Pyramidal adaptive meshing for Digital Image Correlation dealing with cracks

Abstract A mesh refinement procedure designed for Digital Image Correlation analyses of cracked media is proposed, based on the pixel color for an artificial case, and the crack opening displacement field for two experimental cases. Although evidence that this procedure can improve every case if tiny elements are sought, it is also shown that the size of matrices and consequently, the computational cost can be reduced while maintaining accuracy, especially for low surface crack densities (e.g., single macrocrack).