Practical Estimates of the Errors Associated with the Governing Shearography Equation

In a series of papers Hung[1–3] pioneered the development of shearography, an optical NDE technique that detects gradients of surface displacements. Its utility for qualitative flaw characterization has been demonstrated, and while there is a need for using shearography in NDE for quantitative analysis, a large amount of the research[2–7] has concentrated on the qualitative evaluation of structures and materials. The purpose of this paper is to begin building upon a foundation for the newly emerging quantitative shearography[8].