Error Assessment in Stereo-based Deformation Measurements

Increasing interest in the use of digital image correlation (DIC) for full-field surface shape and deformation measurements has led to an on-going need for both the development of theoretical formulae capable of providing quantitative confidence margins and controlled experiments for validation of the theoretical predictions. In the enclosed work, a series of stereo vision experiments are performed in a manner that provides sufficient information for direct comparison with theoretical predictions using formulae developed in Part I. Specifically, experiments are performed to obtain appropriate optimal estimates and the uncertainty margins for the image locations/displacements, 3-D locations/displacements and strains when using the method of subset-based digital image correlation for image matching. The uncertainty of locating the 3-D space points using subset-based pattern matching is estimated by using theoretical formulae developed in Part I and the experimentally defined confidence margins for image locations. Finally, the uncertainty in strains is predicted using formulae that involves both the variance and covariance of intermediate variables during the strain calculation process. Results from both theoretical predictions and the experimental work show the feasibility and accuracy of the predictive formulae for estimating the uncertainty in the stereo-based deformation measurements.