OTEST

“Innovative opto-numerical system for measuring displacement fields and analyzing the mechanical properties of materials and elements of engineering structures in various environmental conditions.”

Project implementation time: 07/2014 – 07/2017

The project is implemented as part of the INNOTECH program in the IN-TECH program path (NCBiR). Consortium:

Astri Polska (leader)

Faculty of Mechatronics, Warsaw University of Technology

Institute of Aviation

Head: Dr hab. engineer Leszek Sałbut, prof. WUT

The aim of the project is to develop a system for measuring displacement/deformation fields in and out of the plane, as well as to determine the mechanical parameters of the tested materials. The system will consist of two optical (i.e. non-invasive) measurement modules, as well as software enabling the determination of material constants. This approach is now called combined numerical-experimental method.

The OTEST measurement system will allow for:

research on anisotropic materials;

examination of deformations on the material surface, allowing for the measurement of a complex state of deformation;

sample damage propagation tests; static and fatigue tests; possibility of testing a sample placed in an environmental chamber;

possibility of measuring displacement/deformation fields on real objects.

The Faculty of Mechatronics of the Warsaw University of Technology is responsible for:

development of design requirements (together with other consortium members);

developing the concept of the OTEST system (together with other consortium members);

design and research of a measurement system using grating interferometry and digital image correlation

OTEST system integration

Applications of the OTEST system:

non-destructive testing supported by numerical analysis;

verification of boundary conditions; examination of local gradients of displacement/strain fields resulting from the heterogeneity of the materials of the tested sample;

study of fracture mechanics and defect propagation; verification of the assumptions according to which a given theoretical or numerical model is created; examination and analysis of elements made of a given material or materials;

determination of mechanical parameters of materials.

The core of the OTEST system will be software enabling comprehensive numerical analyzes to determine constitutive parameters. Moreover, combining experimental and numerical possibilities of materials testing, i.e. creating experimental-numerical hybrid systems, allows for a significant increase in the scope of research than in the case of using only one method.