Sampling Moiré Method for Accurate Small Deformation Distribution Measurement

In this paper, a novel accurate deformation distribution measurement technique by using sampling moiré method is proposed. The basic principle and an experimental result of a steel beam in symmetric three-point bending are reported. In this method, the measurement area of a target is attached with an adhesive tape of a known pitch grating firstly. An ordinary CCD camera is installed on a fixed point to record the image during deformation. The captured image is analyzed by performing easy image processing, i.e., thinning-out and linear interpolation, to obtain the multiple phase-shifted moiré patterns. Then, the phase distribution of the moiré pattern can be calculated using phase-shifting method. Finally, the deformation distribution is calculated by the grating pitch times the phase difference of before deformation and after deformation. The experimental results in symmetric three-point bending test show that the displacement of the steel beam at loading point agree well with those obtained by an accurate displacement sensor. The average error of displacement measurement is less than 4 μm when 2 mm grating pitch is used, and it corresponds to 1/500 of the grating pitch accuracy. This indicates that noncontact deformation distribution measurement is possible by simple and easy procedure with high accuracy, high speed, and low cost for the structural evaluation of infrastructures.