phase unwrapping of subsequent
pixels. Asundi and Wensen [62] adopted grey-scale
masking and the flood-fill approach to phase unwrap-
ping. This is a fast phase unwrapping algorithm in
which areas with higher reliability are unwrapped
before those with a lower reliability. Following the
practice on the use of quality maps in other interfer-
ometry techniques, Siegmann et al. [63] introduced
the use of quality-guided unwrapping algorithms in
photoelasticity and suggested the use of phase deriva-
tive variance for evaluating the quality map. Ramji
et al. [64] performed a comparative study of autono-
mous phase unwrapping algorithms in digital photoe-
lasticity and recommended the use of the phase
derivative variance and maximum phase gradient
approach to evaluate a quality map.
5 FOUR-STEP METHODS
In time-varying problems, recording multiple
images can be cumbersome. In order to extend
digital photoelasticity to such situations, attention
has been focussed on developing PSTs that use the
minimum number of images. Sarma et al. [19] were
the first to proceed in this direction in 1992; their
three-step method was found to be insufficient, as
experimentally, four variables need to be deter-
mined [1, 13, 18, 27], namely, N, u, I
a
, and I
b.
Thus,
development of four-step methods was a logical
step towards this goal.
The first four-step PST was proposed by Barone
et al. [65] in 1997. They utilized the first four optical
arrangements of Patterson and Wangs six-step
arrangement for the evaluation of whole-field photoe-
lastic parameters [18]. Later in 1998, Patterson and
Wang [66] reduced their six-step method to a four-
step method by removing the second and last optical
arrangements and recorded four phase-shifted images
simultaneously using four cameras. Plouzennec et al.
[67] used a four-step PST with plane polariscope
arrangements for the evaluation of photoelastic para-
meters. The expression for evaluating the isochromatic
parameters contained a cosine function, which posed
problems in unwrapping. Asundi et al. [68] proposed
a four-step method that could be set in a conventional
commercial polariscope, which used the first, second,
and fourth optical arrangements of Ajovalasit et al.
[26] and their fifth optical arrangement was suitably
modified. In 2002, Ajovalasit et al. [33] proposed an
optimum four-step method. They essentially used the
first four optical arrangements of their six-step
method [26] with a modification of the first two opti-
cal arrangements to use crossed quarter-wave plates
as in conventional photoelasticity, which improved
the overall accuracy of the evaluated photoelastic
parameters.
In 2005, Prashant and Ramesh [28] performed
a systematic study on the role of the quarter-wave
plate error on the performance of the various four-
step PSTs. They found that the error [(d# 2 d) / 2p]
varied as a function of u and is the least in an over-
all sense for the algorithm proposed by Ajovalasit
et al. [33].
6 TOTAL FRINGE ORDER EVALUATION
USING A SINGLE IMAGE
There have been several attempts to evaluate the
total fringe order using a single isochromatic image
with monochrome, tricolour, or white light as source
of illumination. Servin and Quiroga [69] used a single
monochrome bright field image to obtain unwrapped
isochromatics, by applying a RPT with a three-level
quality map. Yoneyama et al. [70] developed a trico-
lour photoelastic system for the evaluation of
isoclinic and isochromatic parameters using a single
tricolour image; however, they reported that the
methodology lacked repeatability. Quiroga et al. [71]
adapted a RPT to obtain isochromatic parameters
from a single tricolour image; however, this approach
was computationally intensive.
In RGB photoelasticity (RGBP) [72, 73] or three-
fringe photoelasticity (TFP) [74], a single isochromatic
image under white light is used to estimate the total
fringe order by comparing the red (R), green (G), and
blue (B) values of the unknown photoelastic fringe pat-
tern with a calibration table. For any test data point,
an error term e is defined as
e =
(R
e
R
c
)
2
+(G
e
G
c
)
2
+ (B
e
B
c
)
2
_
(5)
where the subscripts e and c refer to the experi-
mentally measured values and the values in the cal-
ibration table, respectively. The calibration table is
searched until the error e is a minimum to get the
total fringe order. Although the approach is straight-
forward, noise is present in the evaluated fringe
order. Ramesh and Deshmukh [74] attempted to
reduce the noise and found that the use of the dif-
ference in RGB values between dark and bright field
images gave less noise, but required the recording
of two images at a time.
There are several reports in the literature that sug-
gest that the noise present in the results obtained by
TFP could be removed by imposing fringe order con-
tinuity [73, 7578]. Ajovalasit et al. [73] proposed
a method to reduce the noise by identifying two
minima and selecting the one which had a fringe
order closer to the neighbouring pixel. Quiroga et al.
[75] proposed the use of an additional regularization
term to account for the smoothness of the estimated
fringe order and demonstrated it for a simple prob-
lem. Ashokan and Ramesh [77] proposed quality-
assisted TFP to identify and iteratively remove noise
in the total fringe order evaluated using conventional
TFP. Dubey and Grewal [78] found that by applying
a median filter on the recorded dark field isochro-
matic image, one could obtain continuous fringe
order variation if the filtering process was repeated
a sufficient number of times.
Madhu and Ramesh [76] highlighted that noise
in TFP is due to the repetition of colour and incor-
porated fringe order continuity by adding a new
term in the error definition as
e =
(R
e
R
c
)
2
+(G
e
G
c
)
2
+(B
e
B
c
)
2
+(N
p
N)
2
3 K
2
_
(6)
where N
p
is the fringe order obtained for the neigh-
bourhood pixel to the point under consideration in
the specimen, N is the fringe order at the current
checking point of the calibration table, and K is a
problem-dependant factor that is specified by the
user. This approach was christened refined TFP
(RTFP) and its single-shot data acquisition capabil-
ity has been demonstrated effectively for a transient
thermal stress problem [79].
Ideally, the same test specimen and lighting con-
ditions are used in both the calibration and applica-
tion experiments, which is often not possible in an
industrial scenario, and simple ways of modifying
the calibration table have been investigated. Madhu
et al. [80] introduced a colour adaptation technique
in TFP in which the no-load bright field images of
the calibration and application specimens are used
to tune the calibration table developed for a standard
material to suit the specimen under test. Recently,
Neethi Simon and Ramesh [81] proposed another
colour adaptation scheme using a single image; thus
it is applicable to analysing stress-frozen slices as
well. Though the focus was to accommodate only
a small tint variation, in view of the two-point
scheme adopted, the method was found to also work
for large variations [82]. Stress-frozen slices of a fuse-
lage square lug were chosen to illustrate the use of
colour adaptation in TFP ((Fig. 4(a)). Figure 4(b)
shows the total fringe order obtained by conven-
tional TFP and the noise present therein is reduced
using the colour adaptation technique (Fig. 4(c)).
The streaks in Fig. 4(c) are removed by RTFP (Fig.
4(d) and further improved by smoothing (Fig. 4(e)).
TFP was originally used to estimate total fringe
orders up to a value of three as beyond this point
the colours tend to merge [74]; however, there have
been attempts to push this limit. Ajovalasit and
Petrucci [83] combined the RGB values and a PST
to evaluate the continuous fringe order up to
a value of four. This hybrid technique removes the
unwrapping step in the isochromatic parameter
estimation but requires more than one image. Jones
and Wang [84] proposed fringe combination match-
ing to extend the isochromatic parameter estima-
tion up to a fringe order value of 5.5. It has been
shown [75, 85] that by implementing a selective
search within the calibration table, the total fringe
order up to a value of 12 could be estimated.
Ajovalasit et al. [85] suggested the use of a filament
lamp with a continuous spectrum to measure up to
four fringe orders, and a fluorescent lamp with a dis-
crete spectrum to measure up to 12 fringe orders.
They also proposed the use of a search window in
the calibration table such that one could directly
identify the local minima which are of interest,
rather than the global minima, using the standard
equation itself.
7 DIGITAL TECHNIQUES FOR OTHER
VARIANTS OF PHOTOELASTICITY
7.1 Reflection photoelasticity
Ramesh and Mangal [86] extended digital photo-
elastic analysis to reflection photoelasticity by
designing a new reflection polariscope in which
the individual elements could be rotated indepen-
dently, and they performed a six-step PST to evalu-
ate both isoclinic and isochromatic parameters.
Later, Chen and Chen [87] performed polarization
stepping in reflection photoelasticity. Patterson
and Wang [66] and Lesniak et al. [88] extended the
use of four-step PST for reflection photoelasticity.
In 2008, Chang et al. [89] applied a modified ver-
sion of RGBP to a reflection arrangement. In this,
they generated a calibration table only for discrete
fringe orders and interpolated the values between
them.
Adopting a conventional commercial reflection
polariscope for digital reflection photoelasticity was
made possible by Kasimayan and Ramesh [90], who
proposed a simple five-step approach to obtain
accurate whole-field isoclinic and isochromatic
parameters. The first four steps record four isocli-
nics that are used for whole-field isoclinic determi-
nation and the last step records a dark field
isochromatic image which is processed using RTFP
to obtain the total fringe order for the whole
domain. The effectiveness of the five-step method
was demonstrated for the problem of assembly
stresses in a flange coupling (Fig. 5).
7.2 Integrated photoelasticity
In integrated photoelasticity, one has to experimen-
tally measure three parameters to define the opti-
cally equivalent model [91] for every point in the
specimen: the axis of the retarder (u); the retarda-
tion introduced by the retarder (2D); and the rota-
tory power of the rotator (g). Mangal and Ramesh
[92] were the first to use digital photoelastic techni-
ques for integrated photoelasticity. They proposed
a ten-step PST to determine the three characteristic
parameters. Aben [93] proposed a method for the
interpretation of the integrated fringe patterns for
FlamantBoussinesq problems under a concentrated
load. Later, Tomlinson and Patterson [94] proposed
a six-step PST for the evaluation of whole-field
characteristic parameters. They reported that
although the wrapped phase maps of characteristic
parameters are satisfactory, the unwrapped phase
maps need to be improved. In 2007, Hecker [95]
presented a review of PSTs applied to integrated
photoelasticity. He investigated the effect of white
light and a monochromatic light source with plane
and circular polariscope arrangements for the eval-
uation of characteristic parameters, and concluded
that the white light plane polariscope with two
polarizers lead to enhanced characteristic direc-
tions, whereas the monochromatic light circular
and mixed polariscopes gave better characteristic
retardation.
7.3 Dynamic photoelasticity
For impact studies, the speed of the stress waves
determines the exposure time. To-date, the demon-
stration of digital photoelastic approach for such
ultra-fast events has been shown only by Asundi
et al. [96] who performed dynamic photoelastic anal-
ysis using a time delay and integration (TDI) camera.
Fig. 4 Stress-frozen slice of fuselage square lug (a)
colour dark field isochromatics. The grey scale
image representation of fringe order variation
obtained by (b) TFP without colour adapta-
tion; (c) TFP with colour adaptation; (d) RTFP
applied for (c); (e) smoothed isochromatics in
colour plot (colour images appear in black and
white in the print version)
Asundi and Sajan [97] recommended the use of light-
emitting diodes in conjunction with the TDI camera
instead of the laser diode they initially used [98].
Dynamic phase-shifting was achieved by splitting the
beam into four using a multispectral imager [96].
8 DIGITAL POLARISCOPES
To record phase-shifted images, one needs to rotate
the individual optical elements to the desired opti-
cal arrangement, one at a time. As this is prone to
optical misalignment and is also cumbersome,
efforts have been aimed at developing automated
polariscopes. The first generation of these replaced
manual rotation of the optical elements by stepper
motors controlled by a personal computer [99,
100]. Lesniak et al. [101] and Zickel et al. [102]
developed a grey field polariscope which had a sta-
tionary input polarizer and quarter-wave plate. The
output analyser was rotated at a constant speed and
eight images were recorded in one half-cycle for
photoelastic parameter evaluation. Aben et al. [103]
developed a second-generation automated polari-
scope, specifically for the evaluation of residual
stress in glass components. In this set-up, instead
of rotating the optical elements, the polarization of
the input light is modified based on the principle of
reversibility of optical systems; thereby, only one
stepper motor is needed for automation.
Third-generation digital polariscopes aim at
simultaneously recording as many phase-shifted
images as possible, and they paved the way for
dynamic and real-time photoelastic analysis.
Hardware limitations forced researchers to use only
four-step PSTs (minimum number of images) for
developing automated polariscopes. The first model
proposed by Patterson and Wang [66] required four
separate CCD cameras. It used prismatic beam
splitters, making data interpretation difficult, as it is
difficult to account for their polarization behaviour.
A compact unit which uses only one CCD camera
Fig. 5 Assembly stresses in a flange coupling (a) Photograph showing the assembly; experimen-
tally obtained (Right quarter portion is shown) (b) dark field isochromatics; (c) unwrapped
isoclinics in grey scale; (d) unsmoothed isoclinics in binary; (e) smoothed isoclinics in
binary; (f) total fringe order by TFP; (g) total fringe order by RTFP; (h) smoothed isochro-
matics colour plot (but appearing in black and white in the print version)
has been developed by Asundi et al. [96] who modi-
fied a multi-spectral imager for PST; however, it is
bulky and shares the problem of prismatic beam
splitters. Prashant et al. [104] performed prelimi-
nary studies on a multiple polar imager and
explored its use in digital photoelastic studies.
Lesniak et al. [88] combined the features of a polari-
scope and a kaleidoscope to develop a piece of
equipment, which they christened as poleidoscope.
In this set-up, a suitable lens is developed by sec-
tioning a conventional lens into four quadrants, and
separating the quadrants by a small amount,
thereby giving four identical images. Thus, they
overcame the problem of prismatic beam splitters
and were able to perform both reflection and trans-
mission photoelastic studies.
Yoneyama et al. [105] performed real-time PST at
video rates by rotating an analyser at a constant
speed and the output quarter-wave plate at twice the
speed of the analyser. Images were continuously
recorded using a CCD camera, to get the phase dis-
tributions of isochromatic and isoclinic parameters.
However, the isoclinic parameter obtained for
a time-varying load was not found to be as accurate
as the isochromatic parameter. Later, Lei et al. [106]
adopted the technique proposed by Yoneyama et al.
[105] and described 14 algorithms by changing the
orientation of the analyser and second quarter-wave
plate. Among the 14 algorithms, five of them were
found to be good in determining the whole-field iso-
chromatic parameters with a slow time-varying load.
9 COMPOSITE METHODS FOR PHOTOELASTIC
PARAMETER ESTIMATION
In 2002, Barone et al. [107] proposed a composite
six-step PST that is theoretically free of quarter-
wave plate errors in isoclinic studies, and the errors
are moderate in isochromatic studies. Around this
time it was realized by the research community that
though isoclinic evaluation is simple in conven-
tional photoelasticity, it is quite involved in digital
photoelasticity. Thus, attention was focused on
improving the evaluation of isoclinics by PST. Ramji
and Ramesh [108] reported another composite six-
step PST to minimize the errors. However, both of
the methods reported in [107] and [108] use very
complex equations for the evaluation of photoelas-
tic parameters and later studies [109, 110] showed
that these methods are very sensitive to optical
misalignment errors. Yoneyama and Kikuta [111]
attempted to reduce the influence of quarter-wave
plate error by proposing a seven-step PST. Though
the accuracy of isoclinics seemed comparable to
that of Barone et al. [107], the isochromatic para-
meters were poor in comparison to the values
obtained in Barone et al. [107] and Patterson and
Wang [18]. DAcquisto et al. [112] showed that the
quarter-wave plate mismatch error, which is usually
considered to be a constant, is in fact non-
uniformly distributed over the quarter-wave plate.
Recently, Ramji et al. [110] performed an error anal-
ysis that incorporated both the non-uniform quar-
ter-wave plate error and the misalignment of the
optical elements.
In order to improve the accuracy of evaluating
photoelastic parameters in complex problems,
Ramji and Ramesh proposed a ten-step PST [113].
The proposed methodology combine the four-step
approach of Brown and Sullivan [35] for isoclinic
data evaluation and a six-step circular -polariscope-
based method for isochromatic data evaluation
(Table 3). The optical arrangements were carefully
selected to minimize the influence of quarter-wave
plate mismatch error. As inconsistent zones in iso-
clinic phase maps cause the formation of ambigu-
ous zones in an isochromatic phase map, (Fig.6(a))
initially the isoclinics need to be unwrapped.
Unwrapping of the isoclinic phase map is com-
plicated by the presence of isotropic points and
p-jumps. At an isotropic point all isoclinics merge,
while a p-jump is a sudden jump of 180 in the isocli-
nic values which starts from an isotropic point [4]. To
take care of isotropic points while unwrapping, Pinit
and Umezaki [114,115] proposed a four-step colour
PST and a simple phase unwrapping algorithm, and
Table 3 Optical arrangements and the equations
for parameter estimation by the ten-step
method
a j h b Intensity equation
p/2 0 I
1
=I
b
+I
a
sin
2 d
2
sin
2
2u
5p/8 p/8 I
2
=I
b
+
Ia
2
sin
2
d
2
1 sin4u
3p/4 p/4 I
3
=I
b
+I
a
sin
2
d
2
cos
2
2u
7p/8 3p/8 I
4
=I
b
+
Ia
2
sin
2
d
2
1 + sin4u
p/2 3p/4 p/4 p/2 I
5
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + cos d)
p/2 3p/4 p/4 0 I
6
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 cos d)
p/2 3p/4 0 0 I
7
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 sin2u sind)
p/2 3p/4 p/4 p/4 I
8
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + cos 2u sind)
p/2 p/4 0 0 I
9
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 + sin2u sind)
p/2 p/4 3p/4 p/4 I
10
=I
b
+
Ia
2
(1 cos 2u sind)
Parameter estimation:
u
c
=
1
4
tan
1
I
3
I
2
I
4
I
1
_ _
d
c
=tan
1
(I
9
I
7
) sin2u +(I
8
I
10
) cos 2u
(I
5
I
6
)
_ _
u used in the evaluation of d
c
is the unwrapped isoclinic value.
Villa et al. [116] proposed a RPT unwrapping algo-
rithm. Zhang et al. [117] proposed a 12-step PST to
obtain isochromatic and isoclinic parameters that are
free of inconsistencies, but the accuracy obtainable is
limited. In 2008, Ramji and Ramesh [57] proposed an
adaptive quality-guided phase unwrapping algorithm
for unwrapping isoclinics which is able to accom-
modate the presence of isotropic points as well as
p-jumps. It uses phase derivative variance to gener-
ate the quality map (Fig 6(b)) which provides the
information of good and bad quality pixels and suit-
ably selects the path of unwrapping to get the contin-
uous isoclinics (Fig 6(c)).
The semblance of an isochromatic skeleton on
isoclinic phase map (Fig. 6(c)) is actually noise due
to isochromaticisoclinic interaction and smoothing
of isoclinic data is mandatory for their use in stress
separation studies. This noise is clearly evident when
one looks at the binary representation of isoclinics
(Fig. 6(e)). Ramji and Ramesh [57] proposed an out-
lier smoothing algorithm to reduce the noise due to
isochromaticisoclinic interaction (Fig. 6(f)) which
was found to be robust [118]. However, this required
domain delimiting at isotropic points and p-jumps;
Kasimayan and Ramesh [119] improved the outlier
smoothing algorithm to automatically take care of
Fig. 6 Ring under diametral compression. Experimentally obtained: (a) wrapped isoclinic phase
map (with inconsistent zones marked); (b) quality map to identify the good quality and
bad quality zones in isoclinic phase map. Unwrapped isoclinic phase map: (c) before
smoothing (faint isochromatic skeletons are actually noise); (d) after smoothing. Binary
plot of isoclinics: (e) before smoothing; and (f) after smoothing; (g) isochromatic phase
map free of ambiguous zones obtained by the ten-step method; (h) quality map to iden-
tify the good quality and bad quality zones in isochromatic phase map; (i) colour repre-
sentation of unwrapped isochromatics (but appearing in black and white in the print
version)
this problem. The unwrapped and smoothed isocli-
nic values (Fig. 6(d)) are then used to obtain isochro-
matics, which are completely free of ambiguous
zones (Fig. 6(g)) and subsequently unwrapped to get
the continuous fringe order (Fig. 6(i)).
10 STRESS SEPARATION
In certain class of problems, it is necessary to find
individual stress components over the domain.
Although review papers exist on general stress sepa-
ration methodologies [120, 121], here only those
techniques which use digital photoelastic methods
are reviewed.
In 1998, Quiroga and Gonza`lez-Cano [122] pre-
sented a procedure for stress separation using prin-
cipal stress difference with the digital photoelastic
techniques available at that time, and the sum of
principal stresses using the multi-grid numerical
technique for plane stress problems. However, the
sum of principal stresses data for the problem of
a disk under diametral compression obtained by
them is distorted and lacked symmetry. Later,
Mangal et al. [123] used finite element modelling
(FEM) to get the sum of the principal stresses and
a six-step PST to get the principal stress difference.
Ramesh and Mangal [124] proposed a methodology
for stress separation using only isochromatics data
with multiple oblique incidences. However, the
technique required data with a very high accuracy.
Yoneyama et al. [125] combined a MachZehnder
interferometer with a circular polariscope to sepa-
rate the stresses. A load-stepping approach [47] was
used to obtain (s
x
- s
y
) and a five-step phase step-
ping technique was used to obtain (s
x
+ s
y
). In
1997, Zhenkun et al. [126] proposed a similar
method in which they adopted load-stepping to rec-
tify inconsistency and ambiguous zones in isoclinic
and isochromatic phase maps. These methods
require either two experimental methods or the use
of FEM. Petrucci and Restivo [127] proposed a pro-
cedure for the stress separation along stress trajec-
tories, starting from free boundaries, based on the
integration of LameMaxwell equations. This
requires precise trajectory calculation for which
they also proposed an algorithm.
The parameters obtained by the ten-step
method of Ramji and Ramesh [113] are accurate
and can be used to perform stress separation by
the shear difference technique [118, 128]. For digi-
tal implementation, a suitable boundary identifica-
tion technique [58] as well as a careful scanning
and book-keeping of the values [59] are needed.
Figures 7(a) to (c) show the smoothed pseudo
stress-fringe contours of s
x
, s
y
, and t
xy
for the
problem of a ring under diametral compression
(one quarter of the model). The quantitative com-
parison of the individual stress components with
the analytically obtained values (Fig. 7(d)) is quite
good. In this problem, the presence of free bound-
aries simplified the implementation of the meth-
odology. As the presence of a free boundary is not
always possible, Ashokan and Ramesh [129] pro-
posed an adaptive scanning approach, in which it
is sufficient to know the stress components for just
one point in the model domain.
11 FUSION OF RAPID PROTOTYPING, FEM,
AND DIGITAL PHOTOELASTICITY
The potential of combining rapid prototyping for
model making, digital photoelasticity for experi-
mental analysis, and FEM for numerical analysis
for a design scenario was reported by Ramesh
et al. [130]. Issues related to the identification of
a suitable stereolithography resin [131] and build
styles [132] were also addressed. The stereolithogra-
phy process introduces a characteristic noise and
a method to handle this effectively in digital photo-
elastic analysis has been recently proposed [133].
Fig. 7 Variation of individual stresses (smoothed) for
the problem of a ring under diametral com-
pression determined by shear difference algo-
rithm. Pseudo stress-fringe contours: (a) s
x
;
(b) s
y
; (c) t
xy
; (d) quantitative comparison of
individual stress components obtained using
shear difference with analytically obtained
stress components
Comparison of FEM results with that of photo-
elasticity could be made simpler if suitable
post-processing of FEM results is done to plot
photoelastic fringes. Ramesh et al. [134] were the
first to present a realistic way of plotting fringe con-
tours from FEM results by invoking a scanning
scheme. Thickness variation of the fringes is mim-
icked by plotting the variable with an error term e.
The method was later extended to plot fringe con-
tours both in grey and colour, for photoelastic coat-
ings [135]. The use of a plotting scheme to identify
errors in FEM [136] and also general guidelines to
model discontinuities better in FEM discretization
[137] have also been reported. Umezaki and
Terauchi [138] have extracted isotropic points from
an isoclinic phase map using the simulated con-
tours obtained from FEM. Ragulskis and Ragulskis
[139] plotted isoclinics by post-processing FEM
results and used a smoothing procedure to generate
results suitable for hybrid experimentalnumerical
analysis.
A novel use of fringe plotting for three-
dimensional (3D) analysis has been reported by
Karthick Babu and Ramesh [140]. This facilitates
selection of a suitable load, slicing plan, and view-
ing direction for stress-frozen models [141] and is
important as mechanical slicing destroys the model.
For an arbitrary slice, the post-processing of a 3D
FEM model is illustrated for the problem of
a sphere under diametral compression (diameter =
61 mm, load = 378 N, F
s
= 0.35 N/mm/fringe). The
sphere is modelled using a commercial FEM pack-
age using tetrahedral elements (Fig. 8(a)). For
a slice whose location is shown in Fig. 8(b), the
experimental dark field isochromatics (Fig. 8(c))
closely match the dark field isochromatics plotted
from FEM results (Fig. 8(d)).
The success of post-processing FEM results for
plotting fringe contours also opened up new possi-
bilities. Identification of inconsistent zones in an
isoclinic phase map and the ambiguous zones in an
isochromatic phase map are tedious and complex
problems. To resolve these issues, Ashokan and
Fig. 8 (a) Sphere subjected to compression discretised
using ten-noded elements; (b) location of slice;
(c) experimental dark field image; and (d) dark
field isochromatics plotted from FEM results
Fig. 9 Circular disk under three radial loads: (a) FEM
mesh with boundary conditions; (b) numeri-
cally obtained wrapped isoclinic phase map;
(c) numerically obtained unwrapped isoclinic
phase map; (d) experimental wrapped isoclinic
phase map; (e) experimental unwrapped isocli-
nic phase map; (f) numerically obtained iso-
chromatic phase map with ambiguous zones;
(g) numerically obtained isochromatic phase
map without ambiguous zones; (h) experimen-
tal isochromatic phase map with ambiguous
zones; and (i) experimental isochromatic phase
map without ambiguous zones
Ramesh [142] proposed an eigenvalue approach
for plotting the phase maps with and without
ambiguous/inconsistent zones, by post-processing
the FEM results. For a disc under three radial loads
(Fig. 9(a), the simulated phase maps plotted from
FEM results (Figs 9(b), (c), (f), and (g)) compare
well with the experimental phase maps (Figs 9(d),
(e), (h), and (i)). Recently, the identification of
inconsistent zones by plotting an inconsistency
map from FEM results has been proposed [143].
The plotting of fringes and phase maps can be fur-
ther simplified by judiciously using the post-
processing features of the FEM packages [144].
12 CONCLUSIONS
Digital photoelasticity provides scope for evaluating
photoelastic parameters over the entire model
domain, and the range of benchmark problems and
application problems that have been solved using
this technique is summarized in Appendix 2.
Among the various digital photoelastic techniques
in the spatial domain, PSTs play a vital role in the
evaluation of photoelastic parameters. This survey
has highlighted that for isochromatic parameter
determination, a circular polariscope arrangement
is essential; the influence of quarter-wave plate
error can be minimized by using the conventional
wisdom of keeping them in the crossed position as
far as possible, and also by intelligently combining
the use of right and left circularly polarized incident
light. For isoclinic determination, use of a plane
polariscope is advantageous and a simple polariza-
tion-stepping approach [35] gives better results. If
a monochromatic light source is used, then the iso-
clinic parameters are not defined at isochromatic
skeletons; thereby, smoothing of the isoclinic phase
map is essential and an outlier smoothing algorithm
is found to perform better than other smoothing
strategies. Data extraction in these zones is better
when white light is used; nevertheless, further
smoothing is desirable.
Although the role of inconsistent and ambiguous
zones in isoclinic and isochromatic phase maps was
only partly understood in the early developments of
digital photoelasticity, now effective methods have
been developed to handle these zones. The use of
adaptive quality-guided phase unwrapping [57] has
effectively removed the inconsistent zones in the
isoclinic phase map and the use of unwrapped iso-
clinics in the evaluation of isochromatic parameters
has totally eliminated the appearance of ambiguous
zones in isochromatic phase maps. Identification of
inconsistent zones is difficult for complex problems
and in such situations it can be done numerically
[142, 143] as suitable post-processing methodolo-
gies of FEM results have been developed.
Though in principle, a four-step method is suffi-
cient for evaluating all the requisite parameters, if
accuracy is equally important, then among the vari-
ous techniques, the use of the ten-step method of
Ramji and Ramesh [57] is recommended since it is
robust even in the presence of the usual optical mis-
alignments and mismatch of quarter-wave plates. It
is worthwhile to note that in other interferometer-
based techniques, even though only one phase infor-
mation needs to be evaluated, the use of a large
number of steps is shown to improve accuracy [145].
Several problems of practical interest such as
evaluation of stress concentration factor, stress
intensity factors, and contact stress parameters
require only isochromatic data. If the focus is only
on isochromatic data, then single-shot data acquisi-
tion is possible through RGBP, which also facilitates
transient analysis. The recent advances of extending
the range of RGB methods beyond three fringe
orders makes it suitable for handling generic situa-
tions; however, the development of a calibration
table is quite involved. If the fringe order is less than
three (which is so for many problems such as bima-
terial interface crack problems, thin stress-frozen
slices or fringes in a photoelastic coating test), TFP
with its recent advances of RTFP [76] combined
with colour adaptation [80, 81] is recommended.
The generation of the calibration table is simple and
quite attractive for an industrial scenario.
In dynamic applications, if the focus is to get
both isoclinic and isochromatic data, then use of
automated polariscopes employing four-step meth-
ods is necessary. However, if the focus is only on
isochromatics, then RTFP is ideally suited for
dynamic applications as well. With suitable ultra-
high-speed cameras it can be applied to problems
of varied complexity.
Conventional commercial polariscopes can be
effectively used as digital polariscopes to evaluate
both isochromatic and isoclinic parameters with
the development of the five-step method [146]. The
five-step method in reflection photoelasticity [91]
promises exploration of a new range of industrial
problems, as both isoclinic and isochromatic para-
meters are determined for the entire field. If the
fringe order is beyond three, then the use of new
approaches of extending RGBP is recommended for
isochromatic parameter evaluation.
For evaluation of individual stress components in
two-dimensional problems, use of adaptive shear dif-
ference stress separation technique [129] in conjunc-
tion with data acquisition by the ten-step method
[118] is recommended. Further research in digital
photoelasticity needs to focus on development of
efficient RPT methodologies, enhancement of data
acquisition and processing at stress concentration
zones, and evaluation of individual stress compo-
nents from a 3D model using only photoelastic data.
Authors 2011
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APPENDIX 1
Multiple optical arrangements and influence
of quarter-wave plate error
The multiple optical arrangements with left and
right circularly polarized lights (Tables 4 and 5) show
that with left circularly polarized light (j = 3p/4), the
intensity equation I
1
(corresponding to bright field in
conventional photoelasticity) can be obtained by six
arrangements; another six arrangements are possible
using right circularly polarized light (j = p/4).
Quarter-wave plates can generate circularly polarized
light only for the reference wavelength l
ref
for which
Table 4 Multiple optical arrangements for obtaining
intensity equations listed in Table 1 by left
circularly polarized light (j = 3 p/4)
b
h 0 p/4 p/2 3p/4 p
0 I
3
I
1
I
5
I
2
I
3
p/4 I
2
I
4
I
1
I
6
I
2
p/2 I
3
I
2
I
5
I
1
I
3
3p/4 I
1
I
4
I
2
I
6
I
1
p I
3
I
1
I
5
I
2
I
3
Table 5 Multiple optical arrangements for obtaining
intensity equations listed in Table 1 by right
circularly polarized light (j = p/4)
b
h 0 p/4 p/2 3p/4 p
0 I
5
I
2
I
3
I
1
I
5
p/4 I
1
I
6
I
2
I
4
I
1
p/2 I
5
I
1
I
3
I
2
I
5
3p/4 I
2
I
6
I
1
I
4
I
2
p I
5
I
2
I
3
I
1
I
5
Table 7 Typical benchmark problems solved in increasing order of complexity
Type of
problem
Number of
isotropic
points
[Reference numbers] (maximum fringe order)
Isochromatics evaluation Isoclinics evaluation Stress separation
Using a single image Using multiple images
0 [71](11), [84](4), [70,
74, 76, 77, 78,
80](3)
[25](13), [24](10), [46, 50, 52, 54,
56, 58, 64, 118](7), [32, 41,
106, 108, 110, 113](5), [20, 30,
46, 63, 68, 86r, 87r, 121](4),
[22, 39, 48, 66, 67, 88, 105,
111, 127](3)
[20, 25, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39,
41, 42, 46, 48, 52, 63,
64, 66, 67, 68, 70, 87r,
105, 106, 108, 110, 111,
113, 114, 115, 118, 122,
127]
[118, 122, 125, 126,
128]

0 [80, 81](3) [49](4), [22](3) [49]
0 [113](5), [107](2) [107, 113, 127] [128, 129]
0 [111](5) [111]
1 [82r, 90r](3) [90r, 115, 119]

1 [75, 85](12), [69](4) [52](5), [88r](4), [122](3) [52, 116, 122] [122]
1 [129]

2 [89r](3) [56, 57, 88](4) [57, 115]
4 [69](4), [77](2) [67](3), [62, 66, 88r](2) [66, 67] [123]
10 [71](6), [73, 76, 77,
82, 90r](3)
[48](7), [24, 57](5), [47, 50, 54,
56, 117](4)
[34, 38, 48, 57, 90r, 115,
116, 117, 119]
r denotes a reflection study
_
_
_
Table 6 Intensity equations including quarter-wave plate error corresponding to multiple optical
arrangements for obtaining I
1
using left circularly polarized light
j h b p/4 plates Intensity equation
3p/4 p/4 p/2 crossed I
b
+I
a
1 cos
2
2usin
2
e
_ _
cos
2 d
2
_ _
+cos
2
2usin
2
e
_
3p/4 3p/4 0
parallel
I
b
+I
a
sin
2 d
2
_ _
sin
2
2u + sin2u sind sine cos e
_
+ 1 2sin
2 d
2
_ _
+sin
2 d
2
_ _
cos
2
2u
_ _
cos
2
e
_
3p/4 3p/4 p
3p/4 p p/4
others
I
b
+
I
a
2
1 sin2u cos 2u 1 cos d f
sine cos e sind cos 2u sin2u
+ cos d + sin2u cos 2u 1 cos d cos
2
e
_
3p/4 0 p/4
3p/4 p/2 3p/4
I
b
+
I
a
2
1 + sin2u cos 2u 1 cos d f
+ sine cos e sind sin2u + cos 2u
+ cos d sin2u cos 2u 1 cos d cos
2
e
_
Intensity equation without quarter-wave plate error I
1
=I
b
+ I
a
1 + cos d =2
it is matched. If any other wavelength l is used, the
quarterwave plate has an error e defined as [29]
e =
p
2
l
ref
l
1
_ _
(7)
The multiple optical arrangements mentioned for
left circularly polarized light can be segregated into
three categories, namely, the optical arrangements
with quarterwave plates crossed, quarterwave plates
parallel, and others in which the quarter-wave
plates are neither crossed nor parallel (Table 6). The
influence of error due to mismatch of quarter-wave
plate e is different for each of these cases.
Prashant and Ramesh [28] observed that with
quarter-wave plates crossed, expression for I
1
is
identical for both right and left circularly polarized
lights [28, 29]. However, the intensity equations for
parallel and other optical arrangements differ when
the input light handedness is changed. Particularly
the sin e term in these equations gets negated as 2
sin e. A similar behaviour is also seen for I
2
which is
the intensity equation corresponding to the conven-
tional dark field arrangement. It may be noted that
for both I
1
and I
2
, the error in intensity is a minimum
for crossed quarter-wave plates and maximum for
parallel arrangements, which reconfirms the wisdom
of using crossed quarter-wave plates in conventional
photoelasticity.
APPENDIX 2
Summary of problems solved for whole-field
parameters
A summary of the typical benchmark problems sol-
vedfor the whole-field parameters is shown in Table
7. It is interesting to note that the problem of a disc
under diametral compression is the simplest one,
and is also the one solved most often, while the
problem of a ring under diametral compression is
the most complex and has been taken to the stage
of stress separation by Ramji and Ramesh [128] and
Ashokan and Ramesh [129]. Table 8 gives the list of
various complex problems solved by various investi-
gators. In addition, the problems of cracked speci-
mens [54, 66] and bimaterial disc [80] have been
found in the literature. There has also been an
attempt to use digital photoelasticity for developing
a whole-field imaging sensor [147].
Table 8 Complex application problems solved using the digital elasticity approach
S. no. Type of problem [Reference number] (maximum fringe order)
Isochromatics evaluation Isoclinics evaluation Stress separation
Using a single image Using multiple images
1 Two-dimensional problems
Necked bar [84](6)
Transducer spring element [57, 118](3) [57, 118] [118]
2 Assembly stresses [82r, 90r](3) [63](2) [90r]
3 Stress-frozen slices
Aero-structural applications [81](3) [54, 57, 58, 64](5), [56](4) [57, 64] [129]
Biomedical applications [49, 62](3) [49]
Stereolithography [133](2) [133](2)
Machine components [45, 63](3) [36, 45, 116]
4 Transient analysis [79](2)
r denotes a reflection study

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