A n Evaluat ion of Digit al Im age Cor r elat ion Cr it er ia

for St r ain Mapping A pplicat ions

W. Tong
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8284, USA

A BST RA CT : The performance of four

digital image correlation criteria widely used in strain mapping

applications has been critically examined using three sets of digital images with various whole- eld
deformation characteristics. The deformed images in these image sets are digitally modi ed to
simulate the less-than-ideal image acquisition conditions in an actual experiment, such as variable
brightness, contrast, uneven local lighting and blurring. The relative robustness, computational cost
and reliability of each criterion are assessed for precision strain mapping applications. Recommendations are given for selecting a proper image correlation criterion to ef ciently extract reliable
deformation data from a given set of digital images.
K EY W O RD S:

digital image correlation, image processing, in-plane strain measurement

N O T A T IO N
S an d s

An im age su bset of th e referen ce

an d cu rren t im ages resp ect ively

t0

Th e t im e wh en t h e referen ce
im age G(X, t 0 ) is t aken

Th e en t ire region o f a sam p le

su rface com m on in bot h referen ce an d cu rren t im ages

C, C CC , C SSD

Th e gen eric, cross-correlation ,

an d su m -sq u ared d ifferen ce
im age co rrelat ion coef cien ts

Fou r sp eci c su m -sq u ared d ifferen ce (SSD) im age correlat io n

coef cien t s

C 1 , C 2, C3 , C4

E or E11 , E22 , E12

Th e 2-D Lagran gian st rain ten sor an d it s t h ree co m p o n en t s

Th e d eform at io n grad ien t t en so r

G(X, t 0 )

Th e brigh tn ess o r greyscale valu e

of each p ixel of t h e referen ce
im age

g(x , t)

Th e brigh tn ess o r greyscale valu e

of each p ixel of t h e cu rren t im age

Th e t ot al n u m ber of valid p ixels

in an im age su bset S

P or P1 , P2 ,

P* o r P1, P2,

,P6 , P7

,P6, P7

A set o f p aram eters t h at d e n e a

p ossible local d eform at ion
m ap p in g fu n ct io n for an im age
su bset S (u su ally cen tred at X 0 )
Th e p aram et ers t h at d e n e t h e
op t im ised local d eform at ion
m ap p in g fu n ct io n of an im age
su bset S

Int roduct ion

Variou s correlation criteria h ave been u sed in th e
literatu re for strain m ap pin g m easu rem en ts based on
d igital im ages [1 17]. Assessm en t of each criterion is
often m ad e in d ividu ally based on th e d igital im ages

t 0 + Dt

[u 1 , u 2 ]

Th e t im e wh en t h e cu rren t
im age g(x , t) is taken aft er a t im e
in crem en t Dt
Th e 2-D d isp lacem en t vect or
(an d its h orizo n tal an d vert ical
d isp lacem en t com p on en ts)

u p (X; P)

Th e local d isp lacem en t eld o f

an im age su bset given by a set o f
d efo rm at io n m ap p in g p aram et ers P

~ g~
w G;

Th e p ixel-level weigh t fu n ct ion

d e n ed in t erm s of bot h referen ce an d cu rren t im ages

[X1 , X 2 ]

X0
x

2-D Cart esian coo rd in at es of a

m at erial p oin t on t h e referen ce
im age G(X, t 0 )
Th e cen t re or an ch o rin g p oin t
of an im age su bset S

[x1 , x2 ]

2-D Cart esian coo rd in at es of a

m at erial p oin t on t h e cu rren t
im age g(x , t).

acqu ired from n early ideal test con dition s an d free

from m ajor im age d egrad ation . In an actu al exp erim en tal en viron m en t, d igital im ages are som etim es
acqu ired with sign i can t exposu re an d/ or ligh tin g
variation s over th e loadin g h istory. Overexp osu re or
u n derexp osu re, u n stable or n on -u n iform ligh tin g,

Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria : W. Tong

u n even con trast, an d blu rrin g du e to sam p le su rface

deform ation an d m otion are am on g th e m ost com m on ly en cou n tered situ ation s. Th ere is a n eed to
form u late a robu st im age correlation criterion an d
related im age processin g strategy for th ese im ages so
th e resu ltin g strain m ap pin g errors can be m in im ised
or even elim in ated .
Th is p ap er presen ts a stu dy on th e robu stn ess,
com p u tation al cost, an d reliability of com m on ly
u sed im age correlation criteria by com p arin g th eir
strain m app in g resu lts of th ree sets of n u m erically
m odi ed d igital im ages with variou s d egrees of
average brigh tn ess, con trast an d sh arp n ess. In th e
followin g, a brief su m m ary of th e im age correlation
criteria evalu ated in th is stu d y is rst given . Th e
proced u re for selectin g an d gen eratin g th e test im age
sets u sed in th e stu d y is th en d escribed . Th e strain
m ap pin g resu lts obtain ed from correlation an alyses
of th e test im age sets u sin g th e variou s correlation
criteria are p resen ted. Fin ally, th ese resu lts are d iscu ssed in term s of th e strain m app in g errors an d th e
relative p erform an ce versu s cost of th ese im age correlation criteria.

Crit eria for Digit al Image Correlat ionBased St rain Mapping

x X; t

u X; t ;

t0;

(1)

wh ere u
[u 1 , u 2 ] is th e d isp lacem en t vector in th e
X1 X2 p lan e. Th e d eform ation gradien t ten sor F of an
in n itesim al m aterial vector at X is given as:
F

@x
@X

@u
;
@X

X 2 B an d t

t0:

u p X; P ;

u X; t

For strain m app in g an d pattern recogn ition app lication s based on d igital im age correlation , several criteria for m atch in g im age p airs h ave been rep orted in
th e literatu re [1 21]. Th ey will be su m m arised in th e
followin g u sin g th e n otation s ad ap ted by Ton g an d Li
[11] an d Li [12]. Con sid er an object with a at su rface
B th at lies on X1 X2 p lan e in th e initial or undeformed
con gu ration d e n ed by th e two-d im en sion al Cartesian coord in ates (X1 , X2 ) at a certain startin g tim e
t 0 . Th e object is assu m ed to u n dergo on ly p lan ar
rigid -body m otion an d d eform ation so th e su rface B
rem ain s at an d stays on X1 X 2 p lan e. Let a m aterial
poin t X [X 1 , X2 ] on th e at su rface of th e object
displace to th e location x
[x 1 , x2 ] at th e tim e t
t 0 + Dt. Th e d eform ation equ ation s in th e Lagran gian
form u lation are d e n ed as:
x

deform ation th eories of m aterials. For exam p le,

th e Lagran gian strain ten sor E is com pu ted via E
(FTF ) I)/ 2.
Du rin g an experim en t, th e object su rface B at th e
tim es t 0 an d t are recorded respectively as reference
an d current im ages. In p rin cip le, th e on e-to-on e
correspon den ce between th e p h ysical an d im age
coordin ates of th e object h as to be establish ed via a
cam era/len s calibration proced u re. For sim p licity, it
is assu m ed th at su ch a correspon den ce is id en tity so
th e spatial coordin ates of th e object in term s of p ixels
of digital im ages will be u sed in th e rem ain der of th e
paper. Let G(X, t 0 ) an d g(x , t) rep resen t th e brigh tn ess
distribu tion fu n ction s of th ese two im ages in th e
initia l (referen ce) an d deformed (cu rren t) con gu ration s resp ectively. Th e p rin cip le of im age correlation
for d eform ation m easu rem en t is to n d a local
displacem en t m ap p in g u th at can m atch th e two
in ten sity d istribu tion fu n ction s over a sm all bu t
n ite area S in th e in itial con gu ration (S is called a
subset of B h ere) or over th e corresp on din g area s
in th e cu rren t con gu ration . Th e displacem en t
m ap p in g u over S is often p aram eterised by a
vector P:

(2)

Th e d eform ation gradien t ten sor F is u sed exten sively in form u lation s of elasticity an d plasticity

P X0; t

P1 ; P2 ; P3 ; . . . ;
(3)

wh ere X 0 is a referen ce m aterial p oin t u su ally cen tred

with in th e su bset S. Th e q u ality of m atch in g between
th e two im ages over th e su bset region for an assu m ed
param eter set P can be m easu red by a correlation
coef cien t:
C X; t ; P

Cf G X; t 0 ; g X

u p ; t g;

X 2 S;

(4)

wh ere both th e speci c correlation criterion an d th e

assu m ed d isplacem en t vector eld u p (X; P) are defin ed over th e su bset S. Both cross-correlation (CC)
criteria an d su m -squ ared differen ce (SSD) correlation
criteria h ave been p rop osed in th e n u m erical an d
im age an alysis literatu re [18 21]. Con seq u en tly, th e
problem of deform ation m app in g by im age correlation at an arbitrary p oin t X 0 located with in th e su bset
S can be stated as to n d a set of local m ap pin g
param eters P* [P1 *, P2 *, P3 *, ] th at m axim ises
a CC coef cien t or m in im ises an SSD correlation
coef cien t:
C P

m ax f C CC P g
P 2P D

or
C P

m in f C SSD P g;

P 2P D

(5)

W. Tong : Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria

wh ere P D con tain s all ration al p aram eter sets of an

assu m ed 2-D in -plan e m app in g fu n ction [e.g.
d ef(F) > 0 is u su ally req u ired ]. To lim it th e scop e of
th is stu d y, on ly a h om ogen ou s d eform ation or af n e
m ap pin g fu n ction will be con sid ered, i.e. P
[P1 , P2 ,
P3 , P4 , P5 , P6 ], with P1 an d P2 as th e two disp lacem en t
com p on en ts an d P2 P6 as th e fou r d isp lacem en t
grad ien t com pon en ts. As CC coef cien ts are actu ally
related to th e SSD correlation coef cien ts [18 24],
on ly th e latter on es will be evalu ated in th is stu dy. A
gen eric SSD correlation coef cien t can be d e n ed as:
Z
~ g~
w G;

C SSD

h
g~ x ; t

~ X; t 0
G

i2
(6)

d S;

~ X; t 0 an d g~ x ; t are certain n orm alised

wh ere G
form s of brigh tn ess d istribu tion fu n ction s of th e
im age p air G(X, t 0 ) an d g(x , t) resp ectively, an d
~ ~
w G;
g is a p ixel-level weigh t fu n ction . Fou r com m on ly u sed SSD criteria are su m m arised in th e fol~ g~
lowin g [assu m in g w G;
1 an d th e total n u m ber
of pixels with in th e su bset is N]:
XN

gi

C1

Gi
G2

i 1

XN

gi

C2

g2
G2

P7 Gi
G2

i 1

gi
g

C3
i 1

Gi
G

XN
C4
i 1

"

2 1

g0
Dg
P N
i 1

(7a)

P7

Gi

N
i 1

gi
G2

P7 Gi

!
gi Gi
;
gG

N
i 1

2 1

gi

The Test Image Set s

;

G2

N
i 1 gi Gi
G2

1
2

XN

(7b)

(7c)

G0
DG

#
gi

g0 G i
DgDG

G0

(7d)

wh ere P7 is an extra p aram eter accou n tin g for variation of th e local average brigh tn ess of th e su bset
between th e two im ages [8], an d

v
u N
u X
t
gi2 ; g0
i 1

v
u N
u X
t
G2i ; G 0
i 1

XN gi
; Dg
N
i 1

XN Gi
; DG
N
i 1

v
u N
u X
t

gi

g0 2 ;

(8a)

i 1

v
u N
u X
t

As sh own above, th e CC coef cien ts are in deed

related to th e SSD coef cien ts (with ad d ition al
assu m p tion s of g G an d g
P7
G for C 1 an d C 2
resp ectively). In th is stu d y, th e m in im isation problem of th e SSD correlation coef cien ts with respect to
eith er 6 or 7 local m ap p in g p aram eters P was solved
by th e n on lin ear Newton Rap h son m eth od for leastsq u ares regression [18]. Bicu bic splin e in terp olation
of th e cu rren t im age was u sed to com pu te th e rstord er spatial d erivatives of th e im age brigh tn ess an d
su bseq u en tly to obtain th e Jacobian (grad ien t) an d
ap proxim ate Hessian m atrices for each correlation
coef cien t [8, 12]. Th e con vergen ce con dition s in th e
Newton Raph son iterative rou tin e were set to en su re
th at variation s in d isp lacem en ts P1 an d P2 were eq u al
to or less th an 10 )4 p ixel an d variation s in d isp lacem en t grad ien ts P2 P6 were eq u al to or less th an
0.5 10 )6 (i.e. 0.5 lstrain s). A su bset of 41 41
pixels an d grids with 10 10 p ixels were u sed in all
an alyses rep orted in th e followin g.

Gi

G0 2 :

i 1

(8b)

Th ree sets of test im ages (640 480 p ixels, 8-bit

greyscale) were u sed to evalu ate th e p erform an ce of
variou s SSD correlation criteria. To sim u late th e differen t ligh tin g con dition s, th e origin al im ages are
m od i ed u sin g a com m ercial d igital im age-processin g
program (Pain t Sh op Pro, Ed en Prairie, MN, USA). Th e
rst set of test im ages con sists of a still d igital im age of
an alu m in iu m plate (abou t 25 m m wide) as sh own
in Figu re 1A an d its eigh t variation s d u e to ch an ges in
ligh tn in g con d ition s, in clu din g 20% in crease in
brigh tn ess, 30% decrease in con trast, eq u alised h istogram , blu rrin g (Gau ssian lterin g), etc. Th e still d igital im ages are u sed to assess th e level of possible
m in im u m errors in trodu ced by th e variable ligh tin g
con dition s for sm all-strain m app in g app lication s. Th e
im age p airs in th e secon d set of test im ages are
selected from a u n iaxial ten sile test of a com p act dog
bon e-sh aped steel sh eet sam ple (Figu re 1B). Th e
width of th e ten sile sam p le is abou t 4.6 m m . Th e
im age of th e d eform ed steel sh eet sam p le is m odi ed
digitally to accou n t for seven differen t ligh tin g con dition s. Th e secon d set of test im ages is u sed to
evalu ate th e effects of variable ligh tin g con d ition s on
th e local strain s in a m od erately an d n om in ally h om ogen ou sly d eform ed eld . Fin ally, a p air of digital
im ages from a ten sile test of a tap ered titan iu m sh eet
sam p le [14] is u sed as th e basis for th e th ird set of test
im ages. Th e origin al wid th of th e sam p le is abou t
4 m m an d th e im age resolu tion is 9.7 m icron s p er
pixel (Figu re 1C). Th e im age of th e d eform ed

Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria : W. Tong

(A)

Evaluat ion Result s

The still image set
Th e eigh t im age p airs (TST0 versu s TST1-8) were
evalu ated accordin g to th e fou r SSD correlation criteria discu ssed above. Im age correlation an alysis
resu lts of th e still im age set are given in Tables 1 3 in
term s of robu stn ess, speed an d reliability respectively. Table 1 sh ows th e p ass/ fail resu lts of d igital
im age correlation calcu lation s (h ere `fail' m ean s th at
th e m axim u m iteration step of 80 was reach ed
T able 1: Su m m ary of th e robustn ess an d sp eed (u n it : m in u t es)

(B)

for th e

rst im age set

`Lighting' conditions

C2

C1

C3

C4

+20% intensity (I)

1.5

1.1

3.2

2.6

)30% contrast (C)

)30% C and blurred

2.5
Fail*

2.4
Fail*

3.5
Fail*

2.8
6.1

Equalised histogram
Equalised and blurred

2.5
1.8

2.3
1.7

2.0
2.0

4.1
5.2

+20% I and )30% C

3.3

2.4

Fail*

2.9

+20% I, )30% C and blurred

+20% I, )30% C and both

Fail*
1.9

Fail*
1.8

Fail*
Fail*

5.3
4.9

*Convergence conditions could not be reached at the end of 80 iteration steps.

(C)

T able 2: Global overall strain s m easu red for t h e rst im age set
(th e u n it for m axim u m global strain is m icro-st rain s, i.e. 10 )6 )

`Lighting' conditions

C1

C2

C3

C4
<1
1.1

+20% intensity (I)

)30% contrast (C)

81
17

<1
7.1

6.5
7.3

)30% C and blurred

Equalised histogram

90

15

Equalised and blurred

104

13

4.5

+20% I and )30% C

+20% I, )30% C and blurred

87

+20% I, )30% C and both

93

3 6
1.9
3.6

8.7

<1
3 6

29

10 16

Figur e 1: Th e referen ce im ages u sed in th e cu rren t evalu at ion :

T able 3: Local strain m appin g results for t h e rst im age set

(A) a st atio n ary alu m in u m p late; (B) a st eel sh eet sam ple u n der
u n iaxial ten sion ; (C) a tap ered titan iu m sh eet sam p le un der
u n iaxial t en sion . Th e sam p le su rfaces were d eco rat ed wit h spray
black p ain t sp eckles to en h an ce t h e im age con trast for im age
co rrelat io n p ro cessin g

(th e u n it for t h e average an d stan dard deviat ion in st rain s is

m icro-st rain s, i.e. 10 )6 )

titan iu m sam p le is again m odi ed digitally to accou n t

for seven d ifferen t ligh tin g con d ition s. Th e th ird set
of im ages is u sed to evalu ate th e effects of variable
ligh tin g con d ition s on th e overall strain d istribu tion s
in a n on -h om ogen ou s d eform ation eld. Th e strain
level is also m u ch h igh er th an th at in th e secon d
im age set. For a com plete list of th e d igitally m odi ed
test im ages, see tables given in App en d ix A.

`Lighting' conditions

C1

+20% intensity (I)

488

2140

<1

)30% contrast (C)

70

403

11

C2

C3

C4

22

172 <1

144 22

181 <1

)30% C and blurred

Equalised histogram
375
Equalised and blurred 582

1485
1801

49
85

329 34
402 27

+20% I and )30% C

1875

13

142

405

+20% I, )30% C
and blurred
+20% I, )30% C
and both

667

2386 157

812

32

147

161 3
166 23

40
158

<1

37

149

96

743

W. Tong : Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria

with ou t m eetin g th e con vergen ce con dition s in th e

n on lin ear Newton Rap h son solu tion p roced u re described above). Th e correlation criterion C 4 was m ost
robu st as n o failu re to con verge was en cou n tered
wh ile th e criteria C 1 an d C 2 were th e secon d best
(failed to process on ly two cases wh en both th e im age
con trast was red u ced an d th e im age blu rrin g was
in trodu ced ). Th e correlation criterion C 3 was th e
least robu st for th is set of im ages (h alf of th e eigh t
im age p airs failed to m eet th e con vergen ce con d ition s). Th e total com pu tation al tim es th at took to
com p lete th e su ccessfu l im age correlation calcu lation s on a Pen tiu m d esktop com p u ter are listed in
Table 1 as well. Th e criteria C 1 an d C 2 were am on g
th e fastest on es wh ile th e correlation criterion C 4 was
th e m ost com pu tation ally in ten sive (abou t h alf or
less th e sp eed of th e fast on es on average).
Th e reliability an d accu racy of th e strain m app in g
resu lts by d igital im age correlation were assessed in
term s of both th e global overall strain levels an d th e
local strain variation s (th e average an d th e stan d ard
d eviation of local strain s). Tables 2 an d 3 list th e
m axim u m valu es am on g th e th ree in -plan e strain
com p on en ts E11 , E22 an d E1 2 . Clearly, th e criterion C 4
gave th e m ost reliable an d accu rate resu lts (i.e. closest
to zero strain s) for all cases com p ared. Un iform
ch an ges in in ten sity an d /or con trast as well as
eq u alisation in h istogram in du ced little errors in
both global an d local strain s u sin g th is criterion .
Blu rrin g of im ages in d u ced abou t 30 lstrain s an d
150 lstrain s in th e average an d stan d ard deviation
valu es of local strain levels. Little global strain s (3 6
l strain s at m ost) were d etected . However, sign i can t
errors in local strain s existed for th e im ages with n on u n iform ligh tin g ch an ges (th e last case in wh ich
th ree d ifferen t region s in th e im age were m od i ed
sep arately (see App en d ix A for details). As exp ected,
th e criterion C 2 was as accu rate as th e criterion C 4 in
d ealin g with u n iform sh ift in th e im age brigh tn ess.
Th ey were far less accu rate in p rocessin g im ages
u n dergoin g a con trast sh ift or im age blu rrin g. Su rp risin gly, it also gave p oor resu lts for im ages with th e
h istogram s equ alised . However, th e criterion C 3 gave
better resu lts th an th e criterion C 2 for th e h istogram eq u alised im ages (th ey are less robu st th ou gh ). For all
th e cases th at cou ld be p rocessed su ccessfu lly u sin g
th e criterion C 1 , th e resu lts were th e worst in term s of
both global an d local strain s.

The homogenous deformation image set

Th e robu stn ess an d sp eed p erform an ce of th e fou r
correlation criteria are su m m arised in Table 4 for th e
secon d test im age set. Both criteria C 2 an d C 4 were

T able 4: Su m m ary of th e robu st n ess an d speed (u n it : m in u tes)

for th e secon d im age set

`Lighting' conditions

C1

C2

C3

C4

The original deformed image

3.1

3.1

3.4

11.5

+20% brightness
)30% contrast and softened

Fail*
7.0

3.1
6.7

6.5
8.6

11.5
10.8

Equalised histogram
Equalised and blurred

Fail*
Fail*

9.3
7.7

7.8
6.4

14.4
14.1

+20% I and )30% C (softened)

Fail*

6.7

Fail*

10.8

Gamma correction (0.65)

Fail*

3.4

5.6

13.0

Gamma correction (1.50)

Fail*

3.4

6.3

12.0

*Convergence conditions could not be reached at the end of 80 iteration steps.

eq u ally robu st in su ccessfu lly p rocessin g all of eigh t

pairs of im ages wh ile th e criterion C 2 was abou t th ree
tim es faster th an th e criterion C 4 . Usin g th e origin al im age p air, th e th ree in -p lan e global strain
com p on en ts (E11 , E22 an d E1 2 ) over th e en tire
region of th e strain m ap s h ave been com p u ted
as 0.04224 0.000628, )0.02235 0.000339 an d
0.000431 0.000331 respectively. For all th e cases
th at cou ld be processed su ccessfu lly, little differen ce
was d etected in th e global overall strain s. In m an y
strain -m ap pin g app lication s, details in th e local strain
distribu tion s are of in terest [5, 7, 12, 16]. Th e resu lts
obtain ed from u sin g th e origin al im age p air based on
th e criterion C 4 m ay be u sed as th e referen ce strain
m ap s wh ile all oth er resu lts are treated as test strain
m ap s. Th e d ifferen ces between th e test strain m ap pin g resu lts an d th e referen ce on es can th en be
com p u ted. Th e stan d ard d eviation s of th e local p oin tto-p oin t differen ce in th ree in -plan e strain com pon en ts can th en be u sed as a m easu re of strain m app in g
errors (Table 5). Th e n u m bers in th e brackets in
Table 5 are th e p oin t-to-p oin t CC coef cien ts [18]
between th e referen ce an d test strain m ap s.
As exp ected, th e criterion C 4 gave th e best resu lts for
each case in term s of reliability. A sim ple sh ift in th e
im age brigh tn ess or con trast in du ced little error u sin g
th e criterion C 4 . A soften ed im age wou ld h ave a local
strain error of <100 lstrain s. Gam m a correction s cou ld
cau se th e errors u p to abou t 100 200 lstrain s or so.
Equ alised h istogram an d blu rrin g wou ld ad d th e errors
u p to abou t 250 500 lstrain s an d gave th e sm allest CC
coef cien t (m u ch less th an 0.9). Th e strain m app in g
resu lts u sin g th e origin al pair of im ages an d oth er th ree
criteria sh ow little errors (in dicatin g th e h igh qu ality
of th e origin al im ages; see case n o.1 in Table 5). Again ,
th e criterion C 2 was very effective in processin g im ages
with th e sim p le sh ift in im age brigh tn ess an d som ewh at effective with im ages su bjected to gam m a correction s. It was in effective with im ages u n d ergoin g
con trast ch an ges, soften in g/blu rrin g, an d h istogram
eq u alisation . Th e criterion C 1 was least reliable as th e

Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria : W. Tong

`Lighting' conditions
Original deformed image

T able 5: Stan dard deviat ion s of local

C1

C2
23 (0.93)
19 (0.88)

32 (1.00)
35 (0.99)

10 (0.95)
+20% brightness

)30% contrast and

softened

C3

C4
13 (1.00)
35 (0.99)

Reference maps

11 (1.00)

7 (1.00)

32 (1.00)
35 (0.99)

1054 (0.67)
1187 (0.54)

<1 (1.000)
<1 (1.000)

11 (1.00)

368 (0.59)

<1 (1.000)

1628 (0.57)
1687 (0.44)

989 (0.64)
1191 (0.56)

1184 (0.64)
1357 (0.53)

85 (0.99)
85 (0.97)

689 (0.42)

344 (0.59)
3846 (0.01)

409 (0.55)
3616 ()0.13)

Equalised histogram

Equalised and blurred

+20% I and )30% C

(then softened)

3138 ()0.14)

256 (0.73)

1188 (0.36)
4833 (0.02)

1492 (0.16)
4165 ()0.13)

140 (0.90)
513 (0.80)

4663 ()0.32)

3752 ()0.16)

429 (0.50)

1448 (0.34)

1745 (0.16)

236 (0.81)
91 (0.99)
85 (0.97)

339 (0.60)
Gamma correction (0.65)

Gamma correction (1.50)

47 (0.99)

251 (0.92)

1628 (0.03)

214 (0.94)

244 (0.88)
143 (0.91)

1633 ()0.05)
648 (0.49)

149 (0.94)
116 (0.94)

378 (0.90)

1209 (0.65)

139 (0.98)

333 (0.80)

1256 (0.52)

102 (0.95)

129 (0.92)

429 (0.54)

75 (0.97)

CC coef cien ts between th e test an d referen ce strain

m ap s for cases oth er th an n o.1 were all far less th an 0.9.

The non-homogenous deformation image set

Th e origin al im age p air in th is im age set was selected
from th e load step s n os. 22 an d 38 of a con secu tive
im age set th at was an alysed in an exp erim en tal stu dy
on diffu se n eckin g in sh eet m etals [14]. As sh own in
Figu re 2, axial strain d istribu tion s alon g th e cen treHorizontal distance (mm)
0.8

42

0.7

41

0.6

40

42 (0.99)
266 (0.93)

3934 ()0.28)

982 (0.65)
1186 (0.56)

strain d ifferen ces dE11 , dE22 , dE12

bet ween test an d referen ce strain m aps
for t h e secon d im age set (t h e u n it for
local strain differen ces is m icro-strain s,
i.e. 10 )6 an d th e n um ber in a bracket is
t h e cross-correlat ion coef cien t s between
t h e st rain m aps)

lin e of th e tapered ten sile sh eet sam ple h ave been

fou n d to be h igh ly n on -h om ogen ou s with in creasin g
load steps. Th e robu stn ess an d speed p erform an ce
of th e fou r correlation criteria are su m m arised in
Table 6 for th e th ird test im age set. Th e th ree in plan e global tru e strain com pon en ts (E11 , E22 an d E12 )
over th e en tire region of th e strain m ap s h ave been
com p u ted u sin g th e origin al im age pair an d th e criterion C 4 to be 0.2438 0.06049, )0.1197 0.03212
an d 0.001950 0.007358 resp ectively. Large stan dard d eviation s in strain s are related to th e h igh ly
n on -h om ogen ou s d eform ation eld itself (Figu re 3).
Th e correlation criterion C 4 was th e m ost robu st in
su ccessfu lly p rocessin g all eigh t p airs of im ages wh ile
th e criterion C 2 was th e secon d best (failed to p rocess

39
38

0.5

Er1

37

T able 6: Su m m ary of th e robustn ess an d sp eed (u n it : m in u t es)

36

0.4

for th e th ird im age set

34
32

0.3

30
28
25

0.2

20

0.1
0

15
10

200

300

400

500

X 1 (pixels)

Figur e 2: Axial st rain d istribu t ion p ro les at select ed load

step s for t h e tap ered titan iu m sh eet sam p le u n d er u n iaxial
ten sio n [14]. Th e n u m bers overlaid th e cu rves are load steps
wh en a d igit al im age was taken d u rin g t h e test. Th e im age pairs
u sed h ere (TIP0 an d TIP1) co rresp o n d to t h e o n e at load steps
n o s. 22 an d 38 resp ectively

`Lighting' conditions

C1

C2

C3

C4

The original deformed image

10.1

10.2

11.2

27.5

+20% brightness

Fail*

9.8

9.8

32.6

+20% brightness and blurred

12.9

12.2

Fail*

22.3

Equalised histogram
Equalised and blurred

Fail*
Fail*

10.9
Fail*

16.1
Fail*

35.7
29.9

)30% contrast
)30% contrast and blurred
+20% I and )30% C

9.2

9.3

9.5

27.7

Fail*
10.9

Fail*
10.6

Fail*
Fail*

20.7
32.6

*Convergence conditions could not be reached at the end of 80 iteration steps.

0.270

0.294
0.270

0.199

0.129
0.152

0.129

0.17

0.152

0.2
4

0.176

0.223

0.199

0.2
70

0.199
0.223

0.247

0.2
9

0.129

0.199
0.223

0.247

0.176

0.176

0.247
0.270

0.270

0.223

0.152

0.294

0.247

0.176

0.129

0.129
0.152

0.223

0.223
0.199

0.152
0.129

0.2
9

0.199

0.24 7

.176

0.
24

0.270

0.152

W. Tong : Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria

Figur e 3: Th e axial tru e strain d istribu tion o f th e tap ered

t itan iu m sam p le between t h e o rigin al im age p air of TIP0 an d
TIP1 (criterion C 4 )

on ly two of th e total eigh t cases). Th e criterion C 1

was th e worst as it cou ld on ly p rocess fou r cases of
th em . Again , th e criterion C 2 was abou t th ree tim es
faster th an th e criterion C 4 . For all th e cases th at
cou ld be processed su ccessfu lly, little d ifferen ce in
th e global strain s were detected as well.
Sim ilarly, th e resu lts obtain ed from th e criterion C 4
an d th e origin al im age p air m ay be u sed as th e refer-

en ce strain m aps wh ile all oth er resu lts are regard ed as

test strain m ap s. Th e stan dard d eviation s of th e local
poin t-to-poin t d ifferen ce between th e test strain
m ap pin g resu lts an d th e referen ce on es are sh own
in Table 7 for all th ree in -plan e strain com pon en ts.
Th e n u m bers in th e brackets in Table 7 are th e CC
coef cien ts between th e referen ce an d test strain
m ap s. An oth er way of assessin g th e reliability of th e
strain m ap pin g resu lts is to u se th e n orm alised errors in
local strain s. Th e n orm alised local strain errors are
com p u ted by d ividin g th e local strain differen ce
(between th e referen ce an d th e test m ap s) by th e local
strain s of th e referen ce m aps. As an exam p le sh own in
Figu re 4 for th e case n o. 5 u sin g th e criterion C 4 , th e
n orm alised error in th e tran sverse strain com p on en t is
at m ost a few per cen t an d is abou t on ly 0.1% at th e
cen tre of th e tapered ten sile sam p le. Th e criterion C 2
gave th e local strain m app in g reliability sim ilar to th at
of th e criterion C 4 , except th e case n o. 6. Th e criterion
C 1 h ad th e worst reliability for th is set of test im ages,
especially for cases n os. 3 an d 8.

Discussions
Main tain in g stead y an d u n iform ligh tin g an d exp osu re con dition s du rin g im age acqu isition in a
m ech an ical test is critical in ach ievin g th e best strain

T able 7: Stan d ard d eviatio n s o f lo cal

strain d ifferen ces d E11 , d E2 2 , d E12
between t est an d referen ce strain m ap s
for th e th ird im age set (t h e u n it for local
strain d ifferen ces is m icro -st rain s, i.e.
10 )6 an d t h e n u m ber in a bracket is th e
cross-co rrelatio n coef cien ts between th e
strain m aps)

`Lighting' conditions
The original deformed image

C1

C2

C4

972 (1.00)

272 (1.00)

500 (1.00)

539 (1.00)
403 (1.00)

139 (1.00)
70 (1.00)

285 (1.00)
232 (1.00)

2109 (1.00)

3882 (1.00)

2280 (1.00)

1062 (1.00)

1852 (1.00)

1158 (1.00)

790 (0.99)

1575 (0.98)

+20% brightness

+20% brightness and blurred

C3

Reference maps

751 (1.00)

16880 (0.96)

2310 (1.00)

2530 (1.00)

8940 (0.96)
6249 (0.80)

1392 (1.00)
959 (0.99)

1481 (1.00)
867 (0.99)

Equalised histogram

3795 (1.00)
1906 (1.00)

6192 (1.00)
3087 (1.00)

3684 (1.00)
1821 (1.00)

1309 (0.98)

2382 (0.95)

1077 (0.99)

Equalised and blurred

4396 (1.00)
2322 (1.00)
1321 (0.98)

)30% contrast

1523 (1.00)
986 (1.00)

1517 (1.00)
838 (1.00)

1312 (1.00)
771 (1.00)

12 (1.00)
8 (1.00)

599 (1.00)

440 (1.00)

647 (1.00)

8 (1.00)
314 (1.00)

)30% contrast and blurred

557 (1.00)
+20% I and )30% C

10664 (0.98)

1993 (1.00)

215 (1.00)
2231 (1.00)

5220 (0.99)

1192 (1.00)

1135 (1.00)

3930 (0.90)

985 (0.99)

737 (1.00)

Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria : W. Tong

0.020

-0.040

0.001

20
-0.0
0.001

-0.020

0.021

0.1

03

1
.04

2
0.06

0.001

0.021

0.001
-0.020

01
0.0

0.001

0.001

2
0.0

0
0.0

0.001

0 .0
01

0.00

21
0.0

0.001

01

6
-0.0

40

0.0
01

0
0.

-0.
081

-0.0

0.001

1
06
0.

0.001

0.0

01

Figur e 4: Th e n orm alised errors in tran sverse t ru e st rain

d ist ribu t ion of th e tap ered t itan iu m sam p le (case n o . 5 listed
in Table A3, criterio n C 4 )

m ap pin g resu lts by digital im age correlation . W h en

su ch con dition s can n ot be fu lly realised in an actu al
exp erim en t du e to eith er th e lim itation of th e im agin g h ard ware (esp ecially th e scan n in g electron an d
atom ic force m icroscop es) or th e su rface d egrad ation
of deform in g objects, th e effect of variable ligh tin gs
an d exposu res on th e perform an ce of digital im age
correlation -based strain m app in g sh ou ld be assessed
an d th e m ost robu st an d reliable im age p rocessin g
strategy m ay be develop ed to m in im ise th e m easu rem en t errors.
In all th e su ccessfu lly processed cases for th e th ree
sets of test im ages in vestigated h ere, th e global average
strain levels d iffer at m ost by 50 100 lstrain s. If su ch a
level of errors is accep table for a given ap plication ,
th en th e variable ligh tn in g an d exp osu re con d ition s
sim u lated in th is stu d y is of little con cern . Th e selection of th e correlation criteria can be based on eith er
th e robu stn ess (th e criterion C 4 ) or th e com p u tation al
cost (th e criterion C 2 ). However, wh en on e is con cern ed with relatively sm all deform ation s of th e order
of a few h u n dreds m icro-strain s ( 0.01 0.1%) in eith er
th e overall average levels (th e rst test im age set) or
detailed local strain variation s (th e secon d test im age
set), th e m ost robu st an d reliable correlation criterion
C 4 sh ou ld always be u sed . Un less th e im age p air to be
processed is of h igh est q u ality, th e strain m ap pin g resu lts obtain ed by oth er correlation criteria are always
less reliable. Measu rem en ts of d eform ation elds with
large overall strain s an d h igh strain grad ien ts ten d to
be far less sen sitive to th e kin d s of degradation of
im ages con sid ered h ere, alth ou gh on ly th e criterion
C 4 is su ccessfu l in p rocessin g all cases. Th e local
m easu rem en ts of th e strain com pon en t E12 (abou t

2700 lstrain s) in th e th ird test im age set becom e

n everth eless u n reliable.
Su rp risin gly, both criteria C 1 an d C 3 h ave been u sed
wid ely in a sign i can t n u m ber of strain m ap pin g
ap plication s [1 4, 6, 13, 16, 17]. W h ile th ey m ay be
ad eq u ate for p attern m atch in g [20, 21] in gen eral an d
wh ole- eld strain m ap pin g u sin g im ages of very h igh
qu ality, th e resu lts in th is stu d y h ave sh own th at both
criteria are far less robu st an d reliable th an eith er criterion C 2 or C 4 . Th e correlation criterion C 2 was origin ally in trodu ced in th e con text of p rocessin g 3-D
su rface p ro lin g data acq u ired by scan n in g p robe
m icroscop y [8] an d it h as been u sed for m an y in -plan e
strain m app in g ap plication s [5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15].
Th e extra p aram eter P7 effectively acts as a correction
term on th e average brigh tn ess of th e im age pair.
W h ile it is n ot as robu st an d reliable as th e correlation
C 4 , its red u ced com p u tation al cost m akes it attractive
for m an y p ractical ap p lication s. Th is stu d y sh ows th at
th e n orm alised correlation criterion C 4 is m ost robu st
an d reliable for p rocessin g im ages with variable ligh tn in g or exp osu re problem s con sid ered h ere. Its on ly
drawback is th e th reefold in crease in th e com p u tation al cost wh en com pared with th e criterion C 2 .

Conclusions
Based on th e n u m erical evalu ation s of th ree sets of
test im ages p resen ted h ere, th e p erform an ce of th e
fou r correlation criteria con sidered in th is stu d y can
be su m m arised as followin g:
Robu stn ess ran kin g: C 4 , C 2 , C 3 an d C 1 ;
Reliability ran kin g: C 4 , C 2 , C 3 an d C 1 ;
Speed ran kin g: C 1 , C 2 , C 3 an d C 4 .
To ach ieve th e m ost reliable resu lts in strain m ap pin g
ap plication s, th e m ost robu st correlation criterion C 4
sh ou ld always be u sed. If on ly th e average d eform ation levels of a d eform ed im age are req u ired or wh en
im ages of good stability an d m in im al d egradation
can be assu red, th e fast correlation criterion C 2 m ay
be u sed to red u ce th e com p u tation al cost. Oth er two
correlation criteria evalu ated h ere are n ot recom m en d ed at all for wh ole- eld strain m ap pin g m easu rem en ts excep t for very h igh q u ality im ages.
REFEREN C ES
1. Su t t o n , M. A., McNeill, S. R., Jan g, J. an d Babai, M. (1988)
Effect o f su bp ixel im age rest o rat ion o n d igit al correlat ion
error estim at es. Opt. Eng. 27, 870 877.
2. Bru ck, H. A., McNeill, S. R., Su t t on , M. A. an d Pet ers, W . H.
(1989) Digit al im age correlat ion u sin g Newt on -Rap h son
m et h od of p art ial d ifferen tial co rrect io n s. Exp. Mech. 2 9,
261 267.

W. Tong : Evaluation of Digital Image Correlation Criteria

3. Jam es, M. R., Morris, W . L. an d Cox, B. N. (1990) A h igh

accu racy au t om ated st rain - eld m ap p er. Exp. Mech. 30,
60 67.

22. Ton g, W . an d Zh an g, N. (2004) On t h e crack in itiat ion

an d gro wt h in a stron gly d yn am ic st rain agin g alu m in u m
allo y sh eet . J. Ma ter. Sci. Technol. 20 (Su p p l. 1), 23 26.

4. Fran ke, E. A., W en zel, D. J. an d Davison , D. L. (1991)

Measu rem en t o f m icrod isp lacem en t s by m ach in e visio n
p h ot ogram m et ry. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 6 2, 1270 1279.

23. Ton g, W . (2004) An ad ap t ive backward im age correlat ion

t ech n iq u e for d efo rm at ion m ap p in g of a growin g crack in
t h in sh eet s. Exp. Tech. 2 8, 63 67.

5. Ton g, W . (1997) Det ect ion o f p last ic d eform at ion p at t ern s

in a bin ary alu m in u m allo y. Exp. Mech. 37, 452 459.

24. Ton g, W . (2004) Plast ic strain m ap p in g of ben t sh eets by

im age correlat ion . Exp. Mech. 44 , 502 511.

6. Ch oi, S. an d Sh ah , S. P. (1997) Measu rem en t of d eform at ion on co n cret e su bject ed t o co m p ression u sin g im age
co rrelat io n . Exp. Mech. 3 7, 307 313.

A PPEN D I X A : SU M M A RY O F T EST I M A GE SET S

7. Ton g, W . (1998) St rain ch aract erizatio n of p rop agat ive

d efo rm at ion ban d s. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 2087 2102.

T able A 1: Th e st ill im age set

Image le

Comments

8. Ven d ro u x, G. an d Kn au ss, W . G. (1998) Su bm icro n

d efo rm at ion eld m easu rem en t s, Part 2. Im p roved d igit al
im age correlat ion . Exp. Mech. 38 , 86 91.

TST0.RAW

The reference image (of an aluminium plate)

9. Sm it h , B. W ., Li, X. an d Ton g, W . (1998) Erro r assessm en t

for st rain m ap p in g by d igit al im age co rrelat ion . Exp. Tech.
22, 19 21.

TST1.RAW
TST2.RAW

Brightness increased 20% from TST0

Contrast reduced 30% from TST0

TST3.RAW

Blurred TST2

TST4.RAW

Histogram-equalised TST0

TST5.RAW
TST6.RAW

Blurred TST4
Brightness: +20% and contrast: )30% (TST0)

TST7.RAW
TST8.RAW

Blurred TST6
Strip 1: brightness: +20% and contrast: )30%

10. Zh an g, D., Zh an g, X. an d Ch en g, G. (1999) Co m p ression st rain m easu rem en t by d igit al sp eckle co rrelatio n .
Exp. Mech. 30, 62 65.
11. Ton g, W . an d Li, X. (1999) Evalu at io n o f t wo p last ic
st rain m ap p in g m et h od s. Proc. SEM Annua l Conference on
Theoretica l, Experimental a nd Computationa l Mecha nics,
Cin cin n at i, Oh io, 23 26.
12. Li, X. (2000) Sp at ial ch aract erizat io n o f u n st able p last ic
ows in t wo alu m in u m alloys. Ph D Th esis, Dep art m en t of
Mech an ical En gin eerin g, Yale Un iversit y, New Haven , CT.
13. Sch reier, H. W ., Braasch , J. R. an d Su t t on , M. A. (2000)
Syst em at ic errors in d igit al im age correlat ion cau sed by
in t en sity in t erp olatio n . Opt. Eng. 39, 2915 2921.

Strip 2: only brightness increased 20%

Strip 3: only contrast reduced 30% (TST0)
All digital image modi cations mentioned above (and below) are carried out using
the functions in the program Paint Shop Pro.

T able A 2: Th e h om ogen ou s d eform at ion im age set

Image le

Comments

14. Ton g, W . an d Zh an g, N. (2001) An exp erim en tal in vest igat io n of n eckin g in t h in sh eet s. Proc. ASME Ma nufa cturing
Engineering Division MED, New Yo rk, Vol. 12.

STL0.RAW
STL1.RAW

The reference image (of a steel sample)

The deformed image (of the steel sample)

STL2.RAW

Brightness increased 20% from STL1

15. Raiser, G. F., Em ery, R. D. an d To n g, W . (2002) Digit al

im age co rrelation
u sin g d eform at ion m easu rem en t s
t o accelerat e m icrop rocessor p rod u ct d evelop m en t .
Proc. SPIE The Interna tiona l Society for Optica l Engineering,
Vol. 4217, 485 490.

STL3.RAW
STL4.RAW

Contrast reduced 30% from STL1 (softened)

Histogram equalised (STL1)

STL5.RAW
STL6.RAW

Blurred STL1
Brightness: +20% and contrast: )30% from the
image STL1 and then softened once

16. W an g, H. an d Kan g, Y. (2002) Im p ro ved d igit al sp eckle

correlat io n m et h od an d it s ap p licat io n in fract u re an alysis. Opt. Eng. 41, 2793 2798.

STL7.RAW

0.65 gamma correction on STL1 (darker)

STL8.RAW

1.50 gamma correction on STL1 (brighter)

17. Yon eyam a, S. an d Morim o t o, Y. (2003) Accu rat e d isp lacem en t m easu rem en t by correlat ion o f colo red ran d o m p at t ern s. JSME Int. A4 6, 178 184.
18. Press, W . H., Flan n ery, B. P., Teu ko lsky, S. A. an d Vett erlin g, W . T. (1986) Numerica l Recipes: the Art of Scienti c
Computing. Cam brid ge Un iversit y Press, Cam bridge, UK:
484 485, 509 528.
19. Gon zalez, R. an d W in tz, P. (1987) Digita l Ima ge Processing,
2n d ed n . Ad d iso n W esley, New York: 90 92, 100 109,
425 427.
20. Jain , R., Kast u ri, R. an d Sch u n ck, B. G. (1995) Ma chine
Vision. McGraw-Hill, New Yo rk: 482 483.
21. Rit t er, G. X. an d W ilso n , J. N. (1996) Ha ndbook of Computer Vision Algorithms in Ima ge Algebra . CRC Press, Bo ca
Rat on , FL: 225 229.

T able A 3: Th e n on -h o m o gen ou s d eform at ion im age set

Image le

Comments

TIP0.RAW The reference image (of a titanium sample)

TIP1.RAW The deformed image (of the titanium sample)
TIP2.RAW Brightness increased 20% from TIP1
TIP3.RAW Blurred TIP2
TIP4.RAW Histogram equalised (TIP1)
TIP5.RAW Blurred TIP4
TIP6.RAW Contrast reduced 30% from TIP1
TIP7.RAW Blurred TIP6
TIP8.RAW Brightness: +20% and contrast: )30% from the image TIP1