Spatial phase-shift digital shearography for simultaneous measurements in three shearing directions based on adjustable aperture multiplexing

Because the sensitivity of shearography is determined by its shearing direction, aeolotropic defects could be difficult to detect in nondestructive testing (NDT) using a digital shearography system with a single shearing direction. We report an adjustable aperture multiplexing spatial phase-shift digital shearography system for simultaneous measurement of displacement derivatives in three directions. By setting the aperture parameters properly, three spatial carrier frequencies are produced within the speckle pattern, and the information of three interferograms can be separated in the frequency domain. Phase maps of the three shearograms can be obtained by applying a windowed inverse Fourier transform, which enables simultaneous measurement of the displacement derivative. The system is suitable for NDT with a dynamic load. The capability of the triple-directional spatial phase-shift digital shearography system is described by theoretical discussions as well as experiments.