Application of Digital Image Correlation Technique to the Experimental Analysis in Concrete Structures

• Grant number: 07/06457-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2008
• End date: September 30, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: José Luiz Antunes de Oliveira e Sousa
• Grantee: Denis Guerra
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 04/03049-1 - Monitoring and evaluation of deformability, cracking and safety of concrete structures, AP.TEM

Abstract

The objective of this project is the introduction of the digital image correlation technique to problems of Structural Engineering in a scale compatible with Civil Construction, particularly to concrete structures. Digital images are acquired along the deformation process of the target solid, and compared to produce the relative displacement field between the two instants. A software program CORRELILMT, written in MATLAB and available to the research group, is used for obtaining these displacement fields from digital images acquired in distinct instants along the deformation process of the solid. The basic objective is to investigate its use in experimental analysis for assessing the structural response of specimens subjected to laboratory tests, which is normally assessed based on data from displacement transducers and electrical strain gages or, more recently, optical strain gages. The technique is applied to problems of linear elasticity, with known analytical or numerical solutions, in order to evaluate the accuracy of the acquired data. In a second stage, the technique is applied to concrete specimens with the objective of identifying the evolution of the strain localization and cracking processes. Strain and displacement sensors are used to compare the values obtained by conventional techniques to those computed from the application of the digital image correlation technique.