Digital Image Correlation and its Application in an Undergraduate Civil Engineering Materials Laboratory

Digital image correlation (DIC) is an innovative non-contact displacement measurement technique which provides the surface deformations and strains by comparing the digital images of a specimen surface taken before and after deformation. DIC is simple to use, cost effective, and commonly used to investigate deformation of engineering materials and structures. The goal of this paper is to present (a) the theory and concepts of DIC, (b) the process of implementing DIC including specimen preparation, image acquisition, and image processing, (c) the DIC system developed at IPFW’s civil engineering materials laboratory, and (d) the demonstration of the DIC application in measuring the displacement field and strain maps during compression tests performed on clear wood specimens parallel to the grains.