Computer aided photoelasticity by an optimum phase stepping method

In this paper an automated photoelastic method based on the phase stepping technique is described. It provides full-field maps of the isoclinic parameter and the relative retardation. The technique is based on processing six images of a photoelastic specimen acquired using plane and circularly polarized light. The number of acquisitions and the type of polariscope used in this approach have been chosen with the aim at reducing the influence of quarter wave plate errors and obtaining raw photoelastic data in a periodic form suitable for easy applications of automatic unwrapping routines.