Phase deviation analysis and phase retrieval for partial intensity saturation in phase-shifting projected fringe profilometry

Intensity saturation may take place as a sinusoidal fringe pattern is projected onto an object which has a relative high reflective index on some regions of the surface. If a phase-shifting method is used, the illuming light intensities at the same point of the object may have different values for each projected phase-shifting fringe pattern. Therefore, when the intensity at a point of the object exceeds the saturation level for a certain phase step of projected fringe pattern, other intensities obtained at the same point with different phase steps of projected fringe patterns do not exceed the saturation level. This kind of saturation is defined as partial intensity saturation. In the case of partial intensity saturation, a relative larger phase error is introduced when a conventional phase reconstruction algorithm is used in the phase-shifting projected fringe profilometry (PSPFP). To get rid of such disadvantage, an improved algorithm for phase reconstruction is proposed in this paper. By using the new algorithm, the effect of partial intensity saturation for the phase reconstruction can be decreased greatly and a good quality of reconstructed phase map can be obtained. Phase deviation of the reconstructed phase is also analyzed. Finally, an experimental result with PSPFP is presented to validate the feasibility of the proposed algorithm. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.