Determination of residual stresses using hole drilling and digital speckle pattern interferometry with automated data analysis

A digital speckle pattern interferometry and hole drilling combined system is developed to determine the magnitude of the residual stress in a aluminum thin plate subjected to an uniform uniaxial tensile load. Performing automated fringe analysis, the optical data contained in the speckle interferograms are quickly converted into values of residual stress. The evaluation is carried out through the: measurement of the in-plane displacement field generated by the introduction of the small hole. The displacement held is determined from the calculation of the optical phase distribution by means of a phase shifting method. The magnitude of the residual stress is finally evaluated through a least-squares calculation and compared with the stress value applied to the specimen. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.