PULSED CARRIER OUT-OF-PLANE SPECKLE INTERFEROMETRY FOR TRANSIENT VIBRATION ANALYSIS

An out-of-plane pulsed electronic speckle pattern interferometer has b een developed which incorporates novel Pockels-cell-based optics in th e reference path. The generation of carrier fringes within the interfe rometer allows the quantitative analysis of each consecutive correlati on fringe pattern, without the requirement for interactive interferome ter optical phase manipulation. This hybrid interferometer is specific ally designed for the non-contact whole-field analysis of transient vi bration within plate structures and is demonstrated through the analys is of a poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer plate. Results are presented which detail a set of consecutive data fields describing the progress of a transient event through the plate, allowing discussion of the be nefits and limitations of whole-field speckle techniques for comprehen sive analysis of transient vibration.