Application of DIC Method in the Analysis of Stress Concentration and Plastic Zone Development Problems

The development of measurement methods, and in particular digital image correlation (DIC) systems, which are designed to measure of entire displacements and deformations fields, opens up new areas of research. In general, the materials constitutive relations are formulated in such a way that material parameters could be determined with relatively simple experimental tests carried out on samples with uniform (approximately) stress and strain fields. Then it is possible to apply them to complex boundary value problems formulated e.g. in the small or large deformation theories. The application of DIC allows to verify the accuracy of their predictions by comparing the results of the experiment with solutions to boundary value problems obtained using the finite element method (FEM).

Assessment of digital image correlation for tensile characterization of fique woven textiles used as matrix-reinforcement

Analysis of the aspects of residual stresses quantification performed by 3D DIC combined with standardized hole-drilling method

Most of the engineering failures especially in mechanical and aerospace industry are due to the fatigue. Fatigue cracks and their propagation can be monitored by observing changes in the structural stiffness resulting from strength reduction as a function of the number of loading cycles. This monitoring can be observed using piezoceramic (PZT) transducer based electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique, and digital image correlation (DIC) system which uses variations on structural surface. The fatigue load usually aggravates the fracture if any defects pre-exist in the structure. The present work monitors multiple-crack emanating from electrode sparked multiple plane defects which are induced in to the specimens prior to the fatigue test, using EMI technique and DIC system. The fracture occurs much below the ultimate stress for the structures which already have defects as in the present case. EMI technique uses signature comparison of healthy and cracked state of the structure to depict crack growth. Initial detection of surface hair-line cracks from the corners of induced defects and their propagation till merging and subsequent failure were explained by signature variations and DIC techniques. Thus, a signal processing technique EMI, and image processing technology DIC were found to complement each other in prediction of early crack and their appearance on surface of the specimens.

Within a research project on the deformation capacity of in-plane loaded unreinforced masonry structures, 10 tests were performed on full-scale large walls subjected to in-plane static-cyclic loading. During testing, the measurements included all applied forces together with an overall and a local picture of the deformation state of the specimens. To achieve this, in addition to the traditional hard-wired instruments, i.e., LVDTs and potentiometers, an in-house developed 2D digital image correlation (DIC) measurement system was applied. DIC is a cutting-edge, non-contact, optical measurement technique that provides the complete deformation field by comparing the digital images of the test object's surface before and after the deformation. This paper reports on the applied measurement procedure, discusses important DIC issues and the applicability of DIC for deformation field measurements when testing large masonry walls at full scale. The obtained results proved that in-house developed DIC system based on conventional DSLR cameras can be considered as an effective system to measure the complete deformation field with high level of accuracy and spatial resolution even in the case of large specimens and complicated deformation fields.

Failure of underground structures, especially intersections, becomes more severe as the depth increases, which poses a new challenge for the safe construction and operation of deep rock engineering. To investigate the mechanical properties and fracture behavior of rock with an intersecting hole under compressive loads, a series of uniaxial compression tests was carried out on cuboid red sandstone specimens containing an intersecting hole with three types of shapes by digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The results showed that the existing hole inside specimens leads to almost a 50% reduction of mechanical parameters from that of intact ones, and this weakening effect is associated with the shapes of holes. Failure of specimens is a progressive process in which cracks, i.e., primary tensile cracks, secondary tensile cracks, and shear cracks, initiate from stress concentration zones, propagate along certain direction, and coalesce with each other into macrofractures. Both the real‐time principal strain fields and horizontal displacement fields of specimens under compression could be visually displayed by DIC system, and they were in good consistency in characterizing the fracture behavior. Moreover, the propagation characteristics of primary tensile cracks were studied further by quantitatively analyzing the strain variation during the loading process, and the propagation mechanism of “open‐close‐reopen” of primary tensile cracks was explained in detail.

Digital image correlation (DIC) technique with the aid of scanning probe microscopes has become a very promising tool for deformation analysis of micro- and nanoscale components. The scanner drift of the atomic force microscope (AFM) is a great disadvantage to the application of digital image correlation to micro/nanoscale deformation measurements. This chapter has addressed the image distortion induced by the scanner drifts and developed a method to reconstruct AFM images for the successful use of AFM image correlation. The proposed AFM/DIC method is to generate a corrected image from two correlated AFM images scanned at the angle of 0° and 90°, respectively. The method has been validated by two simple AFM/DIC experiments. The application of this AFM/DIC technique was demonstrated by the deformation measurement on the micro-interconnection in a micro thermoelectric cooler. AFM images of the scan region of interest were obtained separately when the microelectronic device was before and after operating at both its cooling and heating stages. The AFM images were then used to obtain the in-plane deformation fields in the observed region of the micro-assembly. AFM image correlation is performed for nanoscale deformation analysis using the authors’ AFM–DIC program. The results show that the observed region was subjected to cyclic strains when the device worked between its cooling and heating stages, and cyclic strain in the vertical direction was found to be significant deformation mode. The thermally induced deformation behavior of the micro-assembly device was modeled by finite element analysis (FEA). Both thermal-electric analysis and thermal stress analysis were conducted on a 3D finite element model of the device. It is shown that the experimental results were able to validate the finite element analysis results.

Characterizing the mechanical behavior of rocks plays a crucial role to optimize the fracturing process in unconventional reservoirs. However, due to the intrinsic anisotropy and heterogeneity in unconventional resources, fracture process prediction remains the most significant challenge for sustainable and economic hydrocarbon production. During the deformation tracking under compression, deploying conventional methods (strain gauge, extensometer, etc.) is insufficient to measure the deformation since the physical attachment of the device is restricted to the size of the sample, monitoring limited point-wise deformation, producing difficulties in data retrieval, and a tendency to lose track in failure points, etc. Where conventional methods are limited, the application of digital image correlation (DIC) provides detailed and additional information of strain evolution and fracture patterns under loading. DIC is an image-based optical method that records an object with a camera and monitors the random contrast speckle pattern painted on the facing surface of the specimen. To overcome the existing limitations, this paper presents numerical modeling of Brazilian disc tests under quasi-static conditions to understand the full-field deformation behaviors and finally, it is validated by DIC. As the direct tensile test has limitations in sample preparation and test execution, the Brazilian testing principle is commonly used to evaluate indirectly the tensile strength of rocks. The two-dimensional numerical model was built to predict the stress distribution and full-field deformation on Brazilian disc under compression based on the assumptions of a homogenous, isotropic and linear elastic material. The uniaxial compression test was conducted using the DIC technique to determine the elastic properties of Spider Berea sandstone, which were used as inputs for the simulation model. The model was verified by the analytical solution and compared with the digital image correlation. The numerical simulation results showed that the solutions matched reasonably with the analytical solutions where the maximum deviation of stress distribution was obtained as 14.59%. The strain evolution (normal and shear strains) and displacements along the central horizontal and vertical planes were investigated in three distinguishable percentages of peak loads (20%, 40%, and 90%) to understand the deformation behaviors in rock. The simulation results demonstrated that the strain evolution contours consistently matched with DIC generated contours with a reasonable agreement. The changes in displacement along the central horizontal and vertical planes showed that numerical simulation and DIC generated experimental results were repeatable and matched closely. In terms of validation, Brazilian testing to measure the indirect tensile strength of rocks is still an issue of debate. The numerical model of fracture propagation supported by digital image correlation from this study can be used to explain the fracturing process in the homogeneous material and can be extended to non-homogeneous cases by incorporating heterogeneity, which is essential for rock mechanics field applications.

Ply level strain measurement in composites using digital image correlation

Framework to optimise two-dimensional DIC measurements at different orders of accuracy for concrete structures

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a vital optical measurement technique that finds diverse applications in the domain of mechanics of materials. In aerospace applications, DIC has excellent scope in structural health monitoring of aircraft components. Aircraft wings, one of the critical components are subjected to different loads during flight. Ground testing and In-flight testing of wings can benefit substantially by DIC monitoring. DIC can be utilized to analyze the time-based variation in the speckle pattern or grid, applied to the wing’s surface. High-resolution images processed through a suitable correlation software helps decipher the data into stress and strain contours. Thus, any potential material failure or component defects can be identified. DIC also finds a role in flutter analysis, enabling the scrutiny of wing vibrations and deformations. In this review, the applications of DIC in analysis of aircraft components has been taken up, as in-flight structural health monitoring is a critical activity for a safe flight.

Adhesive bonding technology is widely used for connecting composite pipes recent years, for the adhesive joints have many advantages such as weight reduction, ease of manufacture, and more importantly, uniform stress distribution and less stress concentration within the joint region. Nevertheless, one of the limitations of adhesive joints is the difficulty in predicting the joint strength due to the presence of defects in the adhesive due to improper curing process. This paper presents an experimental study of single-lap joints with disbond defects at the adherend-adhesive interface. Different sets of adhesively-bonded singlelap joints containing varied disbond conditions were prepared and tested. The joints used carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates as substrates and epoxy resin as adhesive, with ultrathin aluminum foil (10um) as disbond defects in different sizes and locations. The full deformation fields were measured using the digital image correlation (DIC) method. The samples were subjected to tensile load till failure to determine the bond strength. Before the tensile test, the defective adhesive joints were detected by a phased-array ultrasonic instrument to identify the bond-line quality of joints. The results show that the disbond defects can be detect by ultrasonic phased-array technique, and the detriment of disbond defect to the failure process can be observed and recorded by DIC system. Based on the findings, the failure modes and failure mechanism of bonded CFRP joint were further discussed.

Determination and prediction of crack patterns in hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures

Trees are subjected to mechanical stressors, induced via dynamic (wind) and static (gravitational) forces, and must properly acclimate during their lifespan or face premature mortality. Resource allocation as a stress response is vital for tree survival, and can include the shedding of woody parts, adaptive growth, hormonal signaling cascades, and the initiation of energy transfer mechanisms. The strain resulting from stress intercepted by the canopy and transferred throughout the tree is of significant importance, not only for tree survival, but for the safety and well-being of the human population found in close proximity. As trees age and adapt to stressors and an ever changing environment, material properties also change that can influence tree stability, of which arborist and tree managers should account for. To test the function of tree orientation to an applied load, static load tests were conducted on 15 mature pin oak trees (Quercus palustris Muenchh.). Static load tests were applied to tilt the trees 0.1o from natural position to concentrate strain at the root-stem transition zone (RSTZ) and nondestructively mapped resulting strain patterns with an ARAMIS digital image correlation (DIC) system. Using bark as a surrogate for strain on the xylem, strain resulting from static loading was mapped with the DIC system from the main stem into the structural root system. Strain patterns were analyzed across the RSTZ in the leeward, tangential, and windward directions. Results indicate that mean maximum strain magnitudes are similar at the RSTZ on the leeward (0.088) and windward sides (0.090) and lower on the tangential direction (0.058). The leeward strain was comprised of 4% tensile strain and 96% compressive strain and windward strain was comprised of 95% tensile strain and 5% compressive strain. Mean maximum strain for the tangential orientation constituted 65% tensile strain and 35% compressive strain. The changes of proportional strains found on the tangential RTSZ orientation is poorly understood and often disregarded in tree biomechanical studies. This information could prove to be beneficial to the arboricultural and plant science communities to better understand how trees manage loading events and to further enhance tree risk assessment and root zone management protocols.

The paper presents application on digital image correlation (DIC) and microindentation for investigation of plastic flow under Brinell ball indenter applied on steel specimen made of two parts screwed together. Specimens in two different material states (a) as delivered (b) annealed were investigated. This approach enables internal surface to act as the external one and to be examined by aforementioned methods. Results obtained by application of DIC on scanning electron microscope (SEM) images are compared to microhardness maps and agreement is demonstrated.