Hild 2008 7

CORRELIQ4:
A Software for “Finite-element”

Displacement Field Measurements
by Digital Image Correlation
François HILD and Stéphane ROUX
April 2008
Internal report no. 269
LMT-Cachan
ENS de Cachan/CNRS-UMR 8535/Université Paris 6/PRES UniverSud Paris
61 avenue du Président Wilson, F-94235 Cachan Cedex, France
Email: {francois.hild,stephane.roux}@lmt.ens-cachan.fr
1
Abstract: Internal report no. 269
This internal report completes the first ones (i.e., no. 230 and 254) on digital image correlation.
The technique developed herein is based upon a multi-scale approach to determine “finite ele-
ment” displacement fields by digital image correlation. The displacement field is first estimated
on a coarse resolution image and progressively finer details are introduced in the analysis as the
displacement is more and more securely and accurately determined. Such a scheme has been
developed to increase the robustness, accuracy and reliability of the image matching algorithm.
The details of the program are then presented. The procedure, CORRELIQ4 , is implemented
in MatlabTM . The different steps are presented. The procedure is used on one example deal-
ing with Portevin-Le Châtelier bands in an aluminum alloy, and with an artificially deformed
picture of stone wool. Other published applications using the present code are listed.
The software has been protected under the IDDN.FR.001.110004.000.S.P.2008.000.21000.
Résumé : rapport interne n◦ 269

Ce rapport interne complète les précédents (i.e., n◦ 230 et 254) sur la corrélation d’images
numériques. La technique présentée ici est basée sur une détermination multi-échelles par
corrélation d’images d’un champ de déplacement de type “élément fini”. Le champ de déplace-
ment est d’abord déterminé sur une image de résolution grossière et des détails plus fins sont
rajoutés au fur et à mesure que les évaluations sont obtenues de manière plus robuste et sure.
L’algorithme développé ici a pour but d’augmenter la robustesse, la précision et la fiabilité de la
technique de corrélation. Les détails du programme, CORRELIQ4 , implanté dans MatlabTM ,
sont ensuite présentés. Ce programme est enfin utilisé dans un exemple correspondant à une
bande de Portevin-Le Châtelier dans un alliage d’aluminium, et un autre correspondant à
l’analyse d’une image artificiellement déformée d’une laine de roche. D’autres applications
publiées utilisant le code de corrélation présenté ici sont listées.
Le logiciel est protégé sous l’IDDN.FR.001.110004.000.S.P.2008.000.21000.
2
1 Introduction
The analysis of displacement fields from mechanical tests is a key ingredient to bridge the gap
between experiments and simulations. Different optical techniques are used to achieve this
goal [1]. Among them, digital image correlation (DIC) is appealing thanks to its versatility
in terms of scale of observation ranging from nanoscopic to macroscopic observations with
essentially the same type of analyses. Most developments based on correlation exploit mainly
locally constant or linearly varying displacements [2].
In Solid Mechanics, the measurement stage is only the first part of the analysis. The
most important application is the subsequent extraction of mechanical properties, or quantita-
tive evaluations of constitutive law parameters [3]. By having an identical description for the
displacement field during the measurement stage and for the numerical simulation is the key
for reducing the noise or uncertainty propagation in the identification chain. During the latter,
there is usually a difference between the kinematic hypotheses made during the measurement
and simulation stages. To avoid this source of noise, it is proposed to develop a DIC approach
in which the measured displacement field is consistent with a finite element simulation. Con-
sequently, the measurement mesh has also a mechanical meaning. Let us emphasize that in
the present study, only the displacement field measurement is considered (i.e., it is a DIC tech-
nique), and no (finite-element) mechanical computation is performed. No constitutive law has
been chosen, nor any identification performed. However the displacement evaluation is directly
matched to a format ready to use for any further finite element modeling work.
In the following, it is proposed to develop a Q4-DIC technique in which the displacements
are assumed to be described by Q4P1-shape functions relevant to finite element simulations [4].
The pattern-matching algorithm is based upon the conservation of the optical flow. Variational
formulations are derived to solve this ill-posed problem. A spatial regularization was introduced
by Horn and Schunck [5] and consists in a looking for smooth displacement solutions. The
quadratic penalization is replaced by “smoother” ones based upon robust statistics [6, 7, 8]. In
the present approach, the sought displacement field directly satisfies continuity. In its direct
application, the conservation of the optical flow is a non-linear problem that is expressed in
terms of the maximization of a correlation product when the sought displacement is piece-wise
constant [9]. Other kinematic hypotheses are possible and a perturbation technique of the
minimization of a quadratic error leads to a linear system as in finite element problems. To
increase the measurable displacement range, a multi-scale setting is used as was proposed for
a standard DIC algorithm [10].
The report is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the general principles of a DIC
approach. It is particularized to Q4P1-shape functions and it is thus referred to as Q4-DIC. In
3
Section 3, all the details are given to run correli_q4.m as a MatlabTM file and discussed for an
artificially deformed picture of stone wool. A picture of an aluminium alloy sample constitutes
another test case discussed in Section 4 for the quantitative analysis of a Q4P1 kinematics as
it offers a good illustration of a heterogeneous strain field (i.e., a localized band is observed
in a tensile test). Section 5 briefly summarizes other applications with the same correlation
technique, and Section 6 with extensions of Q4-DIC. Details can be found in the listed papers.
2 Q4-Digital Image Correlation (Q4-DIC)

In this section the principle of the perturbation approach is introduced. Let us underline that
this approach applies to a wide class of functions, and is not confined to finite element shape
functions. Other examples have been explored [11, 12, 13], using mechanically based functions,
or using spectral decompositions of the displacement field [15, 14]. However, the discussion will
be specialized to Q4P1-shape functions, which provide a versatile tool for the analysis of very
different mechanical problems, ideally suited to finite element modeling.
2.1 Principle of DIC with an arbitrary displacement basis

Let us deal with two images, which characterize the original and deformed surface of a material
subjected to a known loading. An image is a scalar function of the spatial coordinate that gives
the gray level at each discrete point (or pixel) of coordinate x. The images of the reference
and deformed states are respectively called f (x) and g(x). Let us introduce the displacement
field u(x). This field allows one to relate the two images by requiring the conservation of the
optical flow
g(x) = f [x + u(x)] (1)
Assuming that the reference image are differentiable, a Taylor expansion to the first order yields
g(x) = f (x) + u(x).∇f (x) (2)
Let us underline here that the differentiability of the original image is not simply an academic
question, but we will come back to this point later on. The measurement of the displacement is
an ill-posed problem. The displacement is only measurable along the direction of the intensity
gradient. Consequently, additional hypotheses have to be proposed to solve the problem. For
example, if one assumes a locally constant displacement (or velocity), a block matching pro-
cedure is found. It consists in maximizing the cross-correlation function [16, 9]. To estimate
u, the quadratic difference between right and left members of Eq. (2) is integrated over the
4
studied domain Ω and subsequently minimized
ZZ
2
η = [u(x).∇f (x) + f (x) − g(x)]2 dx (3)
Ω
The displacement field is decomposed over a set of functions Ψn (x). Each component of the
displacement field is treated in a similar manner, and thus only scalar functions ψn (x) are
introduced
X
u(x) = aαn ψn (x)eα (4)
α,n
The objective function is thus expressed as

Z Z "X #2
η2 = aαn ψn (x)∇f (x).eα + f (x) − g(x) dx (5)
Ω α,n
and hence its minimization leads to a linear system

X ZZ ZZ
aβm [ψm (x)ψn (x)∂α f (x)∂β f (x)]dx = [g(x) − f (x)] ψn (x)∂α f (x)dx (6)
β,m Ω Ω
that is written in a compact form as

Ma = b (7)
where ∂α f = ∇f.eα denotes the directional derivative. The matrix M and the vector b are
directly read from Eq. (6)
ZZ
Mαnβm = [ψm (x)ψn (x)∂α f (x)∂β f (x)]dx (8)
Ω
and ZZ
bαn = [g(x) − f (x)] ψn (x)∂α f (x)dx (9)
Ω
Let us note that the role played by f and g is symmetric, and up to second order terms,
exchanging those two functions will lead to simply exchanging the sign of the displacement.
Thus in order to compensate for variations of the texture and to cancel the induced first order
error in u, one substitutes f in the expression of the matrix M by the arithmetic average
(f + g)/2. This symmetrization turns out to make the estimate of a more stable and accurate,
although it requires more computation time associated with the computation and assembly of
all elementary matrices and vectors.
Last, the present development is similar to a Rayleigh-Ritz procedure frequently used in
elastic analyses [4]. The only difference corresponds to the fact that the variational formulation
is associated to the (linearized) conservation of the optical flow and not the principal of virtual
work.
5
2.2 Particular case: Q4P1-shape functions
A large variety of functions Ψ may be considered. Among them, finite element shape functions
are particularly attractive because of the interface they provide between the measurement of the
displacement field and a numerical modeling of it based on a constitutive equation. Whatever
the strategy chosen for the identification of the constitutive parameters, choosing an identical
kinematic description suppresses spurious numerical noise at the comparison step. Moreover,
since the image is naturally partitioned into pixels, it is appropriate to choose a square or
rectangular shape for each element. This leads us to the choice of Q4-finite elements as the
simplest basis. Each element is mapped onto the square [0, 1]2 , where the four basic functions are
(1 − x)(1 − y), x(1 − y), (1 − x)y and xy in a local (x, y) frame. The displacement decomposition
(4) is therefore particularized to account for the previous shape functions of a finite element
discretization. Each component of the displacement field is treated in a similar manner, and
thus only scalar shape functions Nn (x) are introduced to interpolate the displacement ue (x)
in an element Ωe
ne X
X
e
u (x) = aeαn Nn (x)eα (10)
n=1 α
where ne is the number of nodes (here ne = 4), and aeαn the unknown nodal displacements. The
objective function is recast as
" #2
X ZZ X
η2 = aeαn Nn (x)∇f (x).eα + f (x) − g(x) dx (11)
e Ωe α,n
and hence its minimization leads to a linear system (6) in which the matrix M is obtained
from the assembly of the elementary matrices M e whose components read
ZZ
e
Mαnβm = [Nm (x)Nn (x)∂α f (x)∂β f (x)]dx (12)
Ωe
and the vector b corresponds to the assembly of the elementary vectors be such that
ZZ
e
bαn = [g(x) − f (x)] Nn (x)∂α f (x)dx (13)
Thus it is straightforward to compute for each element e the elementary contributions to M

and b. The latter is assembled to form the global “mass” matrix M and “force” vector b,
as in standard finite element problems [4]. The only difference is that the “mass” matrix and
the “force” vector contain picture gradients in addition to the shape functions, and the “force”
vector includes also picture differences. The matrix M is symmetric, positive (when the system
is invertible) and sparse. These properties are exploited to solve the linear system efficiently.
Last, the domain integrals involved in the expression of M e and be require imperatively a pixel
6
summation. The classical quadrature formulas (e.g., Gauss point) cannot be used because of
the very irregular nature of the image texture. This latter property is crucial to obtain an
accurate displacement evaluation.
2.3 Sub-pixel interpolation

In the previous subsection, the gradient ∇f (x) is used freely in the Taylor expansion leading
to Eq. (2). However, f represents the texture of the initial image, discretized at the pixel
level. Therefore, the definition of a gradient requires a slight digression. Previous works have
underlined the importance of sub-pixel interpolation. In Ref. [17] a cubic spline was argued to
be very convenient and precise. Here a different route is proposed, namely, a Fourier decom-
position. The latter provides a C∞ function that passes by all known values of f at integer
coordinates. From such a mapping one easily defines an interpolated value of the gray level
at any intermediate point. Moreover, one also exploits the same mapping for computing a
gradient at any point. Finally, powerful Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithms allow for a
very rapid computation.
There is however a weakness in this procedure related to the treatment of edges. Fourier
transforms over a finite interval implicitly assume periodicity. Thus left-right or up-down
differences induce spurious oscillations close to edges. To reduce edge effects, each element
is enlarged to an integer power of two size, including a frame around each element. This
enlarged element is only used for FFT purposes, and once gradients are estimated, the original
element is cut out the enlarged zone, and thus the region where most of spurious oscillations are
concentrated is omitted. Moreover, at present, an “edge-blurring” procedure is implemented,
i.e., each border is replaced by the average of the pixel values of the original and opposite
border ones. This again reduces the discontinuity across boundaries [10]. There exist a few
alternative routes to limit or circumvent part of this artefact, namely, ad hoc windowing [10],
neutral padding [18], symmetrization, or linear trend removal. Such options have not been
tested.
2.4 Multi-scale approach

Even though a way of interpolating between gray level values at a sub-pixel scale was intro-
duced above, the very use of a Taylor expansion requires that the displacement be small when
compared with the correlation length of the texture. For a fine texture and a large initial
displacement, this requirement appears as inappropriate to converge to a meaningful solution.
Thus one may devise a generalization to arbitrarily expand the correlation length of the tex-
7
ture. This is achieved through a coarse-graining step. Again many ways may be considered,
such as a low pass filtering in Fourier or Wavelet spaces. A rather crude, but efficient way, is
to resort to a simple coarse-graining in real space [10] obtained by forming super-pixels of size
2n × 2n pixels, by averaging the gray levels of the pixels contained in each super-pixel.
First one generates a set of coarse-grained pictures of f and g for super-pixels of size
2 × 2 pixels, 4 × 4 pixels, 8 × 8 pixels and 16 × 16 pixels. Starting from the coarser scale, the
displacement is evaluated using the above described procedure. This determination is iterated
using a corrected image g where the previously determined displacement is used to correct for
the image. These iterations are stopped when the total displacement no longer varies. At this
point, one may estimate that a gross determination of the displacement has been obtained,
and that only small displacement amplitudes remain unresolved. This lack of resolution is
due to the fact that the small scale texture was filtered out. Thus finer scale images are used
taking into account the previously estimated displacement to correct for the g image. Again
the displacement evaluation is iterated up to convergence. This process is stopped once the
displacement is stabilized at the finer scale resolution, i.e., dealing with the original images.
Along the iterations, the “correction” of the deformed image by the previously determined
displacement field are possible with different degrees of sophistication. For reasons of compu-
tation efficiency, only the most crude correction is performed in the present implementation,
namely, each element is simply translated by the average displacement in the element. Inte-
ger rounded displacements are taken into account by a mere shift of coordinates, and sub-pixel
translation is performed by a phase shift in Fourier space [19]. This is a very low cost correction
since Fourier transforms are already required to compute gradients.
At the present stage, the implementation is such that the same number of super-pixel is
contained in each element. Thus as a finer resolution image is considered, the displacement is to
be determined on a physically finer grid. The transfer of the displacement from one scale to the
next one is performed using a linear interpolation, consistent with the Q4P1-shape functions
that are used. This multi-resolution scheme is thus also a mesh refinement procedure which is
performed uniformly (up to now) over the entire map.
This multi-resolution scheme was previously implemented using an FFT-correlation ap-
proach to estimate the displacement field [10]. In this context, it leads to much more robust
results. Large displacements and strains are measured using this algorithm, whereas a single
scale procedure revealed to be severely limited. Similarly, using the present Q4-decomposition,
this multi-resolution analysis revealed very precious to significantly increase the robustness and
accuracy of the measurement.
8
3 CORRELIQ4: User’s guide
The following section describes all the steps that can be followed when using the Q4-DIC code.
First start MatlabTM : at least the version 5.3 is needed (or any newer one; versions 7.xx have
been tested). Choose the directory in which the CORRELI files are put as the current directory.
Type the command correli_q4 at the MATLAB prompt. The first step is to choose in a first
menu (Fig. 1) to run a priori (performance) analyses, a Q4-DIC computation, to visualize a
result, or to create a movie:
• Texture: texture analysis;
• Uncertainty: uncertainty analysis;
• Resolution: resolution analysis;
• Computation click: choice of the Region Of Interest (ROI) by mouse click;
• Computation restart: get the ROI coordinates of a previous computation;
• Computation data: give the coordinates (in pixels) of the ROI to analyze;
• Visualization: visualize results of any previous computation.
• Movies: generate movies (only active for versions greater than or equal to 7.0).

!"#%$& '$(
)* +,# +% '$(
Figure 1: Menu to choose the type of analysis.
9
3.1 A priori analyses
The aim of the present section is to evaluate the a priori performances of the Q4-DIC technique
applied to the picture that corresponds to the reference configuration of the experiment to be
analyzed in Section 4. Figure 2 shows the texture used to measure displacement fields. It is
obtained by spraying a white and black paint prior to the experiment. Another picture (of
stone wool) will also be analyzed.

0.03

0.025
0.02

Frequency
0.015

0.01

0.005

0

1 2 3 4 5
4
Gray level x 10
Figure 2: View of a reference picture and corresponding gray level histogram. The tension axis
is vertical. The width of the sample is 30 mm.
3.1.1 Texture characteristics
The quality of the displacement measurement is primarily based on the quality of the image
texture. Hence before discussing the result of the analysis, the characteristics of the texture
are presented. The gray level was encoded on a 16-bit depth (even though the original depth
was equal to 12 bits) in the image acquisition, and the true gray level dynamic range takes
advantage of this encoding, as judged from the gray level histogram shown in Fig. 2. Such a
histogram is a good indication of the global image quality to check for saturation problems.
However, such a global characterization of the image is only of limited interest. It is mostly
useful at the stage of image acquisition to set, say, the exposure time and / or the aperture.
Many acquisition softwares offer such functions. However, since the actual dynamic range of
gray levels is an important element to appreciate the quality of a picture, it is included here as
a possible diagnostic tool of poor performance.
What is more significant is the average of texture properties as estimated from sampling of
sub-images in elements. This is more a characteristic of the patterns than of image acquisition.
The point is to evaluate whether the sub-images carry enough information to allow for a proper
10
analysis. Each element is characterized by its own gray level dynamic range, or its standard
deviation of gray level. The latter quantity, averaged over all elements of a given size, and
normalized by the maximum gray level used in the image, is shown in Fig. 3-a. Even for the
smallest element sizes, this ratio is already as large as 0.06, and increases to about 0.13 for large
element sizes. The higher the ratio, the smaller the detection threshold as shown in Eq. (2);
the standard deviation being an indirect way of characterizing the sensitivity of the technique.
One thus concludes that the gray level amplitude is large enough to allow for a good quality of
the analysis even for element sizes as small as 4 pixels.
0.13 3.5
Mean gray level fluctuation
0.12
3.0
0.11
x (pixel)
0.1 2.5
0.09
2.0
0.08
1.5
0.07
0.06 1.0
2 4 8 16 32 64 2 4 8 16 32 64
Element size (pixel) Element size (pixel)
-a- -b-
Figure 3: Fluctuation of gray level values averaged over elements of different sizes normalized
by the gray level dynamic range of the image (a). Average of largest (+) and smallest (◦)
correlation radii determined on elements of varying sizes (b).
Another significant criterion is the correlation radius of the image texture. The latter is
computed from a parabolic interpolation of the auto-correlation function at the origin. The
inverse of the two eigenvalues of the curvature give an estimate of the two correlation radii, ξ1
and ξ2 , shown in Fig. 3-b when averaged over all elements of a given size. The texture is rather
isotropic (i.e., similar eigenvalues), and remains small (varying from 1-2 to about 3 pixels) for
all element sizes. This indicates a very good texture quality that reveals small scale details
even for small element sizes. If one wants at least one disk and its complementary surrounding
to get a good estimate, the correlation radii should be less than one fourth of the element size.
This is achieved for element sizes greater than 6 pixels in the present case.
11
How to get these results?
To show the difference with a natural texture, another picture will be considered. It corresponds
to that of a stone wool sample [10]. Choose the Texture option in the first menu. Another
menu appears in which the format of the pictures has to be given (Fig. 4):
• Unknown format: it should one of the following formats .bmp, .CR2, .hbf, .hmf, .jpg,
.png, .tif.
• Image .bmp: this is a classical 8-bit coded format. Make sure the pictures are stored as
B/W .bmp files.
• Image .hbf or Image .hmf: these are HOLO3 (www.holo3.com) formats.
• Image .jpg: this is a classical 8-bit coded format. Make sure the pictures are stored as
B/W .jpg files.
• Image .png: this is a classical 8-bit coded format. Make sure the pictures are stored as
B/W .png files.
• Canon EOS 350: this is a .CR2 raw file.
• Image .tif: this is a classical 8-bit or 16-bit coded format. Make sure the pictures are
stored as B/W .tif files.
Figure 4: Menu to choose the format of the picture and then the reference picture.
The reference image, which is not necessarily located in the same directory as CORRELIQ4 ,
has to be chosen (Fig. 4). The next step consists in selecting the region of interest (ROI). Three
options are possible:
12
• Computation Click. Follow the instructions and click to choose the two end points of
the ROI (Fig. 5).
Figure 5: Choice of the Region Of Interest (ROI) by mouse click. Menu to choose the result
file of a previous computation for which the same ROI will be considered.
• Computation Restart. Indicate the results (.mat) file in which the ROI size is given
(Fig. 5).
• Computation Data. In the MATLAB Command Window, the user has to answer to four
questions to choose the size of the ROI. The minimum and maximum values are given
and they correspond to the image size:
minimum horizontal coordinate 1 <= datum <=1016?
minimum vertical coordinate 1 <= datum <= 1008?
maximum horizontal coordinate 1 <= datum <= 1016?
maximum vertical coordinate 1 <= datum <= 1008?
The maximum values are automatically given as those corresponding to the reference
image.
Once the picture is chosen, the software is running. Seven different results are shown. Let
us discuss them as they appear on the screen. The gray level histogram is first given for the
considered ROI (Fig. 6). In the present case, only a very small part (i.e., ca. 40 gray levels) of
the dynamic range of the CCD camera (i.e., 256 gray levels) is used. If possible, this should be
avoided and the situation shown in Fig. 2 is more desirable. If the test has not yet started, it
is time to reconsider the parameters of the camera. Otherwise, it is too late, and one will have
to do with what one has.
The fluctuation properties are given next (Fig. 7). The normalized RMS value with respect
to the dynamic range of the picture is plotted as a function of the element size. A practical
limit is chosen to be at least 1% of the dynamic range of the camera. Below this value, it is
13
x 10
4 Gray level histogram Region of interest
2.5
2 50
Number of samples
1.5 100
1 150
0.5 200
0 250
120 130 140 150 160 170 180
Gray level 50 100 150 200 250
Figure 6: Histogram of the chosen ROI.
believed that the measurement is not possible (i.e., there are not enough gradients to capture
displacements). With this limit, it is concluded that about 30% of all 4-pixel elements do not
meet this criterion. Such small size should therefore not be used. With 16-pixel and larger
elements, this first criterion is always satisfied.
Fluctuation criterion
100
Unvalidated ZOI 0.04
Mean fluctation
90 Validated ZOI
Min. fluctation
0.035 Limit
80
0.03
70
Relative fluctuation
ZOI percentage
60 0.025
50 0.02
40
0.015
30
0.01
20
10 0.005
0 0
4 8 16 32 64 128 4 8 16 32 64 128
ZOI size (pixels) ZOI size (pixels)
Figure 7: Percentage of validated elements. Minimum and mean relative RMS fluctuations as
functions of the element size in the analyzed picture of Fig. 6.
Last, the principal correlation radii are shown in values expressed in pixels, and normalized
by the element size (Fig. 8). A practical limit is chosen to be at most 25% of the element size.
Above this value, it is believed that the measurement is not secure. With this limit, it is
concluded that about 50% of all 8-pixel elements do not meet this criterion. Such small size
should therefore not be used. With 16-pixel and larger elements, this second criterion is always
satisfied. Last, let us note that the two correlation radii are significantly different. This result
14
indicates that the texture is anisotropic (Fig. 6). The interested reader will find additional
details in Ref. [18] concerning the determination of dominant orientations of a texture.
Correlation radius criterion
100 5 20
Unvalidated ZOI R1mean R1mean
Validated ZOI 4.5 R1max 18 R1max
90
R2mean R2mean
80 4 R2max 16 R2max
Dimensionless correlation radii

Limit
Correlation radii (pixels)

70 3.5 14
ZOI percentage
60 3 12
50 2.5 10
40 2 8
30 1.5 6
20 1 4
10 0.5 2
0 0 0
4 8 16 32 64 128 4 8 16 32 64 128 4 8 16 32 64 128
ZOI size (pixels) ZOI size (pixels) ZOI size (pixels)
Figure 8: Percentage of validated elements. Maximum and mean correlation radii as functions
of the element size.
With these two simple criteria, it is concluded that at least 16-pixel elements are to
be chosen (i.e., both are satisfied simultaneously). It is worth noting that this first a priori
analysis concerns only the texture itself. It is therefore a qualitative analysis. In the following,
two quantitative analyses are proposed.
3.1.2 Displacement uncertainty
Prior to any computation, it is important to estimate the a priori performance of the approach
on the actual texture of the image. If one changes the picture, one may not get exactly the
same performance since it is related to the local details of the gray level distribution as shown
in Section 2. This is performed by using the original image f only, and generating a translated
image g by a prescribed amount upre . Such an image is generated in Fourier space using a simple
phase shift for each amplitude. This procedure implies a specific interpolation procedure for
inter-pixel gray levels, to which one resorts systematically (see Section 2.3). The algorithm is
then run on the pair of images (f, g), and the estimated displacement field uest (x) is measured.
One is mainly interested in sub-pixel displacements, where the main origin of errors comes
from inter-pixel interpolation. Therefore the prescribed displacement is chosen along the (1, 1)
direction so as to maximize this interpolation sensitivity. To highlight this reference to the
pixel scale, one refers to the x- (or y-) component of the displacement upre ≡ upre .ex varying
√
from 0 to 1 pixel, rather than the Euclidian norm (varying from 0 to 2 pixel).
The quality of the estimate is characterized by two indicators, namely, the systematic
error, δu = khuest i − upre k, and the standard uncertainty σu = hkuest − huest ik2 i1/2 . The
change of these two indicators is shown in Fig. 9 as functions of the prescribed displacement
amplitude for different element sizes ` ranging from 4 to 128 pixels. Both quantities reach a
15
maximum for one half pixel displacement, upre = 0.5 pixel, and are approximately symmetric
about this maximum. Integer valued displacements (in pixels) imply no interpolation and are
exactly captured through the multi-scale procedure discussed above. This confirms that these
errors are due to interpolation procedures. The results are shown in a semi-log scale to reveal
the strong sensitivity to the element size, however a linear scale would show that both δu and σu
follow approximately a linear increase with upre from 0 to 0.5 pixel (and a symmetric decrease
from 0.5 to 1 pixel).
-1 0
10 10
4 4
8
Mean displacement error (pixel)
Standard uncertainty (pixel)

-2 8 -1
10 10 16
16
32
32 64
-3 -2
10 64 10 128
128
-4 -3
10 10
-5 -4
10 10
-6 -5
10 10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Prescribed displacement (pixel) Prescribed displacement (pixel)
-a- -b-
Figure 9: Mean error δu and standard deviation σu as a function of the prescribed displacement
upre for different element sizes ` ranging from 4 to 128 pixels.
To quantify the effect of the element size, the error and standard uncertainty, are averaged
over upre within the range [0, 1] as functions of the element size `. These data are shown in
Fig. 10. A power-law decrease
hσu i = A1+ζ `−ζ
(14)
hδu i = B 1+υ `−υ
for 8 ≤ ` ≤ 128 pixels is usually observed as shown by a regression line on the graph. Both
amplitudes are typically close to 1 pixel (more precisely A = 1.15 pixel and B = 1.07 pixel).
The exponents are measured to be ζ = 1.96 and υ = 2.34. The data for ` = 128 pixels seem
to depart from the power-law trend with a tendency to saturate. These results quantify the
trade-off the experimentalist has to face in the analysis of a displacement field, namely, either
the measurement is accurate but estimated over a large zone, or it is spatially resolved but at
the cost of a less accurate determination. This is a significant difference with classical finite
element techniques for which convergence is achieved when the element size decreases. This
is not the case when measurements are concerned. Let us however underline the following
conclusions:
16
• Elements as small as ` = 4 pixels may be used with an average error and standard
uncertainty of the order of 0.1 pixel,
• Systematic errors of the order of 10−2 and 10−3 pixel is reached for element sizes respec-
tively equal to 8 and 16 pixels.
• Standard uncertainties of the order of 2 × 10−2 and 6 × 10−3 pixel is reached for element
sizes respectively equal to 8 and 16 pixels.
• The systematic error in the determination of a displacement is such that evaluations will
be “attracted” toward integer values. Correspondingly, transitions at half-integer pixel
values for the displacement will appear as more abrupt. This phenomenon will be referred
to as “integer locking” in the sequel, and will be discussed in detail. Let us underline
that this spurious bias is revealed in this technique because the latter is used down to
extremely small element sizes.

1'1"2-3 465 7

89 3 465 7

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;

:

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/ 0'/ / >$/
Figure 10: Average error hδu i and standard uncertainty hσu i as functions of the element size
`. For the displacement uncertainty, the results obtained by Q4-DIC are compared with those
obtained by FFT-DIC. The dashed lines correspond to power-law fits.
For comparison purposes, the displacement uncertainties obtained with the present tech-
nique are compared with those of a standard FFT-DIC technique [10]. In that case, a weaker
power-law decrease is observed with A = 1.00 pixel and ζ = 1.23 (Fig. 10b). This result shows
that by using a continuous description of the displacement field, it enables for a decrease of the
displacement uncertainty when the same element size is used. Conversely, for a given displace-
ment uncertainty, the Q4-DIC algorithm allows one to reduce significantly the element size,
17
thereby increasing the number of measurement points when compared to a classical FFT-DIC
technique.
The same instructions as presented for the texture analysis (Section 3.1.1) hold. We reproduce
them for a more linear reading. Choose the Uncertainty option in the first menu. Another
menu appears in which the format of the pictures is chosen (Fig. 4):
.png, .tif.
B/W .bmp files.
B/W .jpg files.
B/W .png files.
the ROI (Fig. 5).
(Fig. 5).
18
image.
Once the picture is chosen, the software is running. It consists in artificially moving a
picture with a constant rigid body motion. In practice, increments of 0.5 pixel are sufficient
since the mean error and corresponding standard deviation are piece-wise linear functions of the
prescribed displacement (Fig. 9). Four different results are shown. The mean displacement error
and corresponding standard deviation are plotted as functions of the prescribed displacement
for different element sizes (Fig. 11). In the present case, there is a significant decrease as the
element size becomes greater than or equal to 16 pixels.
0.35 0.035
4 4
8 8
0.3 16 0.03 16
32
32
0.25 64 64
0.025
Mean error (pixel)
0.2 0.02
0.15 0.015
0.1 0.01
0.05 0.005
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Prescribed displacement (pixel) Prescribed displacement (pixel)
Figure 11: Mean displacement error and standard deviation as functions of the prescribed
displacement for different element sizes.
The average displacement error and standard deviation are also given and power law
fitted. Figure 12 shows first that the mean error is an order of magnitude less than the standard
deviation. This result shows that the measurements are basically unbiased but mildly scattered
around the true value. Second, the standard deviation decreases as the element size increases
as already discussed above (namely, either the measurement is accurate but generally estimated
over a large zone, or it is spatially resolved but at the cost of a less accurate determination).
With this second analysis, it is concluded that 16-pixel elements can be chosen and that
the displacement uncertainty is of the order of 2 × 10−2 pixel. When compared with the results
of Fig. 10, it is concluded that the artificial texture (Fig. 2) yields lower levels of displacement
uncertainties than the stone wool texture.
19
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K J LM

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Figure 12: Mean displacement error and standard deviation as functions of the element size.
3.1.3 Noise sensitivity
Last, the effect of noise associated to the image acquisition (e.g., digitization, read-out noise,
black current noise, photon noise [20]) on the displacement measurement is assessed. This anal-
ysis allows one to estimate the displacement resolution [21]. The reference image is corrupted
by a Gaussian noise of zero mean and standard variation σg ranging from 1 to 8 gray levels
at each pixel with no spatial correlation. No displacement field is superimposed on the image,
and the displacement field is then estimated. The standard deviation of the displacement field,
σu , is shown in Fig. 13 as a function of the noise amplitude σg and for different element sizes
ranging from 4 to 128 pixels. The quantity σu is linear in the noise amplitude and inversely pro-
portional to the element size. The latter properties are derived from the central limit theorem.
A theoretical analysis of this problem is discussed in Refs. [11, 22], and leads to the
following estimate of the standard deviation of the displacement field induced by a Gaussian
white noise √
12 2σg p
σu = (15)
7h|∇f |2 i1/2 `
where p is the physical pixel size. For the present application, one computes h|∇f |2 i1/2 ≈
5340 pixel−1 , hence σu ≈ 4.5 × 10−4 σg p/`. This theoretical expectation (neglecting the spatial
correlation in the image texture) is consistent with the direct estimates shown in Fig. 13 (e.g.,
for ` = 4 pixels and σg = 8 gray levels, the direct estimate is 1.2×10−3 pixel to be compared with
9 × 10−4 pixel given by the above formula). In practice, with the used CCD camera, the noise
level is given with a maximum range less than 3 gray levels. Consequently, the contribution of
20
-3
x 10
1.5

4
0.5
16
32
64
128
0
0 2 4 6 8
Noise level (gray level)
Figure 13: Standard deviation of the displacement error versus noise amplitude for different
element sizes (4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 pixels) from top to bottom.
image noise is negligibly small when compared to that induced by the sub-pixel interpolation.
The same instructions as presented for the texture analysis (Section 3.1.1) hold. We reproduce
them for a more linear reading. Choose the Resolution option in the first menu. Another
menu appears in which the format of the pictures has to be chosen (Fig. 4):
.png, .tif.
B/W .bmp files.
B/W .jpg files.
B/W .png files.
21
the ROI (Fig. 5).
(Fig. 5).
image.
Once the picture is chosen, the software is running. It consists in adding varying levels of
random Gaussian noise to the reference picture and then performing the correlation calculation
with respect to the reference picture. Two different results are shown. The mean displacement
error and corresponding standard deviation are plotted as functions of the noise level (standard
deviation) for different element sizes (Fig. 14). The mean error has usually a very erratic trend
(this is only a check) and very low values. Conversely, the standard deviation has a clearer
tendency already discussed above.
In the present case however, the results have to be analyzed very carefully. The levels
are very high. This is to be related to the low dynamic range of the analyzed picture (Fig. 6)
that makes the texture very sensitive to acquisition noise. Figure 15 shows a zoom around
the 0-2 gray level standard deviation range. It is concluded that in the present case, the main
limitation in terms of performance is induced by the texture itself, and not the correlation
algorithm. This is an extreme case. In many situations, the result is just the opposite (namely,
the correlation code bears most of the “responsibility,” in particular when artificial textures
are considered as shown above).
With this third analysis, it is concluded that 16-pixel elements can be chosen and that
the displacement uncertainty is of the order of 2 × 10−2 pixel, provided the camera sensor has
22

29
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,-*
67
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8:9
7 6 95
4;
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Figure 14: Mean displacement error and standard deviation as functions of the noise level for
different element sizes.
4 5

23 687
- ,1
/0
'% .
-
% &
9:
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(*
( &) 74
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Figure 15: Mean displacement error and standard deviation as functions of the noise level for
different element sizes.
low noise features. Otherwise, it might be desirable to increase the element size, or work harder
to get pictures with a better quality (this is, unfortunately not always possible...).
3.2 Computation
Any of the following options has to be selected to run directly a computation:
the ROI (Fig. 5).
(Fig. 5).
23
image.
Another menu appears in which the format of the pictures has to be selected (Fig. 4):
.png, .tif.
B/W .bmp files.
B/W .jpg files.
B/W .png files.
The reference image, which is not necessarily located in the same directory as CORRELIQ4 , has
to be selected (Fig. 4). In the next menu (Fig. 16), the parameters of the correlation method
have to be chosen:
• The size of the elements (typically 16 × 16 pixels). This is one of the most critical one.
The a priori analysis should therefore help in choosing it. In the present version, only
even numbers can be selected.
• The shift δ between to neighboring zones. This option is not active with a Q4 algorithm.
24
• The number of scales is the second most important parameter. As discussed above, the
present algorithm is based upon a coarse-graining approach. When large displacements
and / or strains are suspected to occur, it is desirable to increase the number of scales.
The maximum number of scales depends on the size of the ROI in comparison to that
of the elements (e.g., for a 512 × 512pixel-ROI, and 16-pixels elements, the maximum
number of scales is 5, i.e., at least 2 × 2 elements are needed for the coarsest scale).
• The number of iterations (the higher the number, the higher the accuracy and the com-
putation time). This value is given to avoid endless iterations. This criterion should not
be reached. In case it is reached a message warns the user:
--------------------------- WARNING - WARNING -----------------------------
Warning: No convergence: check results!!
--------------------------- WARNING - WARNING -----------------------------
• The number of images to analyze (the reference image is not included in that count);
• When a sequence of more than one image is considered, the correlation can be performed
either by considering always the same reference image for strains (in absolute value) less
than or equal to 10% or by changing (or updating) the reference image. In the last case,
the Image update Y/N has to be activated.
• Last, it is possible to store the correlation results for any couple of analyzed pictures.
This is made possible by activating the Independent calculation Y/N button.
Validate the choice at the end (press the Validation button).
The sequence of deformed pictures has to be selected. The user selects the whole sequence
by using the same procedure as for the reference picture (Fig. 17).
It is then possible to mask part of the ROI. A menu appears and seven different operations
are possible:
• Define exclusion polygon allows the user by mouse click to enter different exclusion
regions. Follow the instructions on top of the picture that appears.
• Remove polygon allows the user by mouse click to remove any of the existing exclusion
polygon.
25
• Define exclusion circle allows the user, for instance to mask a hole. Follow the
instructions on top of the picture that appears.
• Remove exclusion circle allows the user by mouse click to remove any of the existing
exclusion circle.
• Define inclusion circle allows the user to choose a circular ROI from a rectangular
shape chosen before. This would be the case for the analysis of a Brazilian test [12].
Follow the instructions on top of the picture that appears.
• Remove inclusion circle allows the user by mouse click to remove any of the existing
inclusion circle.
• Redraw when the user is not happy with the (random) colors.
• Exit to end the mask procedure.
When the computation is completed, the result file has to be saved (Fig. 18). The extension
is ‘.mat’ to be readable for a later visualization. The computation is now ended and the
visualization stage starts. One can choose to perform another computation or to visualize any
Figure 16: dialog box for choosing the correlation parameters.
26
Figure 17: dialog box to choose the deformed picture(s).
Figure 18: dialog box to choose the type of mask and to save the results
results. Type the command correli_q4 at the MATLAB prompt. It can be noted that during
the computations, different messages may appear. Some messages are only given to indicate
that the computation is running normally.
3.3 Visualization
If Visualization is chosen, the result file (‘.mat’ extension) to be displayed has to be selected
(Fig. 19).
Figure 20 appears, in which different options can be chosen. In the present case, the
vertical displacement field (expressed in pixels) is plotted for the stone wool texture for which
an artificially deformed picture was created. A uniform nominal strain level of 0.25 was applied.
This is an extreme case for the present correlation software that needs all the scales to capture
properly the displacement field. The element size was equal to 16 pixels. It is worth noting
that the maximum displacements are greater than 3 times the element size. Had the multiscale
algorithm not been implemented, it would have been impossible to capture these levels (i.e., 5
27
Figure 19: dialog box to read the results of a previous computation.
scales were used in the present case). When a sequence is analyzed, any image can be selected
Figure 20: Visualization of the measurement results. In the present case, the displacement field
along the vertical direction.
by using the two buttons bellow the Image No. message (Fig. 20).
28
At the top left corner are options related to the strain measures:
• infinitesimal: infinitesimal strains (i.e., symmetric part of displacement gradient, see

Eq. (24));
• nominal: nominal (Cauchy-Biot) strains (Eq. (58), when m = 1/2);
• Green Lag.: Green-Lagrange strains (Eq. (58), when m = 1);
• logarithmic: logarithmic (Hencky) strains (Eq. (58), when m → 0+ );
• RdB (internal development);
• Eigen value?: the eigen values of the selected strain measure are shown.
It is worth noting that in the case of large strains (see details in the Appendix), the out-of-
plane displacement is assumed to be small and is therefore neglected. Other assumptions can
be made. They will have to be implemented on demand.
Just below are options related to the type of component to visualize. The type of com-
ponent to display has to be chosen, namely, in-plane strains, in-plane displacements, or out-of-
plane rotation. The frame is always the same, namely, horizontal direction: 2, vertical direction:
1. By choosing error, an error indicator (i.e., correlation residual |u(x).∇f (x) + f (x) − g(x)|
normalized by the dynamic range of the picture) of the result is plotted. The closer to 0, the
better the result (when no lighting variations occur, levels below few percentages are usually
achieved).
Two pictures are plotted. The left picture is always the very first reference picture. For
the reference image, the chosen field is plotted. In the case of displacements, the average value
is always in the middle of the scale. To change the scale, the dialog box in between the two
images is to be used (Fig. 21).
The number of contours can be changed. If 0 is set, a grayscale is used. If 11 is chosen,
a fancy color scale appears, otherwise a conventional (i.e., hot) one is used. The amplitude of
the displacement field is chosen with respect to the average value. For strains, two routes can
be followed:
• the maximum and minimum values are given by the user in the middle part of the dialog
box;
• the w or w/o mean button is activated and the average value corresponds to the middle
of the scale, the range of which is chosen as the maximum strain.
29
Figure 21: Contour and scale options. Mesh options. Amplification of the displacements.
When the fill option is activated, the contours are filled on the reference image. The rigid
body motion can be subtracted to the overall displacement by pushing the corresponding button
(Rigid body motion Y/N). When the error indicator is plotted, there is no need to change any
scale parameters, it is performed automatically. The w or w/o mean button can also be used.
When selecting mesh, the undeformed and deformed meshes appear on the relevant images
(Fig. 22). When selecting vector, the displacement vectors are shown (Fig. 21). It can be noted
that both options can be used simultaneously. A slider enables the displacements to be amplified
by a factor that can be chosen by the user (Fig. 21). When the amplification is greater than 1,
the underlying image disappears.
To further comment on the results on the artificially deformed picture, the corresponding
(nominal) strain field is shown in Fig. 22. Since the w or w/o mean button is activated, the
average strain can be read directly as the median value (i.e., 0.2396 ≈ 0.24 for a prescribed
value of 0.25).
3.4 Virtual Gauges

Type the command gauge at the MATLAB prompt. This procedure allows for the computation
of the average strain in a user-selected ROI. one needs to indicate the result file in which all
the data needed are stored. Then the Region Of Interest (ROI) is selected by mouse. Click and
maintain to select the ROI. If the ROI is larger than the mesh, then the size is automatically
reset to the maximum size.
In the MATLAB Command Window, average values of different strain tensors are given.
30
Figure 22: Visualization of post-processed results. In the present case the normal (nominal)
strains along the vertical direction.
The corresponding eigen strains are also computed. The results can also be saved in an ASCII
file. The computation is now ended. Type any command at the MATLAB prompt.
4 Application to a tensile test

In this section, an application of the previously proposed algorithm is carried out to analyze
a tensile test performed on an aluminum alloy sample. In the plastic regime, the formation
of localization strain bands is observed. The fact that for a given displacement uncertainty,
smaller element sizes can be chosen in the present case (Q4-DIC) when compared with those
of a standard FFT-DIC technique (Fig. 10b), enables one to better capture kinematic details
in the localization band.
31
4.1 Material and method
The studied aluminum alloy is of type 5005 (i.e., more than 99 wt% of Al content and a small
amount of Mg; these values were determined by electron probe micro-analysis). As shown in
Fig. 2, the sample is a coated with sprayed black and white paints to create the random texture
for the displacement field measurement. The sample size is 140 × 30 × 2 mm3 . It is positioned
within hydraulic grips of a 100 kN servo-hydraulic testing machine. Its alignment is checked
with DIC measurements (i.e., no significant rotation of the sample is observed in the elastic
domain). To have a first strain evaluation, an extensometer was used. Its pins are observed on
the right edge of the sample (Fig. 2).
An artificial light source is used to minimize gray level variations so that the conservation
of the optical flow is considered as practically achieved. A CCD camera (12-bit digitization,
noise less than 3 gray levels, resolution: 1024 × 1280 pixels) with a conventional zoom is
positioned in front of the sample. In the present case, the physical size of one pixel is 25 µm.
Two loading sequences are carried out. First, in the elastic domain, a controlled displacement
rate of 5 µm/s is applied and pictures are taken for 12 µm-increments. Elastic properties may
be identified [23]. This will not be discussed herein. Second, a controlled displacement rate of
10 µm/s is applied to study strain localization and pictures are taken for 60 µm-increments.
The following analysis of the displacement field is an increment between two image acquisitions
in the “plastic” regime.
Figure 23 shows the change of the average longitudinal strain with the number of pictures
(or equivalently with time). This result was obtained by using the Q4-DIC analysis. Until the
extensometer pins slipped (at about a 5% strain), the average strain measured by DIC and
that given by the extensometer were close, even though the same surface was not analyzed.
This response is typical of a Portevin-Le Châtelier (PLC) phenomenon or jerky flow [24].
From a microscopic point of view, PLC effects are related to dynamic interactions between
mobile dislocations and diffusing solute atoms [25, 26]. From a macroscopic perspective, it is
related to a negative strain rate sensitivity that leads to localized bands that are simulated [27].
Many experimental studies [28] however are based upon average strain measurements. There
are also full-field displacement measurements performed by using, for instance, laser speckle
interferometry [29]. Yet the spatial resolution did not allow for an analysis of the displacement
field within the band. Additional insight is gained by using IR thermography [30].
32

!"$#%'&)(#*,+&-%
Figure 23: Mean strain for a region of interest of 1000 × 700 pixels as a function of the number
of picture. The box shows the two pictures that are analyzed.
4.2 Kinematic fields

Let us now analyze the displacement field in between two states (0.3% mean strain apart,
see Fig. 23). The same region of interest of size 1000 × 700 pixels is studied using the above
method, with different element sizes ranging from 16 down to 4 pixels. Figures 24 and 25 show
the resulting displacement fields (component Ux and Uy , respectively). Although the test is
pure tension, the analysis reveals without ambiguity the presence of a localization band whose
width is about 150 pixels, and across which the displacement discontinuity is about 2 pixels
along the tension axis, and about 1 pixel perpendicular to it. Let us concentrate here on this
single pair of images to validate the algorithm on a real experimental test and evaluate its
performances.
One notes that all element sizes may be used. As expected, the smallest element sizes are
noisier, yet the agreement between all these determinations is excellent. Let us underline that
FFT-DIC usually deals with element sizes equal or larger than 32 pixels, exceptionally 16 pixels
for very favorable cases are used when locally constant displacement fields are sought. Using
the Q4-DIC technique allows one to reduce the element size by a factor of 4, which means that
the number of pixels in the element has been cut down by a factor of 16.
Let us however note that one should be cautious about the fact that displacements have a
tendency to be attracted toward integer values, especially for small element sizes. Therefore the
direct evaluation of strains along the tension axis εyy as obtained by the Q4P1-shape functions
or equivalently as a simple finite difference is expected to be artificially increased at half-integer
displacement components. Figure 26 shows such strain fields for 4 different element sizes from
33
100 100
200 200
300 300
400 400
500 500
600 600
700 700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-a- -b-

100 100
0.4
200 200
300 0.2 300
400 0 400
500 0.2 500
600 0.4 600
700 700
0.6
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-c- -d-
100 100
200 200
300 300
400 400
500 500
600 600
700 700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-e- -f-
Figure 24: Map of Uy displacement for different element sizes: (a) ` = 16, (b) ` = 12, (c)
` = 10, (d) ` = 8, (e) ` = 6 and (f) ` = 4 pixels. The physical size of one pixel is equal to
25 µm.
16 down to 8 pixels. For a size of 16 pixels, the localization band appears as a genuine zone
of increased strains as compared to a “silent” (or elastic) background. For smaller element
sizes, the edges of the shear band appear to concentrate still a higher strain. The same effect
is apparent for element sizes 12, 10 and 8 pixels. The strain maps obtained for smaller element
sizes are not shown, since the noise level becomes much higher and thus the measurement
cannot be trusted. The same artefact of strain enhancement at the edges of the shear band is
however observed.
34
100 100
200 200
300 300
400 400
500 500
600 600
700 700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-a- -b-

100 100
200 2 200
300 300
1.5
400 400
1
500 500
0.5
600 600
700 0
700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-c- -d-
100 100
200 200
300 300
400 400
500
500
600
600
700
700
800
200 400 600 800 1000 800
200 400 600 800 1000
-e-
-f-
Figure 25: Map of Ux displacement for different element sizes: (a) ` = 16, (b) ` = 12, (c)
` = 10, (d) ` = 8, (e) ` = 6 and (f) ` = 4 pixels. The physical size of one pixel is equal to
25 µm.
4.3 Integer locking

One notes on the previous figure that the Uy -displacement is half-integer valued at the edge of
the shear band. The larger strains at the edge of the band could therefore be interpreted as an
artefact due to integer locking. Integer valued displacements being favored, an artificial gap is
created for half-integer values displacement, and thus any gradient (finite difference operator)
will underline this effect very markedly.
To test this interpretation, the following test is proposed. An artificially translated image
by 0.5 pixel is computed from the original one, using a fast Fourier transform, as the latter
35
100 100
200 200
300 300
400 400
500 500
600 600
700 700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-a- -b-
y (pixel)
εxx
x (pixel)
100 100
0.025
200 200
0.02
300 0.015 300
0.01
400 400
0.005
500 500
0
600 0.005 600
0.01
700 700
0.015
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-c- -d-
Figure 26: Map of the strain component εxx for different element sizes: (a) ` = 16, (b) ` = 12,
(c) ` = 10 and (d) ` = 8 pixels.
provides a simple and numerically efficient way of interpolating the image at any arbitrary sub-
pixel value. A genuine strain enhancement is thus expected to be identified at a fixed position
in the reference image frame of coordinates, whereas a numerical artefact would be moved to
a different location. Figures 27a and b show the Uy displacement component starting from
the original image or from the translated one (and where the 1/2 pixel translated has been
corrected for). A good agreement is observed for the displacement field thus revealing a rather
poor sensitivity to such a rigid translation. Figures 27c and d show the corresponding εyy strain
maps. On the latter set of figures, although high strain values tend to concentrate along two
lines in both figures, the precise location of these bands is not stable. This is a signature of the
integer locking phenomenon. Therefore the strain enhancement at the edge of the shear band
is to be considered as an artefact.
Let us underline that such a phenomenon results from the fact that the elements are
reduced to a very small size, and still provide a very accurate determination of the displacement
field, without much noise. Such a success encourages the user to decrease the size of the elements
to very small values. By doing so, the determination of the displacement is much more prone
36
Ux (pixel)
100 100
0
200 200
300 0.5 300
400 400
1
500 500
1.5
600 600
700 2 700
800 800
200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-a- -b-
y (pixel)
εxx
x (pixel)
100 100
0.04
200 0.03 200
300 0.02 300

0.01
400 400
0
500 500
0.01
600 0.02 600
700 0.03 700
800 0.04 800

200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
-c- -d-
Figure 27: Map of Ux displacement, estimated for a element size ` = 12 pixels: (a) for the
original image, (b) for an artificially translated image of 0.5 pixel. Maps of the corresponding
normal strain component εxx : (c) for the original image, (d) for an artificially translated image
of 0.5 pixel. The physical size of one pixel is equal to 25 µm.
to slight sub-pixel shifts (Fig. 10), here characterized as an attraction toward integer values,
which appear as very significant upon differentiation (in the computation of the strain). This
phenomenon should be identified before any further interpretation of the strain map to ensure
its validity.
4.4 Error maps

As mentioned earlier, a very important output of the displacement measurement obtained from
a minimization procedure is that the optimization functional provides not only a global quality
factor of the determined field, but more importantly a spatial map of residuals, so that one
may appreciate a specific problem that may be spatially localized.
Figure 28 shows the different error maps obtained for different element sizes. This error
is the remanent difference in gray levels that is still unexplained by the estimated displacement
field. The first observation is that the error level does not vary very much with the element
37
size. This is consistent with the fact that the displacement field is quite comparable for different
element sizes. However, there is a slight increase in the error as the element size decreases. This
is explained by the fact that the performance of the correlation algorithm degrades as the spatial
resolution improves. This observation is in good agreement with the results to be expected from
the analysis of Fig. 10.
Figure 28: Map of the residual error η for different element sizes: (a) ` = 16, (b) ` = 12, (c)
` = 10 (d) ` = 8, (e) ` = 6 and (f) ` = 4 pixels.
5 Applications of CORRELIQ4
In the following, different references are given in which the software was used. The abstract is
given for the reader to select the relevant ones. The name of the .pdf file is also given.
38
5.1 Reference paper
G. Besnard, F. Hild and S. Roux, “Finite-element” displacement fields analysis from digital
images: Application to Portevin-Le Châtelier bands, Exp. Mech. 46 (2006) 789-803. EM2.pdf
This is the paper in which the so-called Q4-DIC technique is discussed in details. A new
methodology is proposed to estimate displacement fields from pairs of images (reference and
strained) that evaluates continuous displacement fields. This approach is specialized to a finite-
element decomposition, therefore providing a natural interface with a numerical modeling of
the mechanical behavior used for identification purposes. The method is illustrated with the
analysis of Portevin-Le Châtelier bands in an aluminum alloy sample subjected to a tensile test.
A significant progress with respect to classical digital image correlation techniques is observed
in terms of spatial resolution and uncertainty.
5.2 Identification of elastic properties

F. Hild and S. Roux, Digital image correlation: from measurement to identification of elastic
properties - A review, Strain 42 (2006) 69-80. Strain1.pdf
The current state of the art of digital image correlation, where displacements can be deter-
mined for values less than one pixel, enables one to better characterize the behavior of materials
and the response of structures to external loads. A general presentation of the extraction of
displacement fields from pictures taken at different instants during an experiment is given.
Different strategies can be followed to determine sub-pixel displacements. New identification
procedures are then devised making use of full-field measurements. A priori or a posteriori
routes can be followed. They are illustrated on the analysis of a Brazilian disk test.
5.3 SIF measurements

S. Roux and F. Hild, Stress intensity factor measurements from digital image correlation: post-
processing and integrated approaches, Int. J. Fract. 140 [1-4] (2006) 141-157. IJF4.pdf
Digital image correlation is an appealing technique for studying crack propagation in
brittle materials such as ceramics. A case study is discussed where the crack geometry, and
the crack opening displacement are evaluated from image correlation by following two different
measurement and identification routes. The displacement uncertainty can reach the nanometer
range even though optical pictures are dealt with. The stress intensity factor is estimated with
a 7% uncertainty in a complex loading set-up without having to resort to a numerical modeling
of the experiment.
39
R. Hamam, F. Hild and S. Roux, Stress intensity factor gauging by digital image correlation:
Application in cyclic fatigue, Strain 43 (2007) 181-192. Strain2.pdf
A fatigue crack in steel (CCT geometry) is studied via digital image correlation. The
measurement of the stress intensity factor change during one cycle is performed using a de-
composition of the displacement field onto a tailored set of elastic fields. The same analysis
is performed using two different routes, namely, the first one consists in computing the dis-
placement field using a general correlation technique providing the displacement field projected
onto finite element shape functions, and then analyzing this displacement field in terms of the
selected mechanically relevant fields. The second strategy, called integrated approach, directly
estimates the amplitude of these elastic fields from the correlation of successive images. Both
procedures give consistent results, and offer very good performances in the evaluation of the
crack tip position (uncertainty of about 20 µm for a 14.5-mm crack), and stress intensity factors
√
(uncertainty less than 1 MPa m).
J. Réthoré, S. Roux and F. Hild, Noise-robust Stress Intensity Factor Determination from Kine-
matic Field Measurements, Eng. Fract. Mech. (2008) DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2007.04.018.
EFM1.pdf
Stress Intensity Factors are often estimated numerically from a given displacement field
through an interaction integral formalism. The latter method makes use of a weight, the virtual
crack extension field, which is under-constrained by first principles. Requiring a least noise
sensitivity allows one to compute the optimal virtual crack extension. Mode I and mode II
specialized fields are obtained and particularized for a given displacement functional basis. The
method is applied to an experimental case study of a crack in a silicon carbide sample, whose
displacement field is obtained by a digital image correlation technique. The optimization leads
to a very significant uncertainty reduction up to a factor 100 of the non-optimized formulation.
The proposed scheme reveals additional performances with respect to the integral domain choice
and assumed crack tip geometry, which are shown to have a reduced influence.
5.4 Analysis of elasto-plastic laws

V. Tarigopula, O. S. Hopperstad, M. Langseth, A. H. Clausen, F. Hild, O.-G. Lademo and
M. Eriksson, A Study of Large Plastic Deformations in Dual Phase Steel Using Digital Image
Correlation and FE Analysis, Exp. Mech. 48 [2] (2008) 181-196. EXME3.pdf
Large plastic deformation in sheets made of dual phase steel DP800 is studied experimen-
tally and numerically. Shear testing is applied to obtain large plastic strains in sheet metals
without strain localisation. In the experiments, full-field displacement measurements are car-
40
ried out by means of digital image correlation, and based on these measurements the strain field
of the deformed specimen is calculated. In the numerical analyses, an elastoplastic constitu-
tive model with isotropic hardening and the Cockcroft-Latham fracture criterion is adopted to
predict the observed behavior. The strain hardening parameters are obtained from a standard
uniaxial tensile test for small and moderate strains, while the shear test is used to determine
the strain hardening for large strains and to calibrate the fracture criterion. Finite Element
(FE) calculations with shell and brick elements are performed using the non-linear FE code
LS-DYNA. The local strains in the shear zone and the nominal shear stress-elongation char-
acteristics obtained by experiments and FE simulations are compared, and, in general, good
agreement is obtained. It is demonstrated how the strain hardening at large strains and the
Cockcroft-Latham fracture criterion can be calibrated from the in-plane shear test with the aid
of non-linear FE analyses.
5.5 Identification of a damage law

S. Roux and F. Hild, Digital Image Mechanical Identification (DIMI), Exp. Mech. DOI:
10.1007/s11340-007-9103-3 (2008). EXME4.pdf
A continuous pathway from digital images acquired during a mechanical test to quantita-
tive identification of a constitutive law is presented herein based on displacement field analysis.
From images, displacement fields are directly estimated within a finite element framework.
From the latter, the application of the equilibrium gap method provides the means for rigidity
field evaluation. In the present case, a reconditioned formulation is proposed for a better sta-
bility. Last, postulating a specific form of a damage law, a linear system is formed that gives a
direct access to the (non-linear) damage growth law in one step. The two last procedures are
presented, validated on an artificial case, and applied to the case of a biaxial tension of a com-
posite sample driven up to failure. A quantitative estimate of the quality of the determination
is proposed, and in the last application, it is shown that no more than 7% of the displacement
field fluctuations are not accounted for by the determined damage law.
5.6 Analyses of localized phenomena

I. Elnasri, S. Pattofatto, H. Zhao, H. Tsitsiris, F. Hild and Y. Girard, Shock enhancement of
cellular structures under impact loading: Part I Experiments, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 55 (2007)
2652-2671. JMPS2.pdf
This paper aims at showing experimental proof of the existence of a shock front in cellu-
lar structures under impact loading, especially at low critical impact velocities around 50 m/s.
41
First, an original testing procedure using a large diameter Nylon Hopkinson bar is introduced.
With this large diameter soft Hopkinson bar, tests under two different configurations (pressure
bar behind/ahead of the supposed shock front) at the same impact speed are used to obtain the
force/time histories behind and ahead of the assumed shock front within the cellular material
specimen. Stress jumps (up to 60% of initial stress level) as well as shock front speed are mea-
sured for tests at 55 m/s on Alporas foams and nickel hollow sphere agglomerates, whereas no
significant shock enhancement is observed for Cymat foams and 5056 aluminium honeycombs.
The corresponding rate sensitivity of the studied cellular structures is also measured and it
is proven that it is not responsible for the sharp strength enhancement. A photomechanical
measurement of the shock front speed is also proposed to obtain a direct experimental proof.
The displacement and strain fields during the test are obtained by correlating images shot with
a high speed camera. The strain field measurements at different times show that the shock
front discontinuity propagates and allows for the measurement of the propagation velocity. All
the experimental evidences enable us to confirm the existence of a shock front enhancement
even at quite low impact velocities for a number of studied materials.
V. Tarigopula, O. S. Hopperstad, M. Langseth, A. H. Clausen and F. Hild, A study of localisa-

tion in dual phase high-strength steels under dynamic loading using digital image correlation
and FE analysis, Int. J. Solids Struct. 45 [2] (2008) 601-619. IJSS5.pdf
Tensile tests were conducted on dual-phase high-strength steel in a Split-Hopkinson Ten-
sion Bar at a strain-rate in the range of 150600/s and in a servo-hydraulic testing machine at a
strain-rate between 10−3 and 100/s. A novel specimen design was utilized for the Hopkinson bar
tests of this sheet material. Digital image correlation was used together with high-speed pho-
tography to study strain localisation in the tensile specimens at high rates of strain. By using
digital image correlation, it is possible to obtain in-plane displacement and strain fields during
non-uniform deformation of the gauge section, and accordingly the strains associated with dif-
fuse and localized necking may be determined. The full-field measurements in high strain-rate
tests reveal that strain localisation started even before the maximum load was attained in the
specimen. An elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model is used to predict the observed stressstrain
behavior and strain localisation for the dual-phase steel. Numerical simulations of dynamic
tensile tests were performed using the non-linear explicit FE code LS-DYNA. Simulations were
done with shell (plane stress) and brick elements. Good correlation between experiments and
numerical predictions was achieved, in terms of engineering stressstrain behavior, deformed ge-
ometry and strain fields. However, mesh density plays a role in the localisation of deformation
in numerical simulations, particularly for the shell element analysis.
42
6 Beyond CORRELIQ4
In the following, different references are given in which extensions of the software were used.
The abstract is given for the reader to select the relevant ones.
6.1 XQ4-DIC
J. Réthoré, F. Hild and S. Roux, Shear-band capturing using a multiscale extended digital
image correlation technique, Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng. 196 [49-52] (2007) 5016-5030.
CMAME2.pdf
Finite elements have been used recently to solve the optical flow conservation principle
invoked to determine displacement fields by digital image correlation. Inspired by these re-
cent advances, and by the computational effort that has been accomplished during the past 10
years for the simulation of discontinuities by the extended finite element method (XFEM), an
extended correlation technique is introduced for capturing shear-band like discontinuities from
images of real mechanical tests. Because of the specific information at hand (i.e., gray level
images), this extended finite element approach is included in a non-linear multi-grid solver. The
performances of the proposed approach are discussed on two examples, namely the analysis of
a bolted assembly and the formation of Piobert-Lüders bands.
J. Réthoré, G. Besnard, G. Vivier, F. Hild and S. Roux, Experimental investigation of localized

phenomena using Digital Image Correlation, Phil. Mag. [submitted] (2008). PM1.pdf
The present paper is dedicated to the use of enriched discretization schemes in the context
of digital image correlation. The aim is to capture and evaluate strong or weak discontinuities
of a displacement field directly from digital images. An analysis of different enrichment per-
formances is provided. Two examples of strain localization illustrate the discussion, namely,
a compression test on an HMX-based material and the Portevin-Le Châtelier band shown in
Section 4.
J. Réthoré, F. Hild and S. Roux, Extended digital image correlation with crack shape opti-
mization, Int. J. Num. Meth. Eng. 73 [2] (2008) 248-272. IJNME2.pdf
The methodology of eXtended finite element method is applied to the measurement of dis-
placements through digital image correlation. An algorithm, initially based on a finite element
decomposition of displacement fields, is extended to benefit from discontinuity and singular en-
richments over a suited subset of elements. This allows one to measure irregular displacements
encountered, say, in cracked solids, as demonstrated both in artificial examples and experi-
43
mental case studies. Moreover, an optimization strategy for the support of the discontinuity
enables one to adjust the crack path configuration to reduce the residual mismatch, and hence
to be tailored automatically to a wavy or irregular crack path.
6.2 Beam-DIC
F. Hild, S. Roux, R. Gras, N. Guerrero, M. E. Marante and J. Flórez-López, Displacement
Measurement Technique for Euler-Bernoulli Kinematics, Opt. Lasers Eng. [accepted] (2008).
OLE1.pdf
It is proposed to develop a digital image correlation procedure that is suitable for beams
whose kinematics is described by an Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis. As a direct output, the degrees
of freedom corresponding to flexural and axial loads are directly measured. The performance
of the correlation algorithm is evaluated by using a picture of a cantilever beam experiment.
One load level is analyzed with the present algorithm. The latter is validated by comparing the
displacement field with that given by a finite element based correlation algorithm. It is also
shown that a locally buckled zone is detectable with the present procedure.
6.3 Stereo-correlation
G. Besnard, F. Hild, J.-M. Lagrange, S. Roux and C. Voltz, Contact-free characterization of
materials used in detonics experiments, Proceedings Europyro 2007 . EUROPYRO_07.pdf
In detonics experiments, specimens are loaded through intense shock waves produced by
explosives, and hence the simultaneous occurrence of large strains and high strain rates makes
the analysis delicate. Attention is here focused on tantalum whose elasto-plastic properties are
quite complex, possibly involving strain localization. In order to face this challenge, the choice
has been made to use imaging techniques, both for quasi-static tests (few images per second
at most) and dynamic experiments (up to one million frames per second). Displacement fields
are analyzed through digital image correlation techniques applied to monovision for in-plane
displacements, and stereocorrelation when the three dimensional components of the surface
displacement field are sought. Quasi-static tests on a tantalum specimen give access to the
elastic properties (Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio), but also reveal strain localization
occurring in the plastic flow regime. Extension of this technique to stereocorrelation is underway
in order to have access to microsecond time resolution, and sub-millimeter space resolution.
44
6.4 C8-DIC
S. Roux, F. Hild, P. Viot and D. Bernard, Three dimensional image correlation from X-Ray
computed tomography of solid foam, Comp. Part A DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.11.011
[in press] (2008). CompPartA1.pdf
A new methodology is proposed to estimate 3D displacement fields from pairs of images
obtained from X-Ray Computed Micro Tomography (XCMT). Contrary to local approaches,
a global approach is followed herein that evaluates continuous displacement fields. Although
any displacement basis may be considered, the procedure is specialized to finite element shape
functions. The method is illustrated with the analysis of a compression test on a polypropylene
solid foam (independently studied in a companion paper). A good stability of the measured
displacement field is obtained for cubic element sizes ranging from 16 voxels to 6 voxels. This
last paper is a direct extension of Q4-DIC to three-dimensional displacement measurements in
the bulk of a material.
7 Conclusion
A novel approach was developed to determine a displacement field based on the comparison
of two digital images. The sought displacement field is decomposed onto a basis of continuous
functions using Q4P1-shape functions as proposed in finite element methods. The latter corre-
sponds to one of the simplest kinematic descriptions. It therefore allows for a compatibility of
the kinematic hypotheses made during the measurement stage and the subsequent identification
/ validation stage, for instance, by using conventional finite element techniques.
The performance of the algorithm is tested on a reference image to evaluate the reliability
of the estimation, which is shown to allow for either an excellent accuracy for homogeneous
displacement fields, or for a very well resolved displacement field down to element sizes as small
as 4×4 pixels. When compared with a standard FFT-DIC technique, Q4-DIC enables for a
significant decrease of the displacement uncertainty when the same size of the elements is used.
For the natural texture studied herein, it is shown that the main limitation is related to its
poor dynamic range that makes it very sensitive to acquisition noise.
Last, the displacement field is analyzed on an aluminium alloy sample where a localization
band develops. In the present case, it corresponds to a Portevin-Le Châtelier effect. For element
sizes ranging from 16 down to 4 pixels, the displacement field is shown to be reliably determined.
As far as strains are concerned, spurious strain concentrations at the edge of the shear band
is observed for small element sizes. This is attributed to integer locking of the displacement.
Apart from this bias, the analysis has been shown to be operational and reliable, on a real
45
experimental test with strain localization. The complete space-time kinematic analysis is now
possible for the Portevin-Le Châtelier phenomenon even within the band thanks to the spatial
resolution achieved by the Q4-DIC technique presented herein. It is deferred to a another
publication in which an enriched kinematics is implemented [31].
References
[1] P. K. Rastogi, edts., Photomechanics, (Springer, Berlin (Germany), 2000), 77.
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Three-Dimensional Computer Vision, in: Photomechanics, P. K. Rastogi, eds., (Springer,
Berlin (Germany), 2000), 323-372.
[3] A. Lagarde, edt., Advanced Optical Methods and Applications in Solid Mechanics,
(Kluwer, Dordrecht (the Netherlands), 2000), 82.
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(1981) 185-20.
[6] P. J. Hubert, Robust Statistics, (Wiley, New York (USA), 1981).
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models, J. Visual Comm. Image Repres. 6 (1995) 348-365.
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of Displacements Using an Improved Digital Correlation Method, Im. Vis. Comp. 1 [3]
(1983) 133-139.
[10] F. Hild, B. Raka, M. Baudequin, S. Roux and F. Cantelaube, Multi-Scale Displacement

Field Measurements of Compressed Mineral Wool Samples by Digital Image Correlation,
Appl. Optics IP 41 [32] (2002) 6815-6828.
[11] S. Roux and F. Hild, Stress intensity factor measurements from digital image correlation:
post-processing and integrated approaches, Int. J. Fract. 140 [1-4] (2006) 141-157.
46
[12] F. Hild and S. Roux, Digital image correlation: from measurement to identification of
elastic properties - A review, Strain 42 (2006) 69-80.
[13] F. Hild, S. Roux, R. Gras, N. Guerrero, M. E. Marante and J. Flórez-López, Displace-

ment Measurement Technique for Euler-Bernoulli Kinematics, Opt. Lasers Eng. [accepted]
(2008).
[14] B. Wagne, S. Roux and F. Hild, Spectral Approach to Displacement Evaluation From
Image Analysis, Eur. Phys. J. AP 17 (2002) 247-252.
[15] S. Roux, F. Hild and Y. Berthaud, Correlation Image Velocimetry: A Spectral Approach,
Appl. Optics 41 [1] (2002) 108-115.
[16] P. J. Burt, C. Yen and X. Xu, Local correlation measures for motion analysis: a compara-
tive study, Proceedings IEEE Conf. on Pattern Recognition and Image Processing, (1982),
269-274.
[17] H. W. Schreier, J. R. Braasch and M. A. Sutton, Systematic errors in digital image corre-
lation caused by intensity interpolation, Opt. Eng. 39 [11] (2000) 2915-2921.
[18] S. Bergonnier, F. Hild and S. Roux, Local anisotropy analysis for non-smooth images,
Patt. Recogn. 40 [2] (2007) 544-556.
[19] J.-N. Périé, S. Calloch, C. Cluzel and F. Hild, Analysis of a Multiaxial Test on a C/C
Composite by Using Digital Image Correlation and a Damage Model, Exp. Mech. 42 [3]
(2002) 318-328.
[20] G. Holst, CCD Arrays, Cameras and Displays, (SPIE Engineering Press, Washington DC
(USA), 1998).
[21] ISO, International Vocabulary of Basic and General Terms in Metrology (VIM), (Interna-
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[22] G. Besnard, F. Hild and S. Roux, “Finite-element” displacement fields analysis from digital
images: Application to Portevin-Le Châtelier bands, Exp. Mech. 46 (2006) 789-803.
[23] G. Besnard, Corrélation d’images et identification en mécanique des solides, (University

Paris 6, Intermediate MSc report 2005).
[24] A. Portevin and F. Le Châtelier, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 176 (1923) 507.
[25] A. H. Cottrell, A note on the Portevin-Le Châtelier effect, Phil. Mag. 44 (1953) 829-832.
47
[26] P. G. McCormick, A model of the Portevin-Le Châtelier effect in substitutional alloys,
Acta Metall. 20 (1972) 351-354.
[27] A. H. Clausen, T. Borvik, O. S. Hopperstad and A. Benallal, Flow and fracture char-
acteristics of aluminium alloy AA5083-H116 as function of strain rate, temperature and
triaxiality, Mat. Sci. Eng. A364 (2004) 260-272.
[28] D. Thevenet, M. Mliha-Touati and A. Zeghloul, Characteristics of the propagating defor-

mation bands associated with the Portevin-Le Châtelier effect in an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy,
Mat. Sci. Eng. A291 (2000) 110-117.
[29] R. Shabadi, S. Kumara, H. J. Roven and E. S. Dwarakadasa, Characterisation of PLC

band parameters using laser speckle technique, Mat. Sci. Eng. A364 (2004) 140-150.
[30] H. Louche, P. Vacher and R. Arrieux, Thermal observations associated with the Portevin-
Le Châtelier effect in an Al-Mg alloy, Mat. Sci. Eng. A 404 (2005) 188-196.
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localized phenomena using Digital Image Correlation, Phil. Mag. [submitted] (2008).
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48
Appendix: Strain measures
From the displacement field, the strain field is usually sought. Different strain measures can be
used to analyze a mechanical experiment.
7.1 Infinitesimal strains

A strain is defined in terms of relative variation of length of a line linking two material points
of a deformable body. This intuitive definition will be completed in the following subsections.
The displacement of a point P (x, y, z) is defined by three components (u, v, w) of a vector u in
a cartesian coordinate system chosen in the undeformed state
P (x, y, z) → P 0 (x + u, y + v, z + w) (16)
A second point Q in the vicinity of P moves to Q0
Q(x + dx, y + dy, z + dz) →

Q0 (x + dx + u + du, y + dy + v + dv, z + dz + w + dw) (17)
The quantities du, dv, dw are called relative displacements. When du, dv, dw are sufficiently
small (i.e., infinitesimal) compared to the length scale dx, dy, dz, a first order approximation
of the variations du, dv, dw can be written as
∂u ∂u ∂u
du = dx + dy + dz
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂v ∂v ∂v
dv = dx + dy + dz (18)
∂x ∂y ∂z
∂w ∂w ∂w
dw = dx + dy + dz.
∂x ∂y ∂z
The previous equation can be written in matrix form
du = gradu dx (19)
Of the nine components obtained in Eqn. (18), they are grouped as follows for the normal
strains
∂u ∂v ∂w
εxx = , εyy = , εzz = (20)
∂x ∂y ∂z
for the shear strains
µ ¶
1 ∂u ∂v
εxy = εyx = +
2 ∂y ∂x
µ ¶
1 ∂v ∂w
εyz = εzy = + (21)
2 ∂z ∂y
µ ¶
1 ∂w ∂u
εzx = εxz = +
2 ∂x ∂z
49
and the infinitesimal rotations
µ ¶
1 ∂u ∂v
ωz = − +
2 ∂y ∂x
µ ¶
1 ∂v ∂w
ωx = − + (22)
2 ∂z ∂y
µ ¶
1 ∂w ∂u
ωy = − +
2 ∂x ∂z
These results are related to the symmetric and antisymmetric decomposition of the gradient
operator
gradu = grads u + grada u (23)
where the infinitesimal strain tensor ε is defined by
1¡ ¢
ε = grads u = gradu + gradt u (24)
2
and the infinitesimal rotation tensor Ω is expressed as
1¡ ¢
Ω = grada u = gradu − gradt u (25)
2
It can be shown that an antisymmetric tensor can be related to a vector (here the rotation
vector ω) by
Ωdx = ω × dx (26)
Examples:
Let us first consider a rigid translation. The two points P and Q then move by an identical
amount u
P → P 0 (x + u, y + v, z + w)
Q → Q0 (x + dx + u, y + dy + v, z + dz + w) (27)
so that the displacement gradient vanishes, so do the strains and the rotation vector.
The second example deals with a small rigid rotation. The two points P and Q then move
by different amounts u
P → P 0 (x + u, y + v, z + w)
Q → Q0 (x + dx + u + du, y + dy + v + dv, z + dz + w + dw) (28)
with
du = −ωz dy + ωy dz
dv = −ωx dz + ωz dx
dw = −ωy dx + ωx dy (29)
50
so that the displacement gradient has only an antisymmetric part (i.e., ωx , ωy , ωz are the com-
ponents of the rotation vector ω), and the strains are vanishing.
The third case is such that
du = adx
dv = bdy
dw = cdz (30)
The displacement gradient is symmetric (i.e., no rotation occurs). The strain tensor has non
vanishing components associated to normal strains
εxx = a , εyy = b , εzz = c. (31)
7.2 Finite transformation strains

The aim of this part is to introduce the finite strains as an extension of the previous approach.
The more difficult aspects will be discussed in the next part. Let us consider again a point
P (x, y, z) experiencing a displacement u
P → P 0 (x + u, y + v, z + w) (32)
and a second point Q(x + dx, y + dy, z + dz) in the vicinity of P moves to Q0
Q → Q0 (x + dx + u + du, y + dy + v + dv, z + dz + w + dw). (33)
The theory of finite strain considers the length variation of a line joining the two considered
points in a reference state (dl = P Q) and in a deformed state (dl0 = P 0 Q0 )
(dl)2 = dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2
(dl0 )2 = (dx + du)2 + (dy + dv)2 + (dz + dw)2 . (34)
As a first approximation, Eqn. (18) is still used, and the length ratio becomes
µ 0 ¶2 µ ¶2 µ ¶2 µ ¶2
dl dx du dy dv dz dw
= + + + + + . (35)
dl dl dl dl dl dl dl
By noting that
du ∂u dx ∂u dy ∂u dz
= + +
dl ∂x dl ∂y dl ∂z dl
dv ∂v dx ∂v dy ∂v dz
= + + (36)
dw ∂w dx ∂w dy ∂w dz
= + + ,
51
Eqn. (35) can be rewritten as
µ ¶2 µ ¶2
dl0 dx ∂u dx ∂u dy ∂u dz
= + + +
dl dl ∂x dl ∂y dl ∂z dl
µ ¶2
dy ∂v dx ∂v dy ∂v dz
+ + + + (37)
µ ¶2
dz ∂w dx ∂w dy ∂w dz
+ + + + .
The strains are expressed with respect to a reference state that is undeformed. Let a, b and c
denote the cosine directors of dl
dx dy dz
a= , b= , c= , (38)
dl dl dl
so that, by definition
µ ¶2
dl0
= (1 + 2Exx )a2 + (1 + 2Eyy )b2 + (1 + 2Ezz )c2
dl
+ 4Exy ab + 4Eyz bc + 4Ezx ca, (39)
with the normal strains

"µ ¶2 µ ¶2 # ¶2 µ
∂u 1 ∂u ∂u ∂u
Exx = + + +
∂x 2 ∂x ∂z ∂y
"µ ¶ µ ¶2 µ ¶2 #
2
∂v 1 ∂v ∂v ∂v
Eyy = + + + (40)
∂y 2 ∂x ∂y ∂z
"µ ¶ µ ¶2 µ ¶2 #
2
∂w 1 ∂w ∂w ∂w
Ezz = + + +
∂z 2 ∂x ∂y ∂z
and the shear strains

µ ¶
1 ∂u ∂v ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂w ∂w
Exy = eyx = + + + +
2 ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
µ ¶
1 ∂v ∂w ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂w ∂w
Eyz = ezy = + + + + (41)
2 ∂z ∂y ∂y ∂z ∂y ∂z ∂y ∂z
µ ¶
1 ∂w ∂u ∂u ∂u ∂v ∂v ∂w ∂w
Ezx = exz = + + + +
2 ∂x ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂x
corresponding to the Green-Lagrange strain tensor E

1¡ ¢
E= gradu + gradt u + gradt u gradu (42)
2
52
The normal strains can be interpreted as
"µ ¶2 #
1 dx0 1£ ¤
Exx = −1 = (1 + µx )2 − 1
2 dx 2
"µ ¶ #
2
1 dy 0 1£ ¤
Eyy = −1 = (1 + µy )2 − 1 (43)
2 dy 2
"µ ¶ #
2
1 dz 0 1£ ¤
Ezz = −1 = (1 + µx )2 − 1 ,
2 dz 2
where µx , µy , µz are the relative length variations (dx0 − dx)/dx, (dy 0 − dy)/dy, (dz 0 − dz)/dz,
respectively. Similarly, the shear strains are related to angle variations
p p
2Exy = 1 + 2Exx 1 + 2Eyy cos θxy
p p
2Eyz = 1 + 2Eyy 1 + 2Ezz cos θyz (44)
p p
2Ezx = 1 + 2Ezz 1 + 2Exx cos θzx ,
where θxy , θyz , θzx are the distortions of the vectors dy 0 wrt. dx0 , dz 0 wrt. dy 0 , dx0 wrt. dz 0 ,
respectively. (It is worth remembering that dx.dy = 0, dy.dz = 0, and dz.dx = 0.)
By noting that
−1 ≤ µx , µy , µz ≤ +∞ , −π/2 ≤ θxy , θyz , θzx ≤ π/2 (45)
the following bounds can be obtained for the components of the Green-Lagrange strain com-
ponents
−1/2 ≤ Exx , Eyy , Ezz ≤ +∞ , −1/2 ≤ Exy , Eyz , Ezx ≤ 1/2. (46)
7.3 Large transformation kinematics

Let us consider two neighboring points P and Q of a body Ω in its reference state, and a
corresponding frame R0 . If a rigid body motion is applied, it corresponds to an isometry,
namely the distance between the points P 0 and Q0 after the transformation characterized by a
tensor A
P 0 Q0 = A P Q (47)
is identical to the initial one
kP 0 Q0 k2 = P Q At A P Q = kP Qk2 , (48)
so that
At A = I 2 (49)
53
where I2 is the second order unit tensor. The first order derivative of the vector P 0 Q0 is
expressed as
dP 0 Q0
= V (Q0 /R0 ) − V (P 0 /R0 ) (50)
dt
or equivalently
dP 0 Q0
= Ȧ At P 0 Q0 (51)
dt
where the tensor ȦAt is antisymmetric. As shown above, an antisymmetric tensor acting on
a vector can also be written as the cross product of a vector, here the rotation vector ω of Ω
with respect to R0 , with P 0 Q0
dP 0 Q0
= ω(Ω/R0 ) × P 0 Q0 . (52)
dt
Consequently, the vector field associated to a rigid body kinematics is such that
V (Q0 /R0 ) = V (P 0 /R0 ) + ω(Ω/R0 ) × P 0 Q0 (53)
The motion of a body Ω is described by the function x0 = x0 (x, t) giving the position
x0 at a time t of a particle that occupied the position x prior to a deformation. At a fixed
time, this function defines the deformation of the body between its reference configuration C
and the current one C 0 . In Solid Mechanics, one chooses as reference configuration, the initial
configuration C and the current configuration in the same frame. It is however preferable,
to avoid any confusion, to distinguish these two frames, and in particular the Lagrangian
coordinates x for C and the Eulerian coordinates x0 for C 0 . For the sake of simplicity, the two
systems are chosen orthogonal and normalized. As performed above, it is common to introduce
the displacement vector u(x, t)
x0 (x, t) = x + u(x, t) (54)
Contrary to infinitesimal motions, no particular hypotheses are made concerning u. The func-
tion x0 (x, t) defines the global motion of the body. Locally, i.e., for two points P and Q
separated by dx, one uses the deformation gradient tensor F relating an infinitesimal vector
dx in the reference configuration (C) to dx0 in the deformed configuration (C 0 )
dx0 = F dx (55)
so that the tensor F can be related to the displacement gradient ∇u by
F = I2 + ∇u. (56)
The deformation gradient tensor defines the local motion. To measure a strain, i.e., a shape
change, it is necessary to eliminate the rotation. To characterize shape changes, one needs to
54
determine length variations as well as angle variations. In both cases, the information is given
by scalar products. Let us form the scalar product of dx0 with itself
dx0 .dx0 = dx.F t F .dx (57)
where C = F t F denotes the right Cauchy-Green strain tensor. The Lagrangian strain measures
are formed by using C. It is possible to define various strain measures. The use of one rather
than another is a matter of choice or convenience. The only requirements are:
• they vanish for any rigid body motion (i.e., C = I2 for any rigid body motion),
• usually, they are positive for an expansion and negative for a contraction.
For Lagrangian measures, they can be expressed by using the strain tensors Em [32]

1
 2m
(C m − 1) when m 6= 0
Em = (58)
 1 +
2
ln (C) when m→0
When m = 1, the Green-Lagrange strain tensor is obtained (see Section 7.2), m = 1/2 is the
Cauchy-Biot (or nominal) strain tensor and yields ∆L/L0 for a uniaxial elongation, where L0
is a reference (or gauge) length and ∆L the length variation. The case m → 0+ corresponds to
the logarithmic (or Hencky) strain tensor. The latter is the only additive strain measure. By
definition, all these strains are equal to zero for a rigid translation (i.e., F = I2 and C = I2 )
or a rigid rotation (i.e., F = R and C = I2 ), where R is an orthogonal tensor. When the
amplitude of the body motion is small as well as the strain gradient, all measures converge
towards the infinitesimal strain tensor ε defined by
1£ ¤
ε= ∇u + (∇u)t . (59)
2
55

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CORRELIQ4:

A Software for “Finite-element”

François HILD and Stéphane ROUX

Internal report no. 269

Résumé : rapport interne n◦ 269

2 Q4-Digital Image Correlation (Q4-DIC)

2.1 Principle of DIC with an arbitrary displacement basis

g(x) = f (x) + u(x).∇f (x) (2)

The objective function is thus expressed as

and hence its minimization leads to a linear system

that is written in a compact form as

Thus it is straightforward to compute for each element e the elementary contributions to M

2.3 Sub-pixel interpolation

2.4 Multi-scale approach

• Texture: texture analysis;

• Uncertainty: uncertainty analysis;

• Resolution: resolution analysis;

• Computation click: choice of the Region Of Interest (ROI) by mouse click;

• Computation restart: get the ROI coordinates of a previous computation;

• Visualization: visualize results of any previous computation.

  !"#%$& '$(  

)* +,#   +% '$( 

Figure 1: Menu to choose the type of analysis.

3.1.1 Texture characteristics

• Image .hbf or Image .hmf: these are HOLO3 (www.holo3.com) formats.

• Canon EOS 350: this is a .CR2 raw file.

Figure 6: Histogram of the chosen ROI.

Dimensionless correlation radii

Correlation radii (pixels)

3.1.2 Displacement uncertainty

Standard uncertainty (pixel)

How to get these results?

• Image .hbf or Image .hmf: these are HOLO3 (www.holo3.com) formats.

• Canon EOS 350: this is a .CR2 raw file.

3.1.3 Noise sensitivity

Standard uncertainty (pixel)

How to get these results?

• Image .hbf or Image .hmf: these are HOLO3 (www.holo3.com) formats.

• Canon EOS 350: this is a .CR2 raw file.

• Image .hbf or Image .hmf: these are HOLO3 (www.holo3.com) formats.

• Canon EOS 350: this is a .CR2 raw file.

--------------------------- WARNING - WARNING -----------------------------

Warning: No convergence: check results!!

--------------------------- WARNING - WARNING -----------------------------

Validate the choice at the end (press the Validation button).

• Exit to end the mask procedure.

Figure 16: dialog box for choosing the correlation parameters.

• infinitesimal: infinitesimal strains (i.e., symmetric part of displacement gradient, see

• nominal: nominal (Cauchy-Biot) strains (Eq. (58), when m = 1/2);

• Green Lag.: Green-Lagrange strains (Eq. (58), when m = 1);

• logarithmic: logarithmic (Hencky) strains (Eq. (58), when m → 0+ );

• RdB (internal development);

3.4 Virtual Gauges

4 Application to a tensile test

4.2 Kinematic fields

    

300 0.2 300

500 0.2 500

600 0.4 600

4.3 Integer locking

300 0.5 300

300 0.02 300

700 0.03 700

!"#%$& '$(

)* +,# +% '$(