Digital Image Correlation (DIC)

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is an imaging technique that is uses tracking of the straining & deformation of an image in 2D & 3D.

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) effectively tracks the movement of the naturally occurring, or applied surface pattern during the test or experiment. This is done by analysing the displacement of the patterns within discretised subsets or facet elements of the whole image. The maximum correlation in each window corresponds to the displacement, and this gives the vector length and direction for each window. Advanced algorithms use multi-pass processing, window deformation, and the possibility of non-square subsets to maximise the sub-pixel accuracy.

​DIC Setup

The user acquires a series of images during a material testing experiment, with the first image normally being the case of zero applied load. With standard single camera or stereoscopic multi camera setups, 2D in-plane deformation or full 3D surface measurements are achieved. Local derivative calculations give the strain tensors across the entire surface, and a standard feature of StrainMaster is the ability to place a virtual strain gauge anywhere on the sample surface after the test, giving incredibly accurate strain data.

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