A Generic Error Simulation in Digital Photoelasticity By Jones Calculus

Photoelasticity is a whole field experimental technique to obtain stress fields in both 2-D and 3-D elasticity problems. With advancements in Digital Image Processing (DIP), a separate branch of photoelasticity namely digital photoelasticity came into existence wherein the intensity of the images is used for photoelastic parameter estimation. The accuracy of parameter evaluation by digital photoelastic techniques depends on the choice of the optical arrangements for parameter estimation, the inherent error in optical elements and any misalignments introduced during experimentation. A generic approach to simulation of error in digital photoelasticity by Jones calculus is presented in this paper. The simulation accounts for inherent error in quarter-wave plates and also accommodates the error due to the optical misalignment of the various optical elements. The applicability of the new methodology is shown for the most popular six-step phase shifting technique. The methodology proposed is generic and is applicable to study the influence of error sources on parameter estimation for various techniques proposed in digital photoelasticity.