Displacement measurement technique for beam kinematics

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. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.