1199

REVIEW
Thirty-Sixth Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium: Advances in
visualization of geotechnical processes through digital image
correlation1
W. Andy Take
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

Abstract: Digital image correlation (DIC) is an image-processing technique that calculates fields of incremental displacement by
comparing two digital images and locating numerous small regions in both images to high subpixel accuracy. This technique is
particularly well suited to the visualization of geotechnical failure processes such as the plastic collapse of a shallow foundation
or the evolution of failure within a physical model landslide as it can yield full-field displacements at high spatial and temporal
resolution. The adoption of digital image correlation methods by the geotechnical engineering community over the past 15 years
has therefore provided researchers with a transformative tool for the visualization of failure mechanisms and the quantification
of soil and soil–structure interaction behaviour within physical model experiments. The objective of this Canadian Geotechnical
Colloquium is to provide an updated review of the factors that affect accuracy and precision of the technique and to highlight
selected recent advances and emerging uses of DIC in geotechnical engineering applications with particular emphasis on
geotechnical physical modelling and field monitoring.

Key words: digital image correlation, particle image velocimetry, physical modelling, centrifuge testing, field monitoring.

Résumé : La corrélation d’images digitales (CID) est une technique de traitement d’images qui permet de calculer les champs de
For personal use only.

déplacements incrémentaux en comparant deux images digitales et en y localisant les nombreuses petites zones avec une
précision élevée, inférieure au pixel. Cette technique est particulièrement bien adaptée à la visualisation des processus de
rupture en géotechnique, tels que l’effondrement plastique d’une fondation superficielle ou l’évolution de la rupture dans un
glissement de terrain physiquement modélisé, car elle permet de générer des déplacements plein champ, à forte résolution
spatiale et temporelle. L’adoption des techniques de corrélation d’images digitales par la communauté des ingénieurs géotech-
niques au cours de 15 dernières années fournit ainsi aux chercheurs un nouvel outil de visualisation des mécanismes de rupture
et de quantification du comportement du sol et des interactions sol-structure lors des expériences de modélisation physique.
L’objectif du Colloque canadien de géotechnique est d’effectuer un examen actualisé des facteurs des facteurs qui influent sur
l’exactitude et la précision de la technique et de présenter les perfectionnements récents et les nouvelles utilisations de la CID
en ingénierie géotechnique, en insistant notamment sur la modélisation physique en géotechnique et la surveillance sur le
terrain. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

Mots-clés : corrélation d’images digitales, vélocimétrie par images de particules, modélisation physique, essais en centrifugeuse,
surveillance sur le terrain.

Introduction of strain throughout the specimen to be calculated. The use of

Digital image correlation (DIC) is a deformation measurement
technique in increasingly widespread use across a broad range of
experimental mechanics research disciplines (e.g., Pan et al. 2009;
Sutton et al. 2009). DIC is an image-processing technique that
calculates fields of incremental displacement by comparing two
digital images and locating numerous small regions in both im-
ages to high subpixel accuracy. This technique was originally de-
veloped in the field of experimental solid mechanics (e.g., Peters
and Ranson 1982; Sutton et al. 1983) where it has been used to
calculate strains at the surface of test specimens under mechani-
cal loading. In this scenario, an initial reference image is used
to capture the visual appearance of the specimen surface prior to
loading. A second image is then taken to capture the visual ap-
pearance of the deformed specimen under load. Incremental pixel
displacements representing the deformation of the specimen sur-
face can then be measured using DIC, permitting the distribution
image correlation techniques has also been transformative in ex-
perimental fluid mechanics. If two images are taken at a known
time interval of a laser-illuminated plane of fluid flow seeded with
particles, image analysis can be used to measure the magnitude
and direction of flow in the fluid. In fluid mechanics applications,
image correlation techniques based on DIC principles are most
commonly referred to as particle image velocimetry (PIV) as the
technique is being used to measure the velocity of seed particles.
Beginning in the late 1990s, researchers became aware that DIC
was also particularly well-suited to geotechnical engineering ap-
plications (e.g., White et al. 2001a, 2001b, 2003; Take 2003; Sadek
et al. 2003; Rechenmacher and Finno 2004). In contrast to many of
the stiff materials often tested in solid mechanics such as steel
and aluminum, the strain range of interest in many geotechnical
engineering applications is significantly larger (i.e., strains in the
range of 0.1%–1% rather than microstrain). This significantly re-
duces the complexity of the experimental methodology and im-

Received 3 March 2014. Accepted 23 May 2014.

W.A. Take. Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, Department of Civil Engineering, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
E-mail for correspondence: andy.take@civil.queensu.ca.
1Presented at the 65th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 30 September – 3 October 2012.

Can. Geotech. J. 52: 1199–1220 (2015) dx.doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0080 Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/cgj on 19 January 2015.
 1200
Fig. 1. Visualization of shallow foundation failure mechanism using digital image correlation between (a) unloaded reference image and
(b) deformed loaded image captured through transparent side wall, resulting in (c) a visualization of full-field deformation.
a) Unloaded reference image
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
b) Loaded deformed image
For personal use only.
c) Visualization of full-field deformation
age analysis techniques required to measure strain, as the strain
range of interest is significantly higher than the typical magni-
tude of errors associated with the technique. Further, many
geotechnical failure processes such as the plastic collapse of a
shallow foundation or the triggering of a landslides involve gran-
ular flow and can therefore take advantage of the advances in
image correlation techniques made in the field of experimental
fluid mechanics. Such a case is illustrated in Fig. 1. If a digital
image of a plane-strain shallow foundation contained in a walled
chamber with transparent sides is captured before loading (Fig. 1a)
and during loading (Fig. 1b), a comparison of these two images can
be used to calculate full-field measurements of incremental dis-
placement (Fig. 1c). The density and quality of the data illustrated
in Fig. 1 illustrates the magnitude to which DIC represents a trans-
formative advance in both the visualization of failure mecha-
nisms and quantification of soil behaviour within physical model
experiments. The objective of this Canadian Geotechnical Collo-
quium is therefore to provide an updated review of the primary
factors that affect the accuracy and precision of DIC and to high-
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
Actuator and
load cell
Plane-strain
footing
light selected recent advances and emerging uses of DIC in
geotechnical engineering applications with particular emphasis
on physical modelling and field monitoring.
Digital image correlation
DIC uses pixel intensity values to calculate incremental dis-
placements to subpixel accuracy. This process will be explained by
first considering what a digital image represents. To this end, the
initial reference image of the shallow foundation physical model
of Fig. 1a is presented again in Figs. 2a–2c with progressively larger
digital zoom beginning with an overall view of the footing region,
a close-up of the foundation material under the footing (in this
case, spherical ceramic beads with a nominal diameter of 3 mm),
and an example of one of the 1012 regions tracked between the
reference and deformed images. This exercise illustrates that a
digital image is simply a matrix of colour intensity values, and
that the tracked regions are subsets selected from within the
larger matrix of colour intensity values comprising the full image.
Published by NRC Research Press
 Take
Fig. 2. Digital image of footing model shown with progressively
digital zoom beginning with (a) overall image of footing region,
(b) close-up of ceramic beads under shallow foundation, and
(c) example 16 × 16 pixel subset used for calculation of displacement
field.
a) Image of footing
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
b) Close up of granular material
c) Example 16 x 16 pixel subset
16
For personal use only.
16
As digital images are matrices of pixel intensity values, a refer-
ence subset can be defined by sampling a selected number of rows
and columns in the reference image on either side of a point of
interest. This has been illustrated within the image both visually
as well as using the table of integers that represents this intensity
matrix in Fig. 3a. This matrix shows one of the three colour chan-
nels and intensity values ranging from 0 to 255 to represent the
intensity of that colour in each pixel. In this simplified example, a
subset size of eight has been used (i.e., subsets comprising an
eight row by eight column matrix) to allow the table of intensity
values to be reproduced legibly in the figure. Assuming that the
footing causes this subset located under the centreline of the
footing to displace vertically downwards, the resulting deformed
image can be captured as shown in Fig. 3b. If the position of the
subset in the reference image is defined as the centre of the initial
subset location (x0, y0), the position of the centre of the new subset
location ( x0, y0 ) can be found by searching the deformed image for
the pixel intensity values that best represent the reference subset.
In this example, the deformed image has been translated 2 pixels
vertically downward making this comparison trivial. However, in
the more likely result where the subset experienced noninteger
pixel downwards displacement, or was subjected to rotation or
distortion in the second image, a computational assessment of the
best match would be required.
1201
The assessment of best match is performed by calculating the
similarity of the reference subset with possible positions in the
target deformed image as illustrated in Fig. 4. For this explana-
tion, the centre of a square subset in the reference image is de-
fined as (x0, y0) and the position of an arbitrarily chosen second
pixel in the reference image is (xi, yj), where subscripts i and j
correspond to the chosen row and column of that pixel, respec-
tively. The simplest form of matching assumes that the amount of
shear strain, volumetric strain, and rotation is sufficiently small
between the image pairs for the reference subset to be accurately
identified in the deformed image with a direct mapping from the
square initial subset to a square subset in the deformed image. In
other words, it is assumed that the square subset of the reference
image almost perfectly resembles a square in the deformed im-
age. In this case, the deformed position of every pixel in the subset
(xi , yj ) can be written as
xi ⫽ xi ⫹ u
(1)
yi ⫽ yi ⫹ v
where u and v are the displacement components of the subset
centre in the x and y directions, respectively.
As the amount of rotation or strain within the deformed subset
increases, the strength of the correlation coefficient calculated in
this manner will diminish, and the accuracy of using this approx-
imation (referred to as a zero-order shape function in the DIC
literature) will progressively decline until the deformed subset
becomes unrecognizable. Recognizing this limitation, research-
ers (e.g., Lu and Cary 2000; Schreier and Sutton 2002) have intro-
duced the concept of higher-order shape functions that permit
the subset originally defined in the reference image to experience
combinations of rotation, shear, and volumetric strain in the tar-
get image. As shown in Fig. 4c, the incremental displacement of a
pixel in the subset (xi , yj ) is no longer the same as that of the
subset centre. Instead, the mapping of each pixel in the reference
subset to the target image can be defined as
xi ⫽ xi ⫹ (u ⫹ ux⌬x ⫹ uy⌬y)
(2)
yi ⫽ yi ⫹ (v ⫹ vx⌬x ⫹ vy⌬y)
where ⌬x and ⌬y represent the position of the point measured
from the centre of the subset (i.e., ⌬x = xi – x0; ⌬y = yj – y0) and ux,
uy, vx, and vy are the first-order displacement gradients of the
reference subset (Pan et al. 2009). Second-order displacement
mapping functions have been proposed by Lu and Cary (2000) to
cope with more complex nonuniform strain gradients within the
deformed subset.
The assessment of how well the reference subset corresponds
to different locations in the target image is typically performed
in DIC using either a sum of squared differences (SSD) or cross-
correlation (CC) framework that has been normalized to remove
any potential influence of global illumination changes between
the reference and deformed images. Readers are referred to Sutton
et al. (2009) and Pan et al. (2009) for a full discussion regarding the
relative merits of various correlation functions proposed in the
DIC literature.
The results presented in this paper were calculated using the
normalized cross-correlation framework implemented in the soft-
ware geoPIV developed by White et al. (2003). Typical output from
this normalized cross-correlation calculation is shown in Fig. 5a as
a surface of correlation coefficient calculated over the ±16 pixel
region centered on the original location of the subset. This infor-
mation provides the nearest row and column (i.e., integer pixel)
location of highest correlation. Considerable research has been
undertaken in the DIC literature to develop strategies to achieve
Published by NRC Research Press
 1202 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015

Fig. 3. Simplified example of digital image correlation principle. As digital images are simply rows and columns of pixel intensity values,
smaller matrices within these images, called subsets, can be defined within the image and their position be identified in subsequent images
through the pattern of pixel intensity values. Computational assessment of the subpixel location of best match is required for noninteger
translation, or if the subset is subjected to rotation or distortion in the second image.

a) Reference image expressed as image and matrix of pixel intensity

Reference subset
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

N=8 (x0,y0)

b) Target image after two pixels of downward motion

For personal use only.

Centre of reference
subset in first image

(x0,y0)

(x0',y0')
Centre of best
subset match in
second image

subpixel accuracy; however, only the peak-finding algorithm used
in geoPIV will be discussed here. The peak-finding algorithm rec-
ognizes that the surface of calculated correlation coefficients
shown in Fig. 5a contains much more information than simply
the integer location of the highest calculated point. In the peak-
finding strategy, an interpolation surface is fit through the corre-
lation values in the ±2 or ±3 neighboring pixels surrounding the
integer peak (Fig. 5b), permitting the subpixel location of peak
correlation to be estimated as the location of the peak of the
interpolated surface.
Factors affecting precision and accuracy
Image texture and subset size
The single most important factor influencing the precision and
accuracy of DIC is image texture. Quite simply, if the subset in the
reference image contains pixels of identical intensity, a single
location of highest correlation is unlikely to be found in the sec-
ond, or target, image (Fig. 6a). Using the term “image texture” to
describe the degree of variation in pixel intensity values, such a
scenario describes the absence of image texture. However, this is
not the only scenario in which image texture may lead to poor
correlation outcomes. Consider the case of a subset defined on a
high-contrast edge or line feature (Fig. 6b). Although the reference
subset now contains pixel intensity values that are nonidentical,
this subset will have multiple correlation peaks at various loca-
tions along the edge. As a result, DIC results will at best have a
higher than normal degree of uncertainty regarding the location
of the subset in the direction of the edge, or at worst will result in
a wildly erroneous match. A third scenario is shown in Fig. 6c, in
which a repeating pattern has been created on an otherwise low-
texture background. Such a scenario could represent the use of
discrete marker beads installed into a white kaolin clay physical
model as was typical practice in physical models before DIC meth-
ods were used in geotechnical engineering. Again, although the
reference subset contains variations in pixel intensity, this tex-
ture is nearly identical to other neighbouring regions in the im-
age, which may lead to multiple correlation peaks and difficulty
in the identification of the appropriate single location of best
match. In contrast, if a random speckle pattern is used (Fig. 6d),
the subset in the reference image has sufficiently unique image
texture to be identified in subsequent images.

Published by NRC Research Press

 Take 1203

Fig. 4. Shape functions used in the literature to locate a (a) subset defined in the reference image in subsequent images under conditions of
(b) rigid body translation (zero order shape-function) and (c) translation, rotation, and shear and normal strain (first-order shape function). As
the amount of rotation or strain within the subset increases, the accuracy of the correlation calculated using a zero-order shape function will
diminish.

a) Reference image b) Target image after rigid body

translation
(0,0) (0,0)
x x
Reference subset
Zero order
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

shape function
(x0,y0) (x0,y0) u

(xi,yj) v

(x0',y0')
(xi’,yj’)

y y
c) Target image after translation, rotation and shear deformation

(0,0)
x
For personal use only.

Zero order
shape function
(x0,y0) approximation

(xi,yj) (x0',y0')

(xi’,yj’)

Higher-order
y shape function

Strategies to create high-quality image texture vary by DIC ap-
plication and the medium being tested. In experimental solid
mechanics, high-quality image texture is typically ensured by cre-
ating a speckle pattern on each test specimen using paint. In
contrast, DIC applications in fluid mechanics (i.e., PIV) require the
addition of seed particles to obtain image contrast as the fluid
alone does not have any image texture under laser illumination.
Thus, one of the first tasks when implementing DIC techniques in
geotechnical engineering measurement applications was to con-
sider the appropriate image texture for measurements in soils
(e.g., White et al. 2001a, 2001b).
Image texture in geotechnical engineering materials can range
from having a complete absence of texture when particle size is
very small compared to the pixel size (e.g., clays) to having a
high-contrast naturally occurring image texture when grains are
sufficiently large compared to the pixel size (e.g., coarse sands).
However, both scenarios can present unique challenges. First con-
sider an example in which a 327 mm thick profile of fine uni-
formly coloured test sand with a mean grain size of 0.157 mm is
captured through a transparent sidewall with a digital image at a
pixel size of 1.42 mm (Fig. 7). At this magnification, the individual
grains are not resolved in the image, and without any significant
variation in grain colour, each pixel has a nearly uniform inten-
sity. As a result, any subset consisting solely of this sand in its
natural appearance is unlikely to be matched accurately. Image
texture therefore needs to be imparted to the fine sand for DIC
measurements. However, unlike the strategies adopted in solid
mechanics, the granular nature of the test material cannot sus-
tain an unsupported face to permit the application of a paint
texture effect. Instead, texture must be applied while the granular
material is being supported by a transparent side wall, but in such
a way that does not change the properties of the soil in this region
from that of the remainder of the soil layer. One initial trial solu-
tion, shown in Fig. 7, was to sample some of the fine sand for
processing with a black dye, before reintroducing it at the plane of
the transparent sidewall using the same deposition method as the
rest of the sand model. If the sand is air-pluviated into place, such
a methodology will result in alternating dark- and light-coloured
layers. However, this can result in subsets being defined on ad-
verse texture such as edge or linear features, with the corre-
sponding issues highlighted in Fig. 6 with respect to accuracy of
identification in subsequent images. An improved methodology
to impart texture at the plane of the transparent window is there-
fore to premix the dyed and natural-coloured fine sand being

Published by NRC Research Press

 1204
Fig. 5. (a) Variation of correlation coefficient of subset within a ±16 pixel search area in the deformed image allowing the location of highest
correlation to be calculated to the nearest row and column (i.e., integer pixel location). (b) A subpixel estimate of the position of best match is
then calculated using an interpolation function on the neighbourhood of the pixels of highest correlation.
Location of maximum
a) correlation to nearest integer
row and column
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
10
0 10
Y (pixel) 0
-10
-10 X (pixel)
For personal use only.
pluviated to generate a random pattern of pixel intensity. Tech-
niques for imparting image texture to clays are much more
straightforward due to their ability to stand unsupported with a
vertical face. Additional details of this scenario are presented in
White et al. (2001a, 2001b) and Stanier and White (2013).
Although coarse sands can have a high-quality naturally occur-
ring random image texture, these materials can pose additional
challenges for DIC measurements that are unique to geotechnical
engineering applications. Consider again the shallow foundation
example that was presented in Fig. 1. Each of these particles was
sufficiently large such that it could be individually resolved in the
reference and deformed images. Therefore, it is possible to define
subsets to track individual particles (Fig. 8a). However, with the
notable exception of the distinct element method (DEM) of nu-
merical analysis, most geotechnical analyses deal with averaged
effective stresses and assumptions of continuum displacement
behaviour. The density of data that could be obtained by DIC
therefore raises the question of how many grains must be tracked
if the results are to be compared with a continuum analysis.
Figure 8 explores this philosophical question by presenting 1, 9,
40, and approximately 500 particles per subset. This illustration
indicates that for coarse-grained soils, the choice of subset size
should be performed not only to optimize image texture, but also
to tailor the results towards the intended use of the data to repre-
sent either the displacement of discrete particles or the average
behaviour of a continuum. Interested readers are referred to the
considerable body of work that has been performed in the past
decade using DIC to investigate shear band phenomena and the
excellent review papers on the topic published recently by
Viggiani and Hall (2012) and Hall (2012).
The discussion of the influence of image texture on the quality
of the DIC measurement outcome has to this point in the paper
been addressed qualitatively. However, considerable research has
been undertaken in the DIC community to quantitatively address
the assessment of image texture, the role played by subset size,
and the impact of both of these factors on the precision and
accuracy of DIC measurements (e.g., Pan et al. 2008, 2010; Sutton
et al. 2009; Stanier and White 2013). In this review paper, an
overview of these issues will be discussed using example DIC re-
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
b)
Correlation function in neighbourhood of
maximum correlation
3
2
-1
Sub-pixel
-2 interpolation of
position of highest
correlation
-3
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
X (pixel)
Values of calculated correlation
surface at integer pixel locations
used to fit interpolation surface
sults from numerically generated images. The images used for
this discussion consist of a 1000 × 1000 pixel black canvass, onto
which 5000 points of white light were randomly assigned to sub-
pixel locations uniformly throughout the image (Fig. 9). Each
point of light that makes up the speckle pattern of Fig. 9a has a
centre point of (xp, yp) and an intensity map at locations (x, y)
defined by a Gaussian intensity profile of size dp of 10 pixels and a
maximum intensity Imax of 250 out of a maximum 8-bit scale of
255 as defined by the equation used by Okamoto et al. (2000)
冋 册
(x ⫺ xp)2 ⫹ (y ⫺ yp)2
(3) I(x, y) ⫽ Imax exp ⫺
(dp /2)2
In most locations, the generated speckle pattern does not have
the appearance of having been created with discrete points of
light. This is because the intensity from points of light sufficiently
close to one another was added in overlapping regions. The result-
ing speckle pattern, shown in Fig. 9a, is a random high-contrast
pattern that can be manipulated with known amounts of image
translation, rotation, and strain to subpixel accuracy by control-
ling the location of the 5000 points of light.
The quality of image texture generated in this way is a not only
function of the number and diameter of dots, but also related to
the contrast the dots have with respect to the background colour.
The influence of image contrast will be investigated by taking this
same speckle pattern, but reducing the difference in intensity of
the points of light above the background colour (Fig. 9b). A cross
section through both a high and low contrast point of light is
presented in Fig. 9c and as a close-up image in Fig. 9d. The final
aspect of the quantitative assessment of texture in this review
paper will be to introduce a uniformly distributed white noise
with a maximum magnitude of 4% of the full-scale intensity to the
image pairs to model the influence of sensor noise on the preci-
sion of DIC measurements.
A rectangular grid of 19 rows and 19 columns of subsets ranging
in size between 18 and 50 pixels was used to define 361 subsets in
each of the numerically generated reference images described in
Published by NRC Research Press
 Take
Fig. 6. Influence of subset image texture on successful
identification in subsequent images, highlighting the degree of
difficulty in locating subsets (a) with an absence of texture,
(b) defined on edge features, (c) defined on a repeating pattern,
and (d) defined on a random speckle pattern.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.
Fig. 9. This range of subset sizes has been drawn to scale at the top
of Fig. 9a in subset dimension increments of 2 pixels. DIC was then
used to track the 361 subsets defined in the reference image to a
second image that was identical to the reference image. Any non-
zero pixel apparent movement is therefore an error. A common
method used in the DIC literature to present error due to poorly
matched subsets is to calculate the standard deviation of the
x-coordinate error in pixels (e.g., Pan et al. 2010). As shown by Pan
et al. (2008), the distribution of y-coordinate error is nearly iden-
tical to that of the x-coordinate error. Therefore, in this review
paper the standard deviation of the x-coordinate error is taken
to represent the precision of the DIC method’s ability to locate
subsets in a given direction. The standard deviation of the
x-coordinate error is presented in Fig. 10 for the high-contrast
1205
image pair for subset sizes ranging from 18 to 50 pixels. As ex-
pected, the precision of the system increases with larger subset
sizes as the shape of the correlation peak becomes less influenced
by variations in intensity gradient between individual pixels, and
instead represents the global average of zero thus giving a sym-
metric peak. At subset sizes below 30, the magnitude of the error
begins to rise dramatically. This is due to the increasing probabil-
ity that progressively smaller-sized subsets can fall in regions of
low texture between the regions of high intensity making up the
speckle pattern of Fig. 9a. Once one vector is incorrectly matched
with an incorrect correlation peak, this adds a potentially very
large error into the standard deviation calculation, which leads to
a dramatic increase in the standard deviation of the x-coordinate
error.
Real camera systems contain noise. To demonstrate the influ-
ence of noise on precision, different distributions of 4% white
noise were added to otherwise identical reference and target im-
ages. After DIC tracking, the distribution of error was assessed and
the standard deviation of the x-coordinate error is shown in
Fig. 10b. As one might expect, the addition of 4% of white noise
(i.e., a maximum noise amplitude of intensity 10 on a 255 scale)
has reduced the precision of the DIC measurements. Various strat-
egies have been proposed to reduce the impact of noise on preci-
sion including pre-filtering the images prior to DIC processing
using a low-pass Gaussian filter (e.g., Sutton et al. 2009) or acquir-
ing multiple images at each load step and averaging them prior to
DIC processing (e.g., Hoult et al. 2013). Both of these techniques
have been applied to the numerically generated high-contrast
images with 4% noise in Fig. 10b. In the case of the average filter
method, 10 noisy images were averaged to create the reference
image and 10 different noisy images were averaged to create the
deformed image. Both of these strategies are shown to increase
the precision of the measurement in Fig. 10b, with the average-
filter technique yielding a result closest to the noise-free case of
Fig. 10a.
The same 4% white noise has dramatically different conse-
quences for low-contrast images as it does for high-contrast ones.
As shown in Fig. 9c, a maximum noise amplitude of intensity 10 on
a 255 scale has much greater impact on a signal that has an inten-
sity range of 30 rather than 250. DIC results from low-contrast
image pairs with 4% noise are shown in Fig. 10c. Despite using
subsets of 50 pixels in dimension in the low-contrast image, the
standard deviation of the x-coordinate error is an order of magni-
tude higher than the identical image with higher contrast. This
striking difference illustrates that the contrast of a subset, along
with the noise of the imaging system, are primary variables influ-
encing the precision of DIC measurements. Based on this concept,
Pan et al. (2008) developed a theoretical model that indicates that
the displacement measurement accuracy of DIC can be predicted
based on the variance of image noise and the “sum of square of
subset intensity gradients” (SSSIG). However, as the SSSIG is a
local parameter that must be calculated for each subset, Pan et al.
(2010) refined this concept using a more practically relevant mea-
sure of texture quality that could represent the quality of a
speckle pattern over an entire image. This global texture descrip-
tor is the mean intensity gradient, defined by Pan et al. (2010) as
W H
(4) MIG ⫽ 兺 兺|ⵜf(x )|/(W × H)
i⫽1 j⫽1
ij
where W and H (in pixels) are image width and height, |ⵜf共xij兲| ⫽
兹fx共xij兲2 ⫹ fy共xij兲2
is the modulus of the local intensity gradient
vector, where fx and fy are the first-order intensity derivatives at
pixel xij.
In the example presented in this review paper, the mean inten-
sity gradient (MIG) of the high-contrast and low-contrast patterns
Published by NRC Research Press
 1206 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015

Fig. 7. Experimental challenge of creating image texture in soils where pixel size is too large for particle edges to be resolved. In this
experiment, fine sand was given visual texture by placing thin layers of dyed sand at the transparent window, leading to a zebra-striped
pattern and several of the challenges described in Fig. 6.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.

Fig. 8. Influence of subset size choice in images where pixel size is sufficiently large for particle edges to be resolved. At high magnifications,
motion of a subset can represent either the behaviour of (a) single particles, (b) neighbouring particles, (c) groups of particles or (d) the average
behaviour of a large number of particles.

a) 1 particle per subset b) 9 particles per subset

c) 40 particles per subset d) 500 particles per subset

Published by NRC Research Press

 Take 1207

Fig. 9. Speckle pattern images generated to investigate the impact of image noise and contrast on the precision of DIC measurements.
A rectangular grid of 19 rows and columns of subsets ranging in size between 18 and 50 pixels was used to obtain 361 measurements of subset
location error between pairs of (a) high-contrast and (b) low-contrast speckle patterns. Speckle patterns were generated using 5000 points of
light with a Gaussian intensity function, with and without white noise. (c) Cross section through both a high- and low-contrast point of light
and (d) close-up image.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.

is 18.7 and 2.3, respectively. This example therefore illustrates the
importance of appropriately illuminated high-contrast texture on
the overall precision of DIC measurements.
Subpixel interpolation scheme
Without subpixel interpolation, the resolution of DIC would be
limited to determining the best match of a reference subset to its
nearest row and column location in the deformed image. Thus,
the precision and accuracy of the DIC technique is very much
linked to the subpixel interpolation scheme. Unexplained system-
atic errors in DIC measurements in experimental solid mechanics
applications led Schreier et al. (2000) to perform the first-ever
comprehensive investigation of systematic errors within DIC mea-
surements due to subpixel displacements. The results of their in-
vestigation indicate that existing subpixel interpolation schemes
could introduce a cyclic bias error into DIC results. To provide
an illustration of this phenomenon for this paper, a series of
20 high-contrast noiseless images were generated at rigid-body
translation increments of 0.05 pixels to a maximum displacement
of 1 pixel, and tracked using a total of 361 subsets of size 64 pixels.
As these images are numerically generated, the mean error can be

Published by NRC Research Press

 1208 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015

Fig. 10. Precision of DIC subset tracking as a function of subset size for pairs of images created with high- and low-contrast example speckle
patterns with (a) no white noise and (b, c) 4% white noise. Strategies of reducing noise include low-pass Gaussian filtering and averaging
sequential images.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.

calculated at each increment as the true displacement is known order of 0.01 pixels exist at subpixel displacements of approxi-
for each image. The results for a simple bi-cubic subpixel interpo- mately 1/4 and 3/4 of a pixel translation and diminish to zero at 0,
lation surface are shown in Fig. 11. These results indicate that the 0.5, and 1 pixel displacements. Schreier et al. (2000) observed that
mean bias error cycles from a maximum systematic error on the higher order interpolation surfaces can reduce the magnitude of

Published by NRC Research Press

 Take
Fig. 11. Mean bias error for cubic polynomial and eight-coefficient B-spline peak-finding algorithms. The use of the latter can reduce the error
associated with the subpixel interpolation scheme by an order of magnitude.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
this bias error, leading to more-accurate subpixel measurements.
Progressively higher-order interpolation surfaces were investi-
For personal use only.
gated leading eventually to the current gold standard of subpixel
interpolation, the eight coefficient B-spline interpolation surface
(e.g., Sutton et al. 2009). As shown in Fig. 11, this higher-order
interpolation surface can improve the mean bias error by an order
of magnitude.
Out-of-plane distortion and thermal effects
A third factor influencing the accuracy and precision of DIC
measurements is out-of-plane distortion. This phenomenon can
be explained using a simple analogy of an outstretched hand ap-
pearing to get larger as the distance between the hand and the eye
is reduced. This apparent strain is entirely volumetric (i.e., the
hand does not appear to change shape, only size). Out-of-plane
movement of a test specimen towards a camera can therefore
result in apparent strains. This phenomenon has been investi-
gated by Hoult et al. (2013) using a steel plate under mechanical
load in a testing frame. The geometry behind the out-of-plane
error is illustrated schematically in Fig. 12a. In this figure, a high-
resolution digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera with a lens of
focal length L has been positioned at a distance Z away from a test
specimen. If this test specimen experiences out-of-plane move-
ment of dZ towards the camera, the same number of pixels on the
camera sensor will correspond to a smaller field of view (Y1) than
the original position (Y0). As a result, the image recorded of the
test specimen will appear to get larger. To investigate this further,
Hoult et al. (2013) used the strain-averaging technique of Lee et al.
(2012) in which subsets were arranged in a 2000 pixel diameter
circle pattern to permit the calculation of Mohr’s circle of strain.
Subset locations and the displacement vectors observed during an
increment of movement towards the camera are shown in Fig. 12b.
The results of the strain calculations are shown in Fig. 12c for five
increments of out-of-plane motion. It is important to note that
each displacement increment plots as a cluster of points around
the centre of what would be a Mohr’s circle with essentially zero
radius. These observations confirm the assumption that purely
out-of-plane motion (i.e., no rotation) generates normal strain
without any additional shear strains. As described by Sutton et al.
(2009), the simple pin-hole camera model of Fig. 12a can be used to
estimate the magnitude of the normal strain (␧) at a pixel location
1209
(x, y) on the sensor plane caused by an out-of-plane displacement
of dZ as a function of the distance to the specimen, Z,
␦Z
(5) ␧x(x, y) ⫽ ␧y(x, y) ⬵
Z
If the specimen is subjected to rotation, ␪, about the X axis as
shown in Fig. 13a, the assumption of no shear strain is no longer
the case. In this scenario, Pan et al. (2014) have developed equa-
tions to estimate the magnitude of the additional virtual strains at
a pixel location (x, y) on the sensor plane due to a rotation ␪ about
the X axis as
sin␪
␧x(x, y) ⬵ y
L
(6)
2 sin␪ cos␪
␧y(x, y) ⬵ (cos␪ ⫺ 1) ⫹ x
L
Equations (5) and (6) illustrate that one strategy to minimize
error due to out-of-plane movement and specimen rotation is to
increase the distance between the camera and the specimen, Z,
whilst using a longer focal length lens, L, to retain the same field
of view. Thus, as illustrated in the comparison of Figs. 13a and 13b,
the same ␦Z will translate into a smaller error when a longer focal
length lens is used. A second strategy to minimize error is to use a
telecentric lens. In this type of lens the rays that form the image
are parallel to the optical axis and therefore insensitive to out-of-
plane motion (e.g., Sutton et al. 2009; Pan et al. 2013a). Other
strategies involve an unstrained compensation region (Pan et al.
2014), a correction using cameras on either side of the specimen
(e.g., Hoult et al. 2013), a correction based on a known Poisson’s
ratio (e.g., Hoult et al. 2013) or the use of two cameras with over-
lapping fields of view to permit three-dimensional (3D)-DIC and
the calculation of the out-of-plane displacement using binocular
stereo vision (e.g., Luo et al. 1993; Helm et al. 1996; Sutton et al.
2009).
An additional error closely related to out-of-plane errors is the
issue of camera self-heating. Heat generated through camera op-
eration can cause (i) the optical system to experience thermal
expansion (Fig. 13c), (ii) a change, dL, in the distance between the
Published by NRC Research Press
 1210 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015

Fig. 12. Out-of-plane movement towards a camera (a) alters the geometry of the simple pin-hole camera model, which results in (b) a radially
expanding vector field of displacement and (c) an erroneous normal strain (modified after Hoult et al. 2013).

a) Simple pin-hole camera model

Position of object
Physical and pixel dimensions plane (steel plate)
of CCD sensor, xCCD , uCCD,
respectively

L Z
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

Y
Viewing angle Z
of camera Y1
Y0

Out of plane Z
displacement

b) Vectors of DIC subsets arranged to c) Calculated apparent normal and shear

calculate Mohr’s circle of strain strains due to out of plane displacement, Z
For personal use only.

2000
500
1000 Out of plane displacement, Z (mm)
1000 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
0
1500
-1000
2000
-2000
2500
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 2000 4000 6000
X (pixels) 6
Apparent normal strain, (x10 )

image sensor (e.g., charge-coupled device, CCD) and the lens, and
(iii) apparent virtual strains in the image. The magnitude of this
error is camera- and lens-specific as it is dependent on the propen-
sity of the camera to experience self-heating and the focal length
of the lens (e.g., Pan et al. 2013a). Strategies to minimize this error
include the addition of a thermal warmup stage to test procedures
to allow for thermal steady state to be reached and the use of
telecentric lenses. However, despite their insensitivity to out-of-
plane displacement and thermal effects, the use of a telecentric
lens is often not possible in geotechnical engineering applications
due to their small field of view.
Other potentially significant sources of error
Other potentially significant sources of error possible in DIC
measurements include errors due to an undermatched shape
function or lens distortion. Undermatched shape functions in-
volve scenarios in which large rotations or strains occur between
the reference and target image pairs. As described earlier in the
paper, the strength of a correlation coefficient calculated with a
zero-order shape function will progressively decline with rotation
or deformation until the deformed subset becomes unrecogniz-
able. In such cases a higher-order shape function should be used
to minimize the influence of this potentially significant error on
the results (e.g., Lu and Cary 2000; Schreier and Sutton 2002).
Lens distortion can potentially represent a significant source of
error if a short focal length lens is used (e.g., fish-eye lens) or if
strains need to be measured in stiff materials such as concrete or
steel. One strategy reported in DIC literature includes inferring
corrections from measuring rigid-body displacement (e.g., Yoneyama
et al. 2006; Pan et al. 2013b). However, the most common appli-
cation of DIC in geotechnical engineering is a scenario in which
DIC measurements are used to track the motion of soil behind
a transparent sidewall of a physical model container (e.g., two-
dimensional (2D)-DIC). The requirement that this transparent
sidewall should have sufficient stiffness to approximate plane-
strain conditions under loading results in typical acrylic window
thicknesses of up to 76 mm. This thick window leads to additional
errors due to refraction and alters the optics of the errors due to
out-of-plane displacement and camera self-heating. Further, if the

Published by NRC Research Press

 Take 1211

Fig. 13. Error due to out of plane motion and rotation for (a) a short focal length lens and for (b) a longer focal length lens whilst keeping the
field of view constant. Thermal warm-up of camera components, shown in (c), can lead to a related error due to slight changes in the distance
between the sensor plane and the camera lens.

a) Error due to out of plane motion with a short focal length lens

Sensor Camera Object plane

plane lens Original Final

Y
Optical axis Z
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

Rotation,
Error
L Z Z

b) Error due to out of plane motion with a longer focal length lens
Sensor Camera Object plane
plane lens Original Final

Error
For personal use only.

L Z Z

c) Error due to thermal expansion of camera components

Sensor Camera Object

plane lens plane

Original

Final
Error L
L Z

physical model test is performed under enhanced gravity using
the technique of centrifuge modelling, the camera components
will be subjected to self-weight deflection and rotation with re-
spect to plane of measurement on the inside of the transparent
window. It follows that if the camera lens is viewed as a cantilever
beam, increasing self-weight will cause the lens body to deflect
downwards and for the scene in the image to appear to move
upwards (e.g., White et al. 2003). The harsh centrifuge testing
environment also leads to issues with camera control and illumi-
nation, which can now be overcome with recent developments in
LED light panels (e.g., Stanier and White 2013).
The solution to the thick window problem is to place stationary
control markers on the inside of the transparent window (White
et al. 2003). These stationary control markers can themselves be
tracked using DIC and any apparent movements due to changes in
camera position or self-heating can be corrected along with image
distortion due to refraction and lens distortion using principles of
close-range photogrammetry (White et al. 2003, 2005). An image
of a typical centrifuge test container with a three-camera system
installed for DIC measurements is shown in Fig. 14. In this setup,
three cameras have been used to ensure full coverage of the trans-
parent window at a high pixel resolution. A total of 28 control
markers, consisting of a circular black dot surrounded by a high-
contrast white halo, are visible in each field of view. The central
location of these control markers must be known for the photo-
grammetric correction to succeed. Due to the difficulty in control-
ling the position of the as-created control markers, the easier
option is to optically measure the position of the dots after they
have been created. Visible through the transparent window is a
large-format paper sheet pressed firmly flat against with transpar-
ent window with dots printed at 20 mm centres. The purpose of
this paper sheet is to provide a high-redundancy network of
known dot locations to measure the initial as-created positions
of the control markers on the inside of the window.
Selected applications of DIC in geotechnical
engineering
Measurements of soil deformation in the plane of a
transparent window (2D-DIC)
Perhaps the most powerful use of DIC in physical modelling
relates to the opportunity granted for visualization of poorly un-
derstood failure mechanisms. The first DIC application high-
lighted in this paper relates to a study by Take and Beddoe (2014),

Published by NRC Research Press

 1212
Fig. 14. Three cameras aligned for DIC visualization of soil displacement fields measured at the plane of transparent sidewall of a centrifuge
package. Errors due to out-of-plane motion, camera warm-up, refraction, and camera movement can be corrected using control marks placed
on the inside of the transparent window. The position of these markers can be measured optically using a dot field on a printed sheet placed
at the plane of the transparent sidewall.
Digital
camera
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.
28 control markers distributed uniformly
throughout camera field of view
which aimed to visualize the triggering mechanism of static liq-
uefaction landslides in loose granular soils. It is well understood
that in order for the critical state strain-softening associated with
static liquefaction to occur, the soil must be contractive, be sub-
jected to a monotonic loading trigger, and be sufficiently satu-
rated to permit the generation of excess pore-water pressures
upon loading. However, for granular soil on a slope it is this third
condition that is perhaps the most difficult to achieve. Slopes
consisting of granular material are inherently well drained, as
they consist of a high-permeability material placed with an incli-
nation that encourages high hydraulic gradients, which act to
drain the slope. As a result, reaching a zone of saturated ground-
water flow of significant thickness on a granular slope would
require very high groundwater seepage flow rates that may or
may not occur under typical groundwater and rainfall infiltration
conditions. However, flow liquefaction events can and do occur in
granular soils in the field.
Take and Beddoe (2014) hypothesized that a possibly more likely
location for static liquefaction to occur may be in the granular soil
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
Window
stiffener
Transparent
window
Control marker on
inside of glass
Centroiding dots printed on large
format paper at known scale
located at the base of the landslide, which due to the reduction in
hydraulic gradient at this location becomes saturated at much
lower flow rates than the soil on the slope. This hypothesis was
tested using DIC visualization of the failure process captured at
high temporal resolution through a 1000 frames per second cam-
era observing the behaviour of a landslide equivalent to 1.5 m soil
depth at prototype scale. The DIC visualization of the slide-to-flow
transition mechanism seen in the loose granular slope brought
to failure under rising groundwater conditions is presented in
Fig. 15. The positions of the initial subsets are shown in Fig. 15a.
Failure begins with a small localized failure at the toe (Figs. 15b,
15c), which shears and generates large excess pore-water pressures
within the loose saturated soil on the base of the slope, causing
the landslide to transition from a slide into a flow. Figure 15 there-
fore serves to illustrate how DIC visualization can be used to test
hypotheses regarding failure processes.
The second application of 2D-DIC highlighted in this paper
raises the issue of obtaining quantitative measurements of defor-
mation and the role of side friction at the plane of a transparent
Published by NRC Research Press
 Take 1213

Fig. 15. DIC visualization of the slide-to-flow transition mechanism seen in loose granular slopes brought to failure under rising groundwater
conditions. Failure begins with a small localized failure at the toe, which shears and generates large excess pore-water pressures within the
loose saturated soil on the base of the slope, causing the landslide to transition from a slide to a flow (from Take and Beddoe 2014). FOV, field
of view.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.

window. The application in question is the problem of pipelines
subject to permanent ground deformation; specifically, the pre-
diction of curvature response of pipelines under normal faulting.
Figure 16a illustrates the geometry and layout of a physical model
designed by Saiyar et al. (2011) using 2D-DIC to investigate this
problem. A 150 mm soil layer was placed in a 900 mm long
transparent-sided box. DIC subsets were then used to visualize the
distribution of strains within the shear zone as the floor of one
side of the transparent box was slowly lowered in increments. An
expensive highly instrumented model pipeline (aluminum rod)
fitted with full-bridge dual foil strain gauges every 25 mm spacing
along its length (Fig. 16b) was then placed in the middle of the
plane-strain box to correlate observed maximum curvatures in
hogging and sagging with incremental fault displacement. Al-
though effective, the use of this instrumented model pipeline had
two severe restrictions. Firstly, the monetary and person-hour
cost of instrumenting the model pipeline places a severe limita-
tion on the number of physical models that could be taken to
plastic failure. Secondly, foil strain gauges work well with alumi-
num, but research in the field of geosynthetics has shown that the
placement of foil strain gauges on flexible materials can create a
local stiffening effect, which can result in significant strain error
(e.g., Bathurst et al. 2002; Warren et al. 2010). Therefore, foil
gauges are not appropriate for the physical modelling of flexible
pipeline materials.
To overcome these issues, Saiyar et al. (2011) adopted a strategy
pioneered by Bransby et al. (2007) to track the deformation of a
half-model pipe at the plane of the transparent window. A com-
parison of the curvature measured in the full section of the model
pipeline in the middle of the plane strain model using strain
gauges with that calculated from the filtered deflected shape of
the half-model pipeline section measured at the plane of the

Published by NRC Research Press

 1214
Fig. 16. (a) DIC visualization of soil–structure interaction of physical model pipelines subjected to normal faulting. The deflected shape and
curvature of the model pipeline placed at the glass window, shown as the half-rod section in part (b), was compared with an instrumented
full-rod section in the centre of the model container (all dimensions in millimetres) (modified after Saiyar et al. 2011).
a)
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
b)
For personal use only.
25
9.5
transparent window is presented in Fig. 17. These results indicate
a high visual fit between the points of measured curvature using
the strain gauges and distribution of curvature calculated from
2D-DIC (i.e., estimates of peak curvature corresponding to within
5%).
The advantage of 2D-DIC measured at the plane of a transparent
window is the richness of data it can provide. However, it should
always be recognized that these measurements have been influ-
enced by boundary friction. In the pipeline physical model pre-
sented here, it should be noted that the experiment was subjected
to kinematically controlled boundary conditions in a chamber
lined with four glass sidewalls to reduce interface friction (i.e.,
glass has a significantly lower interface friction angle than Per-
spex). Thus, the experiment has been designed specifically to
minimize the possible influence of boundary friction. Whenever
possible, quantitative DIC measurements of displacement taken
at vertical transparent boundaries should be replicated with spot
measurements internal to the plane strain model to assess the
possible impact of boundary friction, especially under stress-
controlled boundary conditions or transparent windows with
higher interface friction (i.e., Perspex).
Applications using 2.5D-DIC
DIC measurements using a single camera can only resolve
displacements in the plane normal to the camera axis. However,
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
Dual foil strain
gages (full bridge)
9.5
2.5D measurements of displacement are possible if targets are
tracked by two cameras placed orthogonally to each other track-
ing the same target. Thus, through a combination of these two
sets of planar movements, an estimate of the 3D trajectory of the
target can be calculated for discrete targets. An example applica-
tion where this 2.5D-DIC method has been used successfully to
obtain field measurements of surface heave during pipe burst-
ing operations is shown in Fig. 18. The magnitude and distribution
of ground deformations during construction processes, such as
the trenchless technology of pipe bursting, are of practical engi-
neering interest as these imposed displacements affect stresses
within neighbouring utilities. Figure 18 illustrates a typical field of
view of numerous wooden block targets tracked with DIC to ob-
tain field measurements of surface heave. Because of perspective,
rows of wooden targets placed at 1 m on centre appear in the
image to be spaced at different numbers of pixels, depending on
whether they are proximal or distal to the camera. As a result, a
DIC measurement of 1 pixel upwards heave would translate into a
different real-world movement (i.e., in units of millimetres) de-
pending on where the block target was located because the scale
factor changes with distance from the camera. To overcome this
challenge, an equation for the variation in scale factor with cam-
era distance was developed using the observed variation in scale
factor in the rows of targets placed at 1 m spacing. DIC subsets
Published by NRC Research Press
 Take 1215

Fig. 17. Comparison of curvature measured in full section of model pipeline in the middle of the plane strain model using strain gauges with
that calculated from the filtered deflected shape of the half-model pipeline section measured at the plane of the transparent window using
DIC (modified after Saiyar et al. 2011).

0.3

Strain gauges
0.2 DIC

0.1 Imposed fault

offset in mm
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

0
1.2

-0.1
2.7

-0.2
3.8
4.8
-0.3 6.2
7.2
For personal use only.

-0.4
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Horizontal coordinate, X (mm)

Fig. 18. Typical field of view of wooden block targets tracked with DIC to obtain field measurements of surface heave during pipe bursting.
Measurements of each block can only be made in the plane normal to the camera axis; however, 2.5D measurements of surface heave are
possible if block targets are tracked by two cameras placed orthogonally to each other (modified after Brachman et al. 2010).

DIC subsets on block

targets to measure
displacement in the plane

Rows of targets spaced on 1 m centres DIC subsets on

to quantify variation in scale factor with stationary object
increasing distance from camera in the far field

Camera 2 Camera 4
1m

Direction of sub-surface 1m
pipe bursting operation 1m

Published by NRC Research Press

 1216
Fig. 19. Plan view of a five-camera arrangement to monitor surface heave in a 16 m long, 8 m wide pipe-bursting field test section. All six cameras
were triggered simultaneously to provide images to monitor the displacement of all targets in the test section using DIC (Brachman et al. 2010).
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.
were placed on these blocks, as well as on additional textured
wooden blocks placed at higher density along the longitudinal
path of the pipe-bursting operation. DIC subsets were also tracked
on a stationary object in the far field placed in line with each
camera, but outside of the zone of influence, which were used to
correct for potential errors arising from camera movement or
changes in lighting. A plan view of the measurement system is
shown in Fig. 19, illustrating the coarse network of targets placed
at 1 m centres and the finer distribution of blocks staggered in a
pattern to avoid target occlusion when viewed from the camera
perspective. Five cameras were used to monitor surface heave in a
16 m long, 8 m wide pipe-bursting test section. Cameras were
triggered simultaneously to provide instantaneous profiles of soil
heave. Typical test data are shown in Fig. 20 as contours of vertical
surface heave in millimetres due to pipe-bursting operations after
the burst head has travelled 15 m along the test section 1 m below
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
ground surface. An assessment of the potential error associated
with these surface measurements has been shown to be less than
±0.1 mm (McLeod 2008).
Low-altitude imaging applications
Low-cost aerial imaging platforms such as helium-filled airships
and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide unique new oppor-
tunities to use high-resolution cameras to monitor geotechnical
processes in the field. This could be as simple as using the aerial
images for change detection based on visual appearance or to
record construction progress. For example, a helium-filled airship
(Fig. 21a) has been used by Take et al. (2007) to quantify the process
of thermal expansion and wrinkle formation in black geomem-
brane landfill liners subjected to temperatures reaching 60 °C
under exposure to solar radiation. Similarly, a UAV (Fig. 21b) has
Published by NRC Research Press
 Take 1217

Fig. 20. Contours of vertical surface heave (in millimetres) due to pipe-bursting operations after the burst head has travelled 15 m along the
test section 1 m below ground surface as calculated using 2.5D DIC measurements of wooden targets (modified after Brachman et al. 2010).
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

Fig. 21. High-resolution cameras on either a (a) helium-filled airship or (b) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can permit subset matching of
(c) two overlapping images, and through principles of digital photogrammetry, the generation of point clouds. Image of landslide is taken
from the Mud Creek field site in Ottawa in 2012.

a) b)
For personal use only.

6.4 m
1.3 m

c)

Image overlap
Published by NRC Research Press
 1218 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015

Fig. 22. (a) DIC subsets defined on a frame of high-speed camera footage of a rail foundation system during the passage of a passenger train
travelling at 118 km/h and (b) DIC measurements of transient rail displacement (modified after Murray et al. 2015).
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.

been used to record locations of damage to a field installation of
geosynthetic clay liners (Brachman et al. 2015; Take et al. 2015).
Similar to 3D-DIC measurements based on binocular stereo vi-
sion (e.g., Luo et al. 1993; Helm et al. 1996; Sutton et al. 2009),
images of the same scene captured from two different aerial po-
sitions with sufficient overlap can be used to identify subsets in
both images, and according to principles of digital photogramme-
try, generate point clouds of the ground surface. Figure 21 illus-
trates two overlapping images at the crest of a landslide in
sensitive clay taken from the Mud Creek field site in Ottawa,
Ontario, in 2012.
High-temporal resolution applications
The high-temporal resolution of digital camera hardware now
available permits images to be captured at thousands of frames
per second. Recent geotechnical engineering examples where

Published by NRC Research Press

 Take
the use of high-temporal resolution with DIC include the visual-
ization of granular flow within large-scale landslide flume tests
(Bryant et al. 2015), the visualization of static (Take and Beddoe
2014; Take et al. 2014) and earthquake liquefaction in physical
models (e.g., Takano et al. 2014), and the assessment of abutment
fixity conditions through monitoring the deflected shape of bridges
during load testing (Murray et al. 2014). The high-temporal reso-
lution application chosen to be highlighted in this paper is that of
railway deflection monitoring. DIC analysis of high-speed image
frames capturing the passage of rail traffic over a tie has success-
fully been used to investigate the vertical deflection of rail sys-
tems under traffic loading by Bowness et al. (2007) and Priest et al.
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
(2010). Following from their work, DIC subsets have been used by
Murray et al. (2015) to investigate the transient deflection of the
rail–tie–ballast system using DIC (Fig. 22a). Typical results of tran-
sient vertical displacement measured on a high-quality track sys-
tem are presented in Fig. 22b. However, the primary advantage of
DIC-based image analysis methods in this application is the pos-
sibility of capturing the so-called “running rail” phenomena in
poor subgrade locations, where the passage of a train pushes the
rails longitudinally (i.e., in the direction of travel of the train)
potentially causing a build-up in longitudinal stresses in the rail at
any locations where this displacement is constrained. The longi-
tudinal movement measured using DIC during the field monitor-
ing was in many cases larger than the vertical displacement
observed and was dependent on the direction of travel, length and
weight of the train, as well as the previous trains on the rail
(Murray et al. 2015), providing an excellent example of the new
insights made possible through the adoption of DIC.
For personal use only.
Conclusions
The adoption of digital image correlation methods by the
geotechnical engineering community over the past 15 years has
provided researchers with a transformative tool for the visualiza-
tion of failure mechanisms and the quantification of soil and
soil–structure interaction behaviour within physical model exper-
iments and field monitoring. A summary of the factors that affect
the accuracy and precision of DIC has been presented in this
review paper, with particular focus on subset texture and size,
camera noise, choice of subpixel interpolation scheme, and the
camera geometry errors associated with out-of-plane movement,
self-heating, and the complexities of making observations through
thick transparent windows. Example applications have been
discussed where DIC measurements have been used to visualize
failure processes and make quantitative measurements of defor-
mation within physical models, to measure surface heave in the
field due to construction processes, to use low-altitude imaging to
collect 3D point cloud data of ground movements, and to obtain
field measurements of rail track stiffness under dynamic train
loading. A great number of other geotechnical applications of the
technique can be found in the literature, including applications in
transparent soil (e.g., Sadek et al. 2003; Ni et al. 2009; Ezzein and
Bathurst 2011; Peters et al. 2011; Sanvitale and Bowman 2012;
Stanier et al. 2012) and digital volume correlation (e.g., Bay et al.
1999; Hall et al. 2010). It is expected that the number and breadth
of DIC applications in geotechnical engineering will continue to
grow due to the versatility of the technique. Encouragingly, as the
accuracy and precision of DIC techniques are defined in terms of
a fraction of a pixel, annual advances in the stability and spatial
and temporal resolution of camera hardware will translate di-
rectly into annual improvements in the accuracy and precision of
the technique even in the absence of further improvements to
DIC methodologies.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express his gratitude to the Canadian
Foundation for Geotechnique for the opportunity to present the
1219
36th Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium. The work presented
in this paper would not have been possible without the support of
the author’s collaborators and graduate students. In particular,
the author would like to thank his collaborator and co-author
of the software geoPIV, David White of The University of Western
Australia, for his long-term collaboration and contribution to re-
search on digital image correlation methods in geotechnical en-
gineering; his collaborators on image analysis applications within
the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s–RMC: Richard Bathurst,
Richard Brachman, Neil Hoult, Ian Moore, Kerry Rowe, and Greg
Siemens; and the current and former research students who have
contributed to the work highlighted in this paper (Ryley Beddoe,
Michael Bentley, Mike Dutton, Jon Foster, Jeff Kemp, Chris Lee,
Heather McLeod, Joe Murdock, Chris Murray, Josh Potvin, and
Masoumeh Sarai). The DIC applications highlighted in this review
paper were supported financially by the Natural Science and En-
gineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian
Foundation of Innovation, the Ontario Ministry of Research and
Innovation, and ConeTec Site Investigation.
References
Bathurst, R.J., Allen, T.M., and Walters, D.L. 2002. Short-term strain and defor-
mation behavior of geosynthetic walls at working stress conditions. Geosyn-
thetics International, 9(5–6): 451–482, 2002. doi:10.1680/gein.9.0225.
Bay, B.K., Smith, T.S., Fyhrie, D.P., and Saad, M. 1999. Digital volume correlation:
three-dimensional strain mapping using X-ray tomography. Experimental
Mechanics, 39(3): 217–226. doi:10.1007/BF02323555.
Bowness, D., Lock, A.C., Powrie, W., Priest, J.A., and Richards, D.J. 2007. Moni-
toring the dynamic displacements of railway track. Proceedings of the Insti-
tution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit,
221(F1): 13–22. doi:10.1243/0954409JRRT51.
Brachman, R.W.I., McLeod, H.A., Moore, I.D., and Take, W.A. 2010. Three-
dimensional ground displacements from static pipe bursting in stiff clay.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 47(4): 439–450. doi:10.1139/T09-118.
Brachman, R.W.I., Rentz, A., Rowe, R.K., and Take, W.A. 2015. Classification and
quantification of downslope erosion from a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)
when covered only by a black geomembrane. Canadian Geotechnical Jour-
nal, 52(4): 395–412. doi:10.1139/cgj-2014-0241.
Bransby, M.F., Nahas, E., Turner, E., and Davies, M.C.R. 2007. The interaction of
reverse faults with flexible continuous pipelines. International Journal of
Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 7: 25–40.
Bryant, S.K., Take, W.A., and Bowman, E.T. 2015. Observations of grain-scale
interactions and simulation of dry granular flows in a large-scale flume.
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 52(5): 638–655. doi:10.1139/cgj-2013-0425.
Ezzein, F.M., and Bathurst, R.J. 2011. A transparent sand for geotechnical labo-
ratory modeling. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 34(6): 590–601. doi:10.1520/
GTJ103808.
Hall, S.A. 2012. Digital image correlation in experimental geomechanics. In
ALERT Doctoral School 2012: Advanced experimental techniques in geome-
chanics. Edited by C. Viggiani, S. Hall, and E. Romero. pp. 69–102.
Hall, S.A., Bornert, M., Desrues, J., Pannier, Y., Lenoir, N., Viggiani, G., and
Bésuelle, P. 2010. Discrete and continuum analysis of localised deformation
in sand using X-ray ␮CT and volumetric digital image correlation. Géotech-
nique, 60(5): 315–322. doi:10.1680/geot.2010.60.5.315.
Helm, J.D., McNeill, S.R., and Sutton, M.A. 1996. Improved three-dimensional
image correlation for surface displacement measurement. Optical Engineer-
ing, 35(7): 1911–1920. doi:10.1117/1.600624.
Hoult, N.A., Take, W.A., Lee, C., and Dutton, M. 2013. Experimental accuracy of
two dimensional strain measurements using Digital Image Correlation. En-
gineering Structures, 46: 718–726. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2012.08.018.
Lee, C., Take, W.A., and Hoult, N.A. 2012. Optimum accuracy of two-dimensional
strain measurements using digital image correlation. Journal of Computing
in Civil Engineering, 26(6): 795–803. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000182.
Lu, H., and Cary, P.D. 2000. Deformation measurements by digital image corre-
lation: implementation of a second-order displacement gradient. Experimen-
tal Mechanics, 40(4): 393–400. doi:10.1007/BF02326485.
Luo, P.F., Chao, Y.J., Sutton, M.A., and Peters, W.H., III. 1993. Accurate measure-
ment of three-dimensional deformations in deformable and rigid bodies
using computer vision. Experimental Mechanics, 33(2): 123–132. doi:10.1007/
BF02322488.
McLeod, H.A. 2008. Field measurements of surface displacements from pipe
bursting. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ont.
Murray, C.A., Hoag, A., Hoult, N.A., and Take, W.A. 2014. Field monitoring of a
bridge using digital image correlation. Proceedings of the ICE – Bridge Engi-
neering, 168(1): 3–12. doi:10.1680/bren.13.00024.
Murray, C.A., Take, W.A., and Hoult, N.A. 2015. Measurement of vertical and
Published by NRC Research Press
 1220
longitudinal rail displacements using digital image correlation. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, 52(2): 141–155. doi:10.1139/cgj-2013-0403.
Ni, Q., Hird, C.C., and Guymer, I. 2009. Physical modelling of pile penetration in
clay using transparent soil and particle image velocimetry. Géotechnique,
60(2): 121–132. doi:10.1680/geot.8.P.052.
Okamoto, K., Nishio, S., Saga, T., and Kobayashi, T. 2000. Standard images for
particle-image velocimetry. Measurement Science and Technology, 11(6):
685. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/11/6/311.
Pan, B., Xie, H., Wang, Z., Qian, K., and Wang, Z. 2008. Study on subset size
selection in digital image correlation for speckle patterns. Optics Express,
16(10): 7037–7048. doi:10.1364/OE.16.007037. PMID:18545407.
Pan, B., Qian, K., Xie, H., and Asundi, A. 2009. Two-dimensional digital image
correlation for in-plane displacement and strain measurement: a review.
Measurement Science and Technology, 20(6): 062001. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
20/6/062001.
Pan, B., Lu, Z., and Xie, H. 2010. Mean intensity gradient: an effective global
parameter for quality assessment of the speckle patterns used in digital
image correlation. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 48(4): 469–477. doi:10.
1016/j.optlaseng.2009.08.010.
Pan, B., Yu, L., and Wu, D. 2013a. High-accuracy 2D digital image correlation
measurements with bilateral telecentric lenses: error analysis and experi-
mental verification. Experimental Mechanics, 53(9): 1719–1733. doi:10.1007/
s11340-013-9774-x.
Pan, B., Yu, L., Wu, D., and Tang, L. 2013b. Systematic errors in two-dimensional
digital image correlation due to lens distortion. Optics and Lasers in Engi-
neering, 51(2): 140–147. doi:10.1016/j.optlaseng.2012.08.012.
Pan, B., Yu, L., and Wu, D. 2014. High-accuracy 2D digital image correlation
measurements using low-cost imaging lenses: implementation of a general-
ized compensation method. Measurement Science and Technology, 25(2):
025001. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/25/2/025001.
Peters, S.B., Siemens, G., and Take, W.A. 2011. Characterization of transparent
soil for unsaturated applications. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 34(5): 445–
456. doi:10.1520/GTJ103580.
Peters, W.H., and Ranson, W.F. 1982. Digital imaging techniques in experimen-
tal stress analysis. Optical Engineering, 21(3): 213427–213427. doi:10.1117/12.
7972925.
For personal use only.
Priest, J.A., Powrie, W., Yang, L., Grabe, P.J., and Clayton, C.R.I. 2010. Measure-
ments of transient ground movements below a ballasted railway line. Géo-
technique, 60(9): 667–677. doi:10.1680/geot.7.00172.
Rechenmacher, A.L., and Finno, R.J. 2004. Digital image correlation to evaluate
shear banding in dilative sands. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 27(1): 13–22.
doi:10.1520/GTJ11263J.
Sadek, S., Iskander, M.G., and Liu, J. 2003. Accuracy of digital image correlation
for measuring deformations in transparent media. Journal of Computing in
Civil Engineering, 17(2): 88–96. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3801(2003)17:2(88).
Saiyar, M., Take, W.A., and Moore, I.D. 2011. Validation of boundary PIV mea-
surements of soil-pipe interaction. International Journal of Physical Model-
ling in Geotechnics, 11(1): 23–32. doi:10.1680/ijpmg.2011.11.1.23.
Sanvitale, N., and Bowman, E.T. 2012. Internal imaging of saturated granular
free-surface flows. International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotech-
nics, 12(4): 129–142. doi:10.1680/ijpmg.12.00002.
Schreier, H.W., and Sutton, M.A. 2002. Systematic errors in digital image corre-
lation due to undermatched subset shape functions. Experimental Mechan-
ics, 42(3): 303–310. doi:10.1007/BF02410987.
Schreier, H.W., Braasch, J., and Sutton, M.A. 2000. Systematic errors in digital
image correlation caused by intensity interpolation. Optical Engineering,
39(11): 2915–2921. doi:10.1117/1.1314593.
Stanier, S.A., and White, D.J. 2013. Improved image-based deformation measure-
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 52, 2015
ment in the centrifuge environment. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 36(6).
doi:10.1520/GTJ20130044.
Stanier, S.A., Black, J.A., and Hird, C.C. 2012. Enhancing accuracy and precision
of transparent synthetic soil modelling. International Journal of Physical
Modelling in Geotechnics, 12(4): 162–175. doi:10.1680/ijpmg.12.00005.
Sutton, M.A., Wolters, W.J., Peters, W.H., Ranson, W.F., and McNeill, S.F. 1983.
Determination of displacements using an improved digital correlation
method. Image and Vision Computing, 1(3): 133–139. doi:10.1016/0262-8856
(83)90064-1.
Sutton, M.A., Oreu, J.-J., and Schreier, H.W. 2009. Image correlation for shape,
motion and deformation measurements. Spring Science+Business Media,
New York.
Takano, D., Morikawa, Y., and Takahashi, H. 2014. Full field measurement of
liquefied soil on geotechnical centrifuge using digital image correlation.
Chapter 31. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Physical
Modelling in Geotechnics, Perth, Australia, 14–17 January 2014. Edited by
C. Gaudin and D. White. pp. 295–300. doi:10.1201/b16200-36.
Take, W. 2003. The influence of seasonal moisture cycles on clay slopes. Ph.D.
thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Take, W.A., and Beddoe, R.A. 2014. Base liquefaction: a mechanism for shear-
induced failure of loose granular slopes. Canadian Geotechnical Journal,
51(5): 496–507. doi:10.1139/cgj-2012-0457.
Take, W.A., Chappel, M.J., Brachman, R.W.I., and Rowe, R.K. 2007. Quantifying
geomembrane wrinkles using aerial photography and digital image process-
ing. Geosynthetics International, 14(4): 219–227. doi:10.1680/gein.2007.14.4.
219.
Take, W.A., Beddoe, R.A., Davoodi-Bilesavar, R., and Phillips, R. 2014. Effect of
antecedent groundwater conditions on the triggering of static liquefaction
landslides. Landslides. doi:10.1007/s10346-014-0496-7.
Take, W.A., Brachman, R.W.I., and Rowe, R.K. 2015. Observations of bentonite
erosion from solar-driven moisture migration in GCLs covered only by a
black geomembrane. Geosynthetics International, 22(1): 78–92. doi:10.1680/
gein.14.00033.
Viggiani, G., and Hall, S.A. 2012. Full-field measurements in experimental
geomechanics: historical perspective, current trends and recent results. In
ALERT Doctoral School 2012: Advanced experimental techniques in geome-
chanics. Edited by C. Viggiani, S. Hall, and E. Romero, pp. 3–67.
Warren, K.A., Christopher, B., and Howard, I.L. 2010. Geosynthetic strain gage
installation procedures and alternative strain measurement methods for
roadway applications. Geosynthetics International, 17(6): 403–430. doi:10.
1680/gein.2010.17.6.403.
White, D.J., Take, W.A., and Bolton, M.D. 2001a. Measuring soil deformation in
geotechnical models using digital images and PIV analysis. In Proceedings of
the 10th International Conference on Computer Methods and Advances in
Geomechanics, Tucson, Arizona. Balkema, Rotterdam. pp. 997–1002.
White, D.J., Take, W.A., Bolton, M.D., and Munachen, S.E. 2001b. A deformation
measuring system for geotechnical testing based on digital imaging, close-
range photogrammetry, and PIV image analysis. In Proceedings of the 15th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering,
Istanbul, Turkey. Balkema, Rotterdam. pp. 539–542.
White, D.J., Take, W.A., and Bolton, M.D. 2003. Soil deformation measurement
using particle image Velocimetry (PIV) and photogrammetry. Géotechnique,
53(7): 619–631. doi:10.1680/geot.2003.53.7.619.
White, D., Randolph, M.F., and Thompson, B. 2005. An image-based deformation
measurement system for the geotechnical centrifuge. International Journal
of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics, 5(3): 1–12.
Yoneyama, S., Kitagawa, A., Kitamura, K., and Kikuta, H. 2006. Lens distortion
correction for digital image correlation by measuring rigid body displace-
ment. Optical Engineering, 45(2): 023602–023602. doi:10.1117/1.2168411.
Published by NRC Research Press
 This article has been cited by:

1. Ruben D. Tovar-Valencia, Ayda Galvis-Castro, Rodrigo Salgado, Monica Prezzi. 2018. Effect of Surface Roughness on the Shaft
Resistance of Displacement Model Piles in Sand. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 144:3, 04017120.
[Crossref]
2. Lisa N. Wheeler, Eric Pannese, Neil A. Hoult, W. Andy Take, Hoat Le. 2018. Measurement of distributed dynamic rail strains
using a Rayleigh backscatter based fiber optic sensor: Lab and field evaluation. Transportation Geotechnics 14, 70-80. [Crossref]
3. P. Ni, I. D. Moore, W. A. Take. 2018. Distributed fibre optic sensing of strains on buried full-scale PVC pipelines crossing a
normal fault. Géotechnique 68:1, 1-17. [Crossref]
4. D. Song, C. E. Choi, C. W. W. Ng, G. G. D. Zhou. 2018. Geophysical flows impacting a flexible barrier: effects of solid-fluid
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18

interaction. Landslides 15:1, 99-110. [Crossref]

5. G. G. D. Zhou, D. Song, C. E. Choi, A. Pasuto, Q. C. Sun, D. F. Dai. 2017. Surge impact behavior of granular flows: effects
of water content. Landslides 532. . [Crossref]
6. D. Song, C.W.W. Ng, C.E. Choi, G.G.D. Zhou, J.S.H. Kwan, R.C.H. Koo. 2017. Influence of debris flow solid fraction on rigid
barrier impact. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 54:10, 1421-1434. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
7. E. Kavazanjian, J. Andresen, A. Gutierrez. 2017. Experimental evaluation of HDPE geomembrane seam strain concentrations.
Geosynthetics International 24:4, 333-342. [Crossref]
8. Núria M. Pinyol, Mauricio Alvarado. 2017. Novel analysis for large strains based on particle image velocimetry. Canadian
Geotechnical Journal 54:7, 933-944. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
9. Eyre Hover, Sotiris Psomas, Colin Eddie. 2017. Estimating crack widths in steel fibre-reinforced concrete. Proceedings of the
Institution of Civil Engineers - Construction Materials 170:3, 141-152. [Crossref]
10. Lisa N. Wheeler, W. Andy Take, Neil A. Hoult. 2017. Performance assessment of peat rail subgrade before and after mass
stabilization. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 54:5, 674-689. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
For personal use only.

11. Yining Teng, Samuel A. Stanier, Susan M. Gourvenec. 2017. Synchronised multi-scale image analysis of soil deformations.
International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 17:1, 53-71. [Crossref]
12. Zhibo (Chris) Chen, Kaigang Li, Mehdi Omidvar, Magued Iskander. 2017. Guidelines for DIC in geotechnical engineering
research. International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 17:1, 3-22. [Crossref]
13. Caleb Regier, Neil A. Hoult, Ian D. Moore. 2017. Laboratory Study on the Behavior of a Horizontal-Ellipse Culvert during
Service and Ultimate Load Testing. Journal of Bridge Engineering 22:3, 04016131. [Crossref]
14. Chris A. Murray, Neil A. Hoult, W. Andy Take. 2017. Dynamic measurements using digital image correlation. International
Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 17:1, 41-52. [Crossref]
15. W. Andy Take, David J. White. 2017. Editorial. International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 17:1, 1-2. [Crossref]
16. C.W.W. Ng, D. Song, C.E. Choi, L.H.D. Liu, J.S.H. Kwan, R.C.H. Koo, W.K. Pun. 2017. Impact mechanisms of granular and
viscous flows on rigid and flexible barriers. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 54:2, 188-206. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
17. Lisa N. Wheeler, W. Andy Take, Neil A. Hoult. 2016. Measurement of rail deflection on soft subgrades using DIC. Proceedings
of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering 169:5, 383-398. [Crossref]
18. C. W. W. Ng, D. Song, C. E. Choi, R. C. H. Koo, J. S. H. Kwan. 2016. A novel flexible barrier for landslide impact in centrifuge.
Géotechnique Letters 6:3, 221-225. [Crossref]
19. Neil A. Hoult, Michael Dutton, Adam Hoag, W. Andy Take. 2016. Measuring Crack Movement in Reinforced Concrete Using
Digital Image Correlation: Overview and Application to Shear Slip Measurements. Proceedings of the IEEE 104:8, 1561-1574.
[Crossref]
20. Abideen Adekunle Ganiyu, Ahmad Safuan A. Rashid, Mohd Hanim Osman. 2016. Utilisation of transparent synthetic soil
surrogates in geotechnical physical models: A review. Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 8:4, 568-576.
[Crossref]
21. S.A. Stanier, J. Blaber, W.A. Take, D.J. White. 2016. Improved image-based deformation measurement for geotechnical
applications. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 53:5, 727-739. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
22. Ryley A. Beddoe, W. Andy Take. 2016. Loss of slope support due to base liquefaction: comparison of 1g and centrifuge landslide
flume experiments. Soils and Foundations 56:2, 251-264. [Crossref]
23. M. Saiyar, P. Ni, W. A. Take, I. D. Moore. 2016. Response of pipelines of differing flexural stiffness to normal faulting.
Géotechnique 66:4, 275-286. [Crossref]
 24. Masoumeh Saiyar, Ian D. Moore, W. Andrew Take. 2015. Kinematics of jointed pipes and design estimates of joint rotation under
differential ground movements. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 52:11, 1714-1724. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
25. Jonathan A. Black, W. Andy Take. 2015. Quantification of Optical Clarity of Transparent Soil Using the Modulation Transfer
Function. Geotechnical Testing Journal 38:5, 20140216. [Crossref]
26. Murray Chris A., Take W. Andy, Hoult Neil A.. 2015. Measurement of vertical and longitudinal rail displacements using digital
image correlation. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 52:2, 141-155. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PDF Plus]
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by Universidad de Concepcion on 02/28/18
For personal use only.