Comparison of Moiré Interferometry and Image Correlation Deformation

Measurement Techniques

David Mollenhauer1 and John Tyson2

1
Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, WPAFB, OH
2
Trilion Quality Systems, 400 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 400, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428

ABSTRACT

An advanced image correlation technique was used to measure deformation on the surface of a complicated composite joint.
The joint consisted of a combination of tape lay-up, cloth, and 3D woven architectures. Phase-shifting moiré interferometry
was used as a reference for comparison of in-plane deformation. The image correlation and the moiré interferometry
measurements both used digital cameras that had similar number of pixels in the region of view. Initial comparisons between
the two sets of data consisted of a direct comparison between full resolution moiré and image correlation. The image
correlation methodology produced fewer displacement data points than did moiré. As a result, the moiré interferometry data
shows better spatial resolution of the complex variations in strain. Displacement and strain magnitudes, in general, matched
very well. However, regions of very fine detail and high strain were missed by the image correlation method. Subsequent
comparisons of data consisted of examining the moiré results at a data point resolution exactly the same as the image
correlation technique. These displacement and strain data were extremely close in both magnitude and distribution. The
image correlation methodology appears to be a viable and robust method for deformation analysis, especially when
considering reduced specimen preparation time.

Introduction

Full-field optical measurement techniques are finding growing interest and acceptance by the materials testing community. A
variety of methods, including moiré interferometry, holographic interferometry, speckle, and ESPI, have been described in the
literature [1]. A relatively new method, 3D image correlation, is gaining popularity. This method uses digital photogrammetry
and correlation of a series of speckle images to produce both a specimen shape and its deformation [2]. It is easy to use and
can be applied to a wide variety of specimen sizes and shapes. This research focused on comparing the 3D image correlation
technique to the widely accepted full-field technique, moiré interferometry, by examining the same specimen with both
measurement methods.

Principles of Operation: Moiré Interferometry

Moiré interferometry is an optical interferometry technique capable of measuring in-plane displacements with high sensitivity.
The technique yields a displacement fringe pattern that is a contour map of in-plane displacements in a given direction on the
face of the specimen. A rigorous explanation of the physics and principles of moiré interferometry can be found in the
literature [3]. A brief explanation follows.

Deformation measurements using moiré interferometry are accomplished by exposing a diffraction grating on a specimen to
two beams of collimated, coherent laser light as shown in Figure 1. The angles of beam incidence are adjusted such that,
initially, one diffraction order from each beam is perpendicular to the face of the specimen. As the specimen is deformed, the
diffraction grating frequency changes and warpage is added to the otherwise flat wavefronts diffracted from the specimen.
This results in an interference fringe pattern, recorded in the film plane of the camera, which is a contour map of in-plane
displacements in the direction perpendicular to the grating lines. Typically, fringe patterns are obtained representing
displacements in two orthogonal directions. This is accomplished by applying a cross-line diffraction grating to the specimen
and having another set of incident laser beams on the specimen that are rotated 90 degrees about the z-axis from those
shown in Figure 1, while blocking the beams incident in the y-z plane. As shown in Figure 1, the fringe pattern resulting from
the optical arrangement would represent the y-direction displacements. The in-plane components of strain can then be
obtained from these data.

Fringe patterns can be recorded on photographic emulsions or using a CCD camera. Analysis of a fringe pattern can take
place by hand (counting fringes and fringe spacing as shown in [3]) or using advanced digital methods [4,5,6,7]. In this
research, a digital phase-shifting method using multiple images with unknown phase steps was used to process the acquired
fringe data [8].

Figure 1: Schematic of a typical moiré interferometry setup.

Principles of Operation: 3D Image Correlation

The specimen to be examined is viewed by two CCD cameras as shown in Figure 2. A random or regular pattern of good
contrast (paint speckles in this research) is applied to the surface of the specimen. A series of images is recorded at varying
levels of deformation. This series of recorded patterns is evaluated using digital image processing. The initial image
(undeformed) processing defines a set of unique correlation areas known as macro-image facets, typically 5-20 pixels across,
which are then tracked in each successive image. The accuracy of tracking is at the sub-pixel level. Using photogrammetric
principles, the 3D coordinates of the surface of the specimen, which are related to the facets at each stage of load, can be
calculated precisely. The results are the 3D contour of the specimen and the 3D deformation field. The components of strain
tangential with the local specimen surface can then be calculated from the deformation and shape information. Typical
displacement sensitivity is 1/30,000 the field of view.

An interesting and valuable result of using photogrammetry methods for processing the multiple speckle images is that, as
long as the specimen stays in the field of view, all of the local deformations can be tracked. Thus, large deformations can be
analyzed in a single measurement. Rigid body motions have no influence, and can be calculated from the original pixel
registration.

Figure 2: Image of a typical 3D image correlation system.

Experimental Procedure

A composite T-joint specimen, with significant complexity to the fiber architecture, was chosen to examine with moiré
interferometry and 3D image correlation. The T-joint was manufactured by co-bonding a standard tape pre-preg composite
skin to a cloth web using a pi-shaped textile preform as an intermediary structure (shown schematically in Figure 3). The fiber
architecture of the preform is extremely complex and, due to its proprietary nature, will not be shown in this report. It does,
however, provide an excellent opportunity to examine the abilities of both full-field techniques to evaluate an extremely
complex deformation distribution. The joints were loaded in pull-off mode by gripping the web and restraining the skin with pins
located 50.8 mm to either side of the T-intersection

Figure 3: Schematic of Co-Bonded Pi-Preform T-Joint

For the moiré testing, a cross-line diffraction grating was replicated to a polished side of the T-joint. The specimen was loaded
to 1090N. As described in ref [9], multiple sets of moiré data from overlapping regions on the specimen were gathered. These
data were “stitched” together into large master displacement and strain data sets. However, for this report, only data from the
central section of the T-intersection were used for comparison with data from the image correlation technique. The raw
spacing of the moiré data in the comparison region was 1302 data point columns by 1612 data point rows, which corresponds
with a spatial resolution of approximately 13 µm/point. The geometric extent of this comparison region exactly matched the
region of data obtained using image correlation.

After the moiré measurements were gathered, a speckle pattern was applied to the specimen over the diffraction grating. It
consisted of a base coat of flat white spray paint followed by an approximately 50% coverage speckle pattern of black paint
applied with an air brush (see Figure 4). The specimen was then loaded again to 1090N having never been removed from the
load frame after the moiré testing. The digital cameras used by the image correlation system contained CCD chips with a pixel
array 1024 columns by 1280 rows. For processing, a macro-image facet size of 15 pixels by 15 pixels was used, and each
facet was overlapped by 6 pixels. The resulting displacement data spacing for the image correlation test was 133 data point
columns by 110 data point rows (spatial resolution of approximately 156 µm/point).

At this point, it is important to point out other differences between the two tests. The moiré interferometry process involved a
great deal of specimen preparation. Grating replication is a relatively skill intensive, time consuming process. It can only be
applied to a flat or singly curved surface [10]. Generally, the method requires that the testing be conducted on a vibration
isolation table. Specifically for this research, the moiré testing took several days to complete and was conducted in an optics
lab on an isolation table. In contrast, the 3D image correlation technique is applicable to complex surface geometries. The
speckle pattern is relatively easy to apply and takes only a few minutes. For the image correlation experiment, the time
required for specimen preparation to test results was approximately 2 hours, including a lecture on the principles of the
technique. The test was conducted in a conference room.
 Figure 4: Region of comparison with applied speckle pattern shown.

Data Processing

The in-plane strain components were obtained by using numerical differentiation according to equation 1 where U and V

(1)

are the in-plane displacement components, ƒ is twice the grating frequency, and Ni are the fringe orders. As noted in the
previous section, the displacement data point spacing resulting from the two experimental methods was quite different. In an
attempt to directly compare the strains calculated from the two experimental techniques, the displacement data spacing from
the moiré test (1612 x 1302) was resampled to match the image correlation displacement data spacing (133 x 110). The
strains were then obtained from the resampled displacement data.

Results and Discussion

Shear strain, γxy, variations obtained from moiré interferometry (resampled displacements) and from 3D image correlation are
shown in Figure 5. In these images, it is clear that the overall trends in magnitude compare closely between the two
techniques. The local variations, due to the underlying fiber architecture, shown in the moiré data are generally represented
well in the image correlation data in both position and magnitude. However, in the image correlation data, there is also more
variation on a geometric scale approximately the same as the variations due to fiber architecture. These additional variations
are not associated with the fiber architecture.
 (a) moiré interferometry (b) 3D image correlation

Figure 5: γxy strain variation from the (a) resampled moiré displacement
data and (b) the full resolution 3D image correlation strains.

The full-resolution moiré interferometry shear strain data (1612 x 1302) are shown in Figure 6. This data shows trends, at high
spatial resolution, that are closely tied to the underlying architecture of the specimen. Peaks and valleys in the data are in the
general locations that are shown in the resampled moiré data and the image correlation data, however, the magnitudes are
much higher. Similar results were found for the other components of in-plane strain.

Figure 6: γxy strain variation from the full resolution moiré results.

It is clear from these comparisons that the data point spacing is critical to recording strain variations on the scale of the
material architecture of the specimen in question. There are several ways of reducing the spacing between the 3D image
correlation data points. The macro-image facet size can be reduced to try and better match the complexity of the specimen
material variation. This may, however, negatively effect the correlation accuracy. The facet overlap can also be increased.
This may not increase the spatial resolution of the data since the displacement data is based on the centers of each facet. If
the facet is too large, variations on a small geometric scale may still be neglected. Obtaining the highest spatial resolution
from image correlation techniques also depends on the speckle pattern applied to the specimen. The spacing and size of the
speckles must be comparable to the material architecture that the user is trying to examine. In this research, the speckled
pattern was somewhat coarse. Future efforts will examine reducing the macro-image facet size and increasing the facet
overlap for the speckle images already gathered in an attempt to maximize the spatial resolution obtainable with the applied
coarse pattern.

Conclusions

A comparison of the full-field displacement measuring techniques moiré interferometry and 3D image correlation was
performed on an extremely complex fiber reinforced composite joint. The joint contained regions of highly regular plies of
standard tape pre-preg materials and regions of 3D woven preform. The displacement data were gathered at a spatial
resolution of approximately 13 µm/point for the moiré interferometry and 156 µm/point for the processed 3D image correlation
techniques. For comparison, the moiré data was resampled to match the image correlation data spacing. Calculated strains
showed that both techniques identified peaks and valleys that could be associated with material architectural features. The
image correlation technique proved to also contain variations in the calculated strains that were not associated with
architectural features and were not seen in the full-resolution moiré data.

An important and obvious conclusion to be drawn from this work is that, when conducting any full-field deformation
measurement, the spatial resolution of the data restricts the architecturally induced variation that can be properly quantified.
With moiré interferometry, simply obtaining a digital camera with more pixels or increasing the magnification will help increase
the spatial resolution. This applies for image correlation as well. However, the size and overlap of the macro image facets
can greatly influence the spatial resolution. The spatial resolution obtainable, using the same camera, will be lower with image
correlation than with moiré. This drawback is ameliorated through reduced test preparation time and more testing flexibility.
Future research will include attempts to improve the spatial resolution of the image correlation data through decreased macro
image facet size and increased facet overlap.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Composites Affordability Initiative
for providing the test specimen examined in this research.

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