Using Digital Image Correlation to Characterize the Static and Dynamic Behavior of Structures: Industrial Applications and Lessons Learned

Digital image correlation has recently seen a growing interest in both the research and industrial community thanks to the possibility to measure full-field information, with high confidence, and with a very limited instrumentation. Furthermore, advances in camera technology, particularly on resolution and data transfer rate, are now opening the door to new application, such as modal analysis and testing on rotating components. In this chapter, we give an overview of industrial applications of digital image correlation, ranging from the more classical characterization of material samples up to modal analysis and dynamic characterization of several components in stationary as well as operating conditions and show how the same instrumentation can be reused to cover multiple scenarios at the same time, without the need for changing instrumentation or data acquisition as is the case for other experimental techniques. We also show how DIC is used to characterize the static behavior of lattice structures, characterize both statically and dynamically mechanical components to validate numerical models, extract the modal behavior of rotating components, such as tires and fans, and finally understand the behavior of huge machines where the size and stiffness pose great limitations to the use of optical techniques.