Abstract

We develop a unique nondestructive testing (NDT) system for solid-state materials using electronic speckle-pattern interferometry (ESPI)¹ and a recently developed plastic deformation theory called the plastic deformation wave (PDW) theory.² The most important feature of this system is that it can predict the location of fracture before any visible indication appears. The prediction is based on analyses of subtraction-mode ESPI fringe patterns from the viewpoint of the PDW theory, which include examinations of the shape and motion of PDW defined as the spatial distribution of distortion tensor components³ (strain and rotation) and time historical tracing of the location of a distinctive band structure that we have recently discovered in subtraction-mode fringe patterns generated under a certain condition.

© 1996 Optical Society of America