Stereo Digital Image Correlation in MATLAB

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) has found widespread use in measuring full-field displacements and deformations experienced by a body from images captured of it. Stereo-DIC has received significantly more attention than two-dimensional (2D) DIC since it can account for out-of-plane displacements. Although many aspects of Stereo-DIC that are shared in common with 2D DIC are well documented, there is a lack of resources that cover the theory of Stereo-DIC. Furthermore, publications which do detail aspects of the theory do not detail its implementation in practice. This literature gap makes it difficult for newcomers to the field of DIC to gain a deep understanding of the Stereo-DIC process, although this knowledge is necessary to contribute to the development of the field by either furthering its capabilities or adapting it for novel applications. This gap in literature acts as a barrier thereby limiting the development rate of Stereo-DIC. This paper attempts to address this by presenting the theory of a subset-based Stereo-DIC framework that is predominantly consistent with the current state-of-the-art. The framework is implemented in practice as a 202 line MATLAB code. Validation of the framework shows that it performs on par with well-established Stereo-DIC algorithms, indicating it is sufficiently reliable for practical use. Although the framework is designed to serve as an educational resource, its modularity and validation make it attractive as a means to further the capabilities of DIC.

Automated summary

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is widely used for measuring full-field displacements and deformations, with Stereo-DIC receiving more attention than 2D DIC due to its ability to account for out-of-plane displacements. However, there is a lack of resources covering the theory and implementation of Stereo-DIC. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a subset-based Stereo-DIC framework that is both theoretically sound and practically reliable.