Evaluation of Strain Distortion Correction Protocol using Scanning

Electron Microscopy and Digital Image Correlation

ALEXANDRA MALLORY I ALBERTO MELLO I MICHAEL SANGID

RESULTS

INTRODUCTION

Percent Error before Corrections

500
400
300
200

% Error

100
0
-100

10

11

12

13

14

10

11

12

13

14

-200
-300

1 cycle

10 cycles

-400
-500

Sample Number

Percent Error after Corrections

14
12
10

Primary method

% Error

Every material possesses a microstructure, which influences the

overarching mechanical behavior of the material
Strain localizations are the result of nonhomogeneous deformation1
material failure mechanisms are predetermined by strain localizations2
Nickel-based alloys are extremely durable
and can withstand very high temperatures,
which is used for aircraft jet engines
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used
to image the materials surface at high
resolution
SEM microscopes equipped with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)
can measure the local orientation necessary to characterize the grain
morphology
To measure strain, digital image
correlation (DIC) is used
SEM images have large amount of
distortion, or bias3.
When correlating images, distorted
images provide results inconsistent
with testing
The development and evaluation of a protocol for bias correction is
necessary to provide a consistent method of strain measurement using
SEM-DIC

DISCUSSION and CONCLUSION

Alternate method

6
4

100 cycles

1000 cycles

Accurate strain maps show

heterogeneous deformation of
slip (Figure 7).
Strain accumulation is seen
relative to the macrostructural
features, especially about grain
boundaries (Figure 7).

0
-2

Sample Number

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

METHODS
SPECIMEN PREPARATION AND TESTING
Nickel-based super-alloy flat coupons were
polished
Fiducial marks were placed at the corners of
the area of interest (200m x 150m)
GB images and data were collected using a
SEM microscope enabled with EBSD
A speckle pattern3 was applied to the polished
surface not too dense or too sparse
SEM images are taken before and during
testing at milestone intervals by dividing the
area into 9 smaller images

Specimens were tested under fatigue at three

different temperatures: low, medium, and
high to maximum levels
Testing was conducted in a vacuum in a
microscope chamber

A protocol for image distortion,

stitching, and consolidation of
multi-modal data was conducted
on experimental fatigue tests and
proved a useful tool for distortion
correction (Figure 10)
Distortion
caused
by
SEM magnification, optics, and
drift can be corrected to obtain
accurate DIC strain maps
The primary protocol is accurate
when the distortions due to SEM
do not result in negative average
strains
The alternate protocol can be
used when the primary protocol
does not produce accurate
results
Results are output into single
data sets for further investigation

DIC AND CORRECTIONS PROTOCOL

Grid Images determine distances
and image size
Speckles make DIC easier4 and
make identification and movement
of unique points in images easier
to determine strain; used Vic-2D
software
Microstructure information from
EBSD is overlaid
Correct strain maps using following
formulas5:
2

=
1 +
2
=
1 +
Resultant average strain over the
images equal to the plastic strain
Primary protocol takes average
strain of all nine images to find
Alternate protocol finds for each
image

Analyzing failure mechanisms

Future work will include comparing which failure mechanisms take place for
the different specimens. This will be accomplished by overlaying the GB
image onto the strain maps and plotting the slip planes in the samples.
Results are expected to show that specimens tested at low temperatures
will have significant differences from the specimens tested at high
temperatures.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We gratefully thank Priya Ravi for her assistance in digital image correlation and image stitching, and
Andrea Nicolas for her assistance in the use of the MATLABTM codes that were used to stitch the image
data and for creating the slip plane code that will be used to continue this work. We also thank Samuel
Otto for creating the codes used to stitch the image data in MATLABTM.
This project was partially funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of
the National Institutes of Health: SDSU MARC U*STAR 2T34GM008303-27

REFERENCES
1University

of Cambridge. Materials and Mineral Science Course C: Microstructure [PDF Document].

Retrieved from Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge The Interference Group Web site:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/prlw1/minp/CourseC/CP1.pdf.
2Esquivel, J., & Sangid, M. D. (2015). Digital Image Correlation of Heterogeneous Deformation in
Polycrystalline Material with Electron Backscatter Diffraction. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 21(S3),
1167-1168.
3Kammers, A. D., & Daly, S. (2013). Digital image correlation under scanning electron microscopy:
methodology and validation. Experimental Mechanics, 53(9), 1743-1761.
4Kammers, Adam D., and Samantha Daly. "Self-assembled nanoparticle surface patterning for
improved digital image correlation in a scanning electron microscope." Experimental Mechanics 53.8
(2013): 1333-1341.
5Mello, A., Book, T., Nicolas, A., Otto, S., Gilpin, C., Sangid, M. Distortion Correction for Digital Image
Correlation within a Scan Electron Microscope: Emphasis on long duration and ex-situ experiments.
For submission to Experimental Mechanics, August 2016