METHOD OF ERROR ANALYSIS FOR PHASE-MEASURING ALGORITHMS APPLIED TO PHOTOELASTICITY

We present a method of error analysis that can be applied for phase-me asuring algorithms applied to photoelasticity. We calculate the contri butions to the measurement error of the different elements of a circul ar polariscope as perturbations of the Jones matrices associated with each element. The Jones matrix of the real polariscope can then be cal culated as a sum of the nominal matrix and a series of contributions t hat depend on the errors associated with each element separately. We a pply this method to the analysis of phase-measuring algorithms for the determination of isoclinics and isochromatics, including comparisons with real measurements. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.