Regularized InfraRed Image Correlation Applied to Laser-Induced Thermal Shocks

Abstract : The thermomechanical behavior of a stainless steel undergoing thermal shocks is investigated with an infrared (IR) camera. The temperature and kinematic fields are determined simultaneously exploiting only IR frames. The thermal loading is imposed with a laser, which gives rise to very high local digital level variations. This effect is addressed thanks to a regularized infrared image correlation (R-IRIC) technique, which accounts for brightness and contrast variations. The resulting digital level residuals are reduced from 54% down to less than 1% of the dynamic range.