Optical Strain Measurement System Development

Investigations of physical phenomena affecting the durability of SSME components require measurement systems operational in hostile environments. The need for such instrumentation caused the definition and operation of an optical strain measurement system. This optical strain measurement system based on the speckle shift method is being developed. This is a noncontact, automatic method of measuring surface strain in one dimension that corrects for error due to rigid body motion. It provides a gauge length of 1 to 2 mm and allows the region of interest on the test specimen to be mapped point by point. The output is a graphics map of the points inspected on the specimen; data points is stored in quasi-real time. This is the first phase of a multiphase effort in optical strain measurement. The speckle pattern created by the test specimen is interpreted as high order interference fringes resulting from a random diffraction grating, being the natural surface roughness of the specimen. Strain induced on the specimen causes a change in spacing of the surface roughness, which in turn shifts the position of the interference pattern (speckles).