Manipulation of speckle fringes for non-destructive testing of defects in composites

Abstract A digital speckle pattern interferometer with optical fibres is proposed for composite materials diagnostics in an operative environment. Detection of a variety of flaws, such as disbonds, delaminations and cracks in aircraft components, is reported. Additional fringes are introduced for linearizing the fringe pattern and obtaining quantitative deformation measurements by Fourier transform analysis.