Optimum Accuracy of Two-Dimensional Strain

Measurements Using Digital Image Correlation

Chris Lee1; W. Andy Take2; and Neil A. Hoult, M.ASCE3
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Abstract: Foil and vibrating wire strain gauges have an optimum strain measurement accuracy of one microstrain. However, they can only
provide discrete strain readings over a single fixed-gauge length. Digital image correlation (DIC) offers an alternative to conventional strain
gauges because a two-dimensional (2D) surface strain field can be obtained from a single sensor (camera). However, the benefits of 2D strain
measurements are only worthwhile if a similar level of measurement accuracy to conventional strain gauges can be achieved. This paper
presents the results of an investigation into the optimum strain measurement accuracy that can be achieved by using the 2D technique on
artificial images (which eliminate errors associated with cameras and lighting). The principle of the 2D DIC technique and its historical
development will be introduced. Then, three potential techniques for taking strain measurements will be presented and compared: single
readings, averaged linear readings, and an approach on the basis of Mohr’s circle. The Mohr’s circle approach was found to be the most
accurate and was not susceptible to image misalignment. Strain measurement accuracy was also found to be affected by the bias error of
the subpixel interpolation scheme, but the use of an 8 coefficient B-spline was found to produce satisfactory results within the error of
conventional strain gauges. Gauge length was also found to have a significant effect on strain measurement accuracy, indicating that
measuring strains in a material in which there are variations across the strain field could result in a loss of measurement accuracy. However,
overall it was found that 2D DIC offers the same strain measurement accuracy as conventional strain gauges when used under ideal
conditions. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000182. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
CE Database subject headings: Strain gages; Imaging techniques; Monitoring; Measurement; Tests; Instrumentation.
Author keywords: Strain gauges; Imaging techniques; Monitoring; Tests; Structural behavior.

Introduction of the material before deformation (reference image). The compari-

In measuring strain in structures in the laboratory and in the field,
the use of foil and vibrating wire strain gauges is generally accepted
as the most accurate method for obtaining strain measurements,
with an optimum accuracy of one microstrain. As a result, foil and
vibrating wire strain gauges are one of the main strain measurement
tools used in research and structural health monitoring today.
Foil and wire strain gauges need to be bonded to the material
surface, which must be cleaned and prepared carefully. Foil strain
gauges are more cost-effective than vibrating wire strain gauges,
but are also susceptible to drift and damage. Over the past few dec-
ades, the technique of two-dimensional digital image correlation
(2D-DIC) has been emerging as an alternative, noncontacting
method of obtaining strain measurements.
The 2D-DIC technique works by comparing optically recorded
images of a material being strained (deformed images) to an image
1
Research Student, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science,
Queen’s Univ., Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. E-mail: christopher
.st.lee@gmail.com
2 strain gauges, this paper’s main purpose is to explore the po-
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Queen’s Univ., Ellis
Hall, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. E-mail: andy.take@civil
.queensu.ca
3
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Queen’s Univ., Ellis
Hall, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 (corresponding author). E-mail:
neil.hoult@gmail.com
Note. This manuscript was submitted on July 28, 2011; approved on
November 30, 2011; published online on December 3, 2011. Discussion
period open until April 1, 2013; separate discussions must be submitted
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Computing
in Civil Engineering, Vol. 26, No. 6, November 1, 2012. © ASCE, ISSN
0887-3801/2012/6-795-803/$25.00.
son determines the displacement vectors of smaller regions within
the reference image, called subsets, during the deformation. This
displacement information can then be used to calculate strains.
The 2D-DIC technique has advantages over using foil or vibrat-
ing wire gauges for obtaining strain measurements. Whereas the
bonding process for conventional strain gauges can be both tedious
and hazardous to the material, 2D-DIC only requires that a random
speckle pattern, that will be discussed later, be applied to the
material, usually in the form of spray paint. Also, whereas conven-
tional strain gauges can interfere with the material’s natural defor-
mation characteristics by locally changing the stiffness, 2D-DIC
obtains strain measurements without any contact with the material’s
surface. Additionally, conventional strain gauges only gather infor-
mation at their discrete location on the material, whereas 2D-DIC
can provide a displacement field for the full surface. A full strain
field can be derived from this displacement field, but with less
accuracy than when obtaining strain measurements over the whole
length of the image. This is attributable to the effect of gauge
length, which will be discussed later.
Because of the advantages that 2D-DIC has over conventional
tential of the 2D-DIC technique as a feasible alternative to foil and
vibrating wire strain gauges for surface strain measurement in the
laboratory and in the field. Specifically, the strain measurement ac-
curacy of 2D-DIC in ideal conditions is investigated and compared
to the accuracy of conventional strain gauges.
The history of the 2D-DIC method and recent developments and
applications in the technique will be reviewed. The principles of
DIC as a method of strain measurement will then be discussed.
Three specific methods of employing DIC to calculate principle
strain values will then be presented and compared: using a single

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J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 2012.26:795-803.

 pair of subsets along each image axis, averaging the strains
calculated from multiple pairs of subsets along each image axis,
and applying Mohr’s circle of strain. The Mohr’s circle of strain
technique will be shown to be the most accurate approach and least
affected by an error in alignment between the image and principle
strain axes. The sources of strain error that cannot be eliminated,
even with an ideal experimental setup, are introduced: bias error,
gauge length, and texture. The effect of bias error and gauge length
on strain error will then be quantified and discussed.
Background
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Peters and Ranson (1982) proposed reflecting ultrasonic waves off
of an object before and during loading, and then comparing subsets
in the recorded digital ultrasound images to calculate displacements
of the subsets. On the basis of this comparison approach, Sutton
et al. (1983) performed experiments with a cantilever beam by us-
ing numerical algorithms and digitized images recorded optically
with a video camera to validate the feasibility of what came to be
known as 2D-DIC. Because the accuracy of correlating subsets was
limited by the discrete values of pixels, they performed subpixel
interpolation on the images’ intensity patterns to produce continu-
ous intensity patterns for each image. This enabled the correlation
process (the comparison of deformed images to the reference
image) to be accurate at the subpixel level, which is imperative
for accurate mechanics measurements. Peters et al. (1983) used
the technique to demonstrate its applicability to estimating rigid
body motions, such as in-plane translations and rotations. Chu
et al. (1985) then employed the technique to measure rotations
and strains.The 2D-DIC technique was then used in fracture
mechanics research (McNeill et al. 1987; Sutton et al. 1992;
Dawicke and Sutton 1994; Lyons et al. 1996; Liu et al. 1998;
Amstutz et al. 1995, 1997; Han et al. 1994, 1995) and to analyze
the deformation characteristics of materials such as metals (Dai
et al. 1991), wood (Zink et al. 1995), and ceramics (Coburn and
Slevin 1993).
Investigations have continually been conducted to improve the
accuracy of 2D-DIC. To improve computational efficiency, Cheng
et al. (1993) proposed utilizing fast Fourier transforms (FFT) in the
matching process rather than direct image correlation techniques.
Schreier et al. (2000) showed that using higher order spline func-
tions for interpolating the images’ intensity patterns increased sub-
set matching accuracy, giving a matching resolution of 0.01 pixels
or better. The 2D-DIC technique has been used to measure axial
strains for artificially and experimentally generated images, with
varying degrees of success. Smith et al. (1998) reported a standard
deviation in strain readings of 100 microstrain. Wattrisse et al.
(2001) obtained mean strain errors of 210 microstrain with both
artificial and experimental images. Hung and Voloshin (2003) per-
formed a uniaxial test on an aluminum plate with strains ranging
from 2,900 to 46,000 microstrain and obtained average errors of
5.8%. The quality of strain resolution that can be achieved with
foil and vibrating wire strain gauges has yet to be achieved
using DIC. One of the main purposes of this paper is to explore
whether this level of strain resolution is indeed achievable
with DIC by implementing the latest interpolation techniques
and proposing a novel approach to strain averaging by using
Mohr’s circle.
DIC Principle
In DIC, images of the strained material (deformed images) are
compared to an image of the material before straining (reference
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image). The purpose is to trace the displacement of square
n-by-n regions of pixels, called subsets, throughout the deformed
images. A random speckle pattern, as seen in Fig. 1(a), is applied to
the material prior to capturing the images so that the subsets contain
sufficient variation in texture to distinguish the contained area from
the surrounding area at the pixel level. Many researchers (Tong
2005; Pan et al. 2007, 2009; Sutton et al. 2009; Hung and Voloshin
2003) convert the textured images to grayscale and then extract a
single n-by-n matrix of 8-bit brightness values. The current re-
search employs a DIC approach on the basis of a software package
called GeoPIV (White et al. 2003) that was first developed for
measuring soil movement. GeoPIV uses three n-by-n matrices of
8-bit brightness values in red, green, and blue, providing additional
precision through redundancy of measurement.
Each image’s set of subset matrices are searched for in the de-
formed images over a specified search area. The degree of match,
called the correlation coefficient, is calculated at each pixel position
within the search area. There are different correlation criteria that
can be used, each with their own advantages in terms of precision or
processing speed (e.g., Pan et al. 2009; Sutton et al. 2009). As
described by White et al. (2005), a normalized cross-correlation
criterion has been implemented in GeoPIV to minimize the
sensitivity of the shape of the correlation function to changes in
the amplitude (brightness) of the images.
The maximum value of the correlation distribution gives the
new position of the subset to the nearest integer pixel location.
For acceptable strain resolution, however, the subpixel location
of each subset is required. This can be accomplished by using
the shape of the correlation function in the neighborhood of the
integer location of the best match. A subpixel interpolation scheme
is used to interpolate between the discrete correlation coefficient
values surrounding the maximum value, yielding subpixel accuracy
in determining the location of each subset in the deformed images.
The authors used an 8 coefficient filter on the basis of the B-spline
transformation, which Sutton et al. (2009) present as the optimal
technique, and which gives the minimum bias error (as will be
discussed later).
Strain Calculations
This section of the paper deals with calculating the principle strains
between artificially generated images and assumes that the princi-
ple strain directions coincide with the axes of the images. The prin-
ciple strain and image axes not being in alignment can have a
significant effect on the accuracy of the calculated strains, as will
be discussed in the “Image Alignment” section. The reference
image of each artificial image set is created by adding a specified
number of white dots of specified size to random locations on a
black background. The intensity values of the pixels (i.e., their
grayscale value, in which 0 is black, 255 is white, and values in
between represent shades of gray) that compose each white dot
are fitted to a Gaussian curve to ensure their distribution realisti-
cally mimics what would be observed in an actual image. Artifi-
cially strained images are generated mathematically by altering
the positions of the dots according to the imposed strain field.
Strains are applied so that the center of the reference image remains
fixed and the maximum displacement occurs at the edges of the
image. The use of artificial images for the strain measurements
allows for the simulation of an ideal laboratory or field setup
in which experimental errors such as lens distortion, image
acquisition inconsistency, camera motion, charge-coupled device
(CCD) misalignment, changes in lighting, and inconsistent material
straining are eliminated. The results obtained by using artificial

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(a)
Fig. 1. (a) Digital image of unstressed sample showing initial position of image subsets; (b) new locations of image subsets in image of deformed
sample; (c) linear strain calculation of horizontal and vertical strains
images are representative of the optimal performance and accuracy
attainable from the DIC techniques to follow.
Strain between Subsets
The simplest way to calculate the principle strains between
images is to calculate the strain between two subsets at opposite
sides of the image. Assume that four subsets were arranged on
the reference image, as shown in Fig. 1(a). The displacement of
these subsets as the object is strained is tracked by the software
[Figs. 1(b and c)]. The resulting displacement, ΔL, can be
used to calculate the strain by dividing it by the initial gauge
length, L0 :
ΔL
ε¼ (1)
L0
Thus, the principle strain along the x-axis, εxx , would be
calculated by using
Δx
εxx ¼ (2)
x in each direction. The standard deviation can be calculated for
where x = distance in pixels between the centers of two subsets on
the same line in the x-direction [L0 in Fig. 1(c)]; and Δx = change
in this separation distance calculated from the deformed image [the
sum of H and H 0 in Fig. 1(c)].
Likewise, the principle strain along the y-axis, εyy , would be
calculated by using the displacements V and V 0 and the appropriate
gauge length.
Strain Averaging between Multiple Subsets
The aforementioned method only calculates each strain value be-
tween two points over the entire image. To achieve higher accuracy,
a larger number of subsets can be arranged on the reference image,
as shown in Fig. 2(a). Assuming that the artificial reference image
was simulating a material with a positive Poisson’s ratio and was
subjected to a uniaxial tensile stress along the y-axis, the image
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v
V
H H’
L
V’
Lo
(b) (c)
would experience a tensile strain along the y-axis, and a compres-
sive strain along the x-axis. This strain condition has the effect of
elongating the image in one direction and contracting it in the other.
Although this distorts each subset that the program is trying to
track, it will be shown that this does not have a detrimental effect
on strain measurement accuracy within the strain limits explored in
the current work. In this analysis, the assumption has been made
that there is no transverse restraint. This may not be the case for
actual tension tests in which the grips of the test frame provide
restraint against transverse displacement and thus may alter the
transverse strain response. Fig. 3(a) shows a plot of arrows
representative of the displacements undergone by each subset
during a deformation of this type from the reference image to
the deformed image. The plot is known as a quiver plot. The
image has been strained so that the center of the image remained
stationary. The increased number of subset pairs enables the calcu-
lation of multiple principle strain values in each direction, which
are then averaged to obtain a final value in each direction. This
method requires more computational time, but allows for random
errors, such as inaccurate displacement calculations because of
poor texture in a subset, to be averaged out. The multiple strain
values in each direction allow for analysis of strain consistency
the values in each direction, poor data can be removed, and a more
accurate average strain can be computed. Strain values across
the image can be plotted to analyze strain change trends. A numeri-
cal analysis of the accuracy of this average technique will be
presented after the final strain averaging technique has been
introduced.
Strain Averaging Using Mohr’s Circle
Another potential approach to strain averaging using the DIC tech-
nique is to calculate the strain by using Mohr’s circle of strain. The
Mohr’s circle of strain technique utilizes an arrangement of subset
pairs placed around a circle, as shown in Fig. 2(b). The quiver plot
for image deformation using the circular subset arrangement is
shown in Fig. 3(b).
The strain between each subset pair spanning the diameter of the
circle, εθ , is calculated by using
 0 0
(a) (b)

200 200
h(i)

400 400

Pixels

Pixels
600 v(j) 600

800 800

1000 1000
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0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000
Pixels Pixels

Fig. 2. (a) Subsets aligned to calculate horizontal and vertical strains at multiple locations; (b) subsets aligned to calculate linear strain at various
inclinations

0 0

200 200

400 400
Pixels

Pixels
600 600

800 800

1000 1000

0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000
Pixels Pixels
(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Vectors of subset movement observed in: (a) rectangular mesh; (b) circular mesh

Δd groups, the resulting points form a complete Mohr’s circle of strain.

εθ ¼
d Fig. 5(a) shows a typical Mohr’s circle that was derived by using
where d = distance in pixels between the centers of the subset pair,
i.e., the diameter of the circle mesh; and Δd = change in this
separation distance calculated from the deformed image.
The shear strain, γ, is then calculated at the different angles
around the circle by using
γ ¼ 2ε45 − ε0 − ε90
where ε0 , ε45 , and ε90 are illustrated in Fig. 4(a) and are the strains
calculated between subsets at 0, 45, and 90° from the reference
direction, respectively.
This computation is performed for every unique group of subset
pairs on the circle (i.e., for every group of subset pairs that are at
0, 45, and 90° to one another). Note that in rotating the calculations
around the circle, the rotation only goes halfway around the circle,
because any computations performed past this point would just be a
repetition of a previous computation using identical strain values.
Also note that the number of subsets must be chosen so that there
exists a subset pair at 45 and 90° to the 0° pair.
Next, the Mohr’s circle of strain for the strained image is created
by dividing the shear strains by two, and then plotting each half
shear strain against its corresponding ε value. The resulting strains
create two unique points on the Mohr’s circle of strain, as illustrated
in Fig. 4(b). When the analysis is performed for all the subset
(3)
200 subset pairs and an artificial image that had strains εxx ¼
−1; 200 με and εyy ¼ 4; 000 με applied to it. A circle of best fit
can be fitted through the points during analysis. The authors em-
ployed a circle-fitting algorithm that minimized the sum of squared
radial deviations. For comparison, Fig. 5(b) shows the principle
strains produced by average strains calculated using the square/
(4) rectangular subset mesh.
The quality of the circle produced by the points that can be
evaluated by a circular regression analysis is indicative of the pre-
cision of the calculated strain values and is affected by factors such
as texture, patch size, gauge length, and homogeneity of strain. In
theory, Mohr’s circle of strain is used to analyze an infinitesimally
small, discrete point on the material, but because homogeneity of
strain has been assumed, incorporating gauge lengths that span the
length of the images is acceptable. Gauge lengths of this magnitude
would not be acceptable in analyzing a material with a varying
strain field. The Mohr’s circle in this case would actually be a
weighted average of all the different strains present within the
circle. To obtain nonaveraged, and thus more accurate, strain read-
ings across a material with a varying strain field, many smaller
circular subset meshes would have to be used. This inherently in-
volves using shorter gauge lengths, which increases error, as will be
demonstrated later. Alternatively, an image with the same pixel area
but capturing a smaller physical area can be used. This would

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 Pixels
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Pixels
(a) (b)

Fig. 4. (a) Calculation of normal strains using virtual strain gauge rosette; (b) resulting Mohr’s circle of strain

3000 3000

2000 2000
Average of 11 virtual
1000 1000 strain gage pairs

0 0
h v
-1000 -1000

-2000 -2000

-3000 -3000

-2000 0 2000 4000 -2000 0 2000 4000

6 6
Normal strain, (x10 ) Normal strain, (x10 )
(a) (b)

Fig. 5. Measurements of strain: (a) virtual strain gauge rosette using a circular mesh; (b) average of individual virtual strain gauges using a rectangular
mesh and a priori knowledge of principal strain directions

increase the ability to measure variations in strain, but would reduce
the physical area of the specimen being monitored.
Comparison of Strain Calculation Techniques
To compare the different methods of obtaining principle strain val-
ues from the images, a set of artificial images subject to increasing
strain was analyzed by using the square subset averaging and
Mohr’s circle methods. The images were 1; 101 × 1; 101 pixels
in size with a subset size of 64 × 64 pixels. The square subset mesh
was 1,000 pixels wide, containing 100 subsets along each side. The
individual εxx and εyy values with the most error were recorded
before averaging to demonstrate the magnitude of error possible
when calculating principle strain values using only a single pair
of subsets in each direction. The circular subset mesh contained
200 subset pairs and was 1,000 pixels in diameter. The results
of the error analysis are shown in Table 1.
These errors are obtained by measuring artificial images. This
implies that if the measurement settings were ideal, this is the high-
est degree of accuracy attainable with the current techniques used.
Experimental and field factors, such as relative camera-to-material
out-of-plane motion, in-plane or out-of plane rotation, lens distor-
tions, image acquisition inconsistencies, lighting changes, and non-
homogeneity of strain, all of which would contribute to additional
strain measurement errors, have been eliminated. The remaining
error can be attributed to the bias error associated with the subpixel
interpolation of the correlation coefficient surface, as will be dis-
cussed later.
The maximum single pair error readings demonstrate the value
of averaging strain readings. The square averaging and Mohr’s
circle techniques average out a large amount of error induced by
outlying data and greatly enhance accuracy. The two averaging
techniques produce similar magnitudes of principle strain errors,
but what makes the Mohr’s circle approach the superior technique
is its ability to provide accurate shear strain measurements, which
are crucial in structural analysis, and its immunity to errors induced
by the principle strain directions not being perfectly aligned with
the image’s axes.
Image Alignment
Because the Mohr’s circle technique involves calculation of strain
in virtually every direction in the 2D plane, the technique does not
require that the principle strain directions be aligned with the
image’s axes. The technique produces the strains for every angle
of orientation on the plane, including the principle strains.
Conversely, using averaging of the strain values from a square
subset mesh to get principle strains assumes perfect alignment be-
tween the principle strain directions and the subset axes, which is
very difficult to achieve in the laboratory and the field. In addition,

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 Table 1. Comparison of Principle Strain Errors Obtained Using Different Methods
Actual strain
values Maximum single pair error Square averaging error Mohr’s circle of strain error
μεxx μεyy μεxx μεyy εxx % Error εyy % Error μεxx μεyy εxx % Error εyy % Error μεxx μεyy εxx % Error εyy % Error
200 −60 3 −5 1.50 8.33 −2 0.4 −1.00 −0.67 −0.9 0.5 −0.45 −0.83
400 −120 4 −7 1.00 5.83 −2.8 0.6 −0.70 −0.50 −1.2 1.3 −0.30 −1.08
600 −180 6 −9 1.00 5.00 −2.8 1 −0.47 −0.56 −1.3 1.4 −0.22 −0.78
800 −240 7 −10 0.88 4.17 −2 1.1 −0.25 −0.46 −0.9 1.6 −0.11 −0.67
1,000 −300 9 −10 0.90 3.33 −0.5 1.3 −0.05 −0.43 0.1 2.1 0.01 −0.70
1,200 −360 10 11 0.83 −3.06 0.7 1.6 0.06 −0.44 1.1 1.9 0.09 −0.53
1,400 −420 13 14 0.93 −3.33 1.5 1.9 0.11 −0.45 2.2 2.1 0.16 −0.50
−480 −3.54 −0.42 −0.46
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1,600 14 17 0.88 1.4 2 0.09 2.5 2.2 0.16

1,800 −540 14 16 0.78 −2.96 0.1 2 0.01 −0.37 1.8 2.4 0.10 −0.44
2,000 −600 17 17 0.85 −2.83 −1.3 2.3 −0.07 −0.38 1.6 3.4 0.08 −0.57

there may be cases in the laboratory or field when the principle
strain directions are not known beforehand. In this case, the strains
measured by using the square/rectangular mesh would be useless in
giving information about the principle strains and their directions,
whereas the Mohr’s circle approach could be used to accurately
determine the principle strain values and their directions.
If there is misalignment, what is computed as a principle strain
value using the square subset mesh is in fact a combination of an
axial strain and a shear strain. Fig. 6(a) presents a case in which the
principle strain axes do not coincide with the rectangular subset
pairs axes. For comparison, a circular subset mesh was used with
the same misaligned image, as seen in Fig. 6(b). On the Mohr’s
circle of strain plot in Fig. 7, using the vertical and horizontal dis-
placements of the misaligned subsets to determine the principle
strains results in incorrectly plotting two points with nonzero shear
strain values as the principle strains. Hence, the induced error
would result in principle strain values that are too small in magni-
tude, as illustrated by the reduced-diameter Mohr’s circle in Fig. 7.
With an exaggerated in-plane rotation, one can observe the ef-
fect of misalignment on the quiver plots. Fig. 6(a) clearly shows
that shear strain has been introduced into the square quiver plot,
while Fig. 6(b) shows that the circular quiver plot is just rotated,
with no loss in accuracy. The relationship between axis misalign-
ment (expressed as an angle, θ, between the strain axis and the im-
age axis) and the principle strain measurement error, ε1error , for both
individual subset pairs and the square subset is given by Eq. (5)
ε1 þ ε2 ε 1 − ε2
ε1error ¼ ε1 − − ðcos 2θÞ
2 2
In the equation, ε1 and ε2 represent the actual principle strains,
and by varying θ, one can see the error induced in the measurement
of ε1 through misalignment. Fairly small misalignments result in
insignificant strain errors. However, under more complex testing
conditions when the angle between the principle strain and image
axes is not known, these errors can become significant. The Mohr’s
circle technique is not susceptible to strain errors attributable to
misalignment.
As stated earlier, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the
potential of 2D-DIC as an alternative method to conventional strain
gauges for obtaining strain measurements. The paper has been in-
vestigating the potential accuracy of the DIC technique in an ideal
setting in which laboratory- or field-induced errors were not exist-
ent. Any remaining errors can thus be attributed to the following:
bias error on the basis of the subpixel interpolation scheme, the
gauge length (diameter) of the subset mesh, and surface texture
quality. Discussion on bias error and gauge length follow. Texture
quality is currently an ongoing topic of research and will be dis-
cussed in a future paper.
Bias Error
As stated previously, the accuracy with which subset displacements
can be determined is dependent on how accurately the peak of the
correlation coefficient can be determined. Because the authors
computed the correlation coefficient using the discrete intensity
patterns of the images, this accuracy was initially one pixel, which
is unacceptable if strain resolution comparable to conventional
(5)
strain gauges is to be achieved. Hence, subpixel interpolation is

0
(a) (b)

200 200

400 400
Pixels

Pixels

600 600

800 800

1000 1000

200 400 600 800 1000 200 400 600 800 1000
Pixels Pixels

Fig. 6. Measured displacements of (a) rectangular mesh; (b) circular mesh when principal strain directions (ε1 , ε2 ) are not aligned with the coordinate
system of the digital image (x, y)

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 3000 filter, and the magnitude of the error was found to be as good as
or better in the current work than obtained by other researchers
2000 Strain
Actual strains error (Wattrisse et al. 2001; Roesgen 2003; Sutton et al. 2009). This
in direction of interpolation method was incorporated in GeoPIV to optimize
1000 image axes
accuracy.
0 To actually locate the extremum of the interpolated correlation
coefficient, the location of the peak value (initially a given pixel) is
-1000 Assumption of
principal strain recursively divided by 10, with the maximum of each division
direction being located at each step. Because each recursion generates a finer
-2000
search by an order of magnitude, one may think that performing a
-3000 high-enough number of recursions would reduce, and eventually
eliminate, bias error. This is not the case, because the bias error
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-2000 0 2000 4000

Normal strain, (x10 )
6 is a systematic error produced by the interpolation scheme. Hence,
Fig. 7. Potential for error to be induced in strain measurements when
principle strain directions are incorrectly assumed to be coincident with
coordinate system of digital image
used to interpolate between the discrete values of the correlation
coefficient. Subpixel interpolation schemes have periodic bias error
associated with them. The accuracy of strains attainable using DIC
is partially dependant on the magnitude of bias error associated
with the interpolation technique used.
Although they are computationally more expensive, interpola-
tion functions with more coefficients usually induce less bias error
(Sutton et al. 2009). Because the primary focus in the research
presented in this paper is optimizing accuracy, the discussion on
finding the ideal compromise between accuracy and computational
efficiency will be dealt with in subsequent publications. Sutton et al.
(2009) proposed an 8 coefficient filter on the basis of the B-spline
transformation for minimal subpixel interpolation bias error. To
compare this technique with lower-order B-spline functions and
the cubic polynomial method, which was previously used in Geo-
PIV, an artificial image was translated horizontally in increments of
0.05 pixels, up to a total translation of 1 pixel. A grid of subsets was
tracked through the translations using each interpolation scheme,
and the average displacement error for each interpolation scheme
at each translation increment was plotted in Fig. 8. The subset grid
was composed of 361 subsets, each measuring 64 × 64 pixels.
The bias error for all interpolation methods is periodic, with zero
error at integer values of pixel displacements and at the midpoint,
and with maximum error between the integer values and midpoint.
The calculated bias error behavior is in agreement with previous
studies (Wattrisse et al. 2001; Roesgen 2003; Sutton et al. 2009).
The amplitude of bias error is lowest for the 8 coefficient B-spline
0.01
4 coefficient
0.005 B-spline
5, 6, 7, and 8
coefficient B-splines
0 varying strain field is inaccurate, because the measured value would
-0.005
Cubic
polynomial
-0.01
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
Displacement (pixels)
Fig. 8. Comparison of interpolation bias error associated with various
subpixel interpolation schemes
for a given texture quality and interpolation scheme, the bias error
function is constant. Once enough divisive iterations have been
performed to achieve the optimum level of bias error, any further
iterations just increase resolution of the measurement of bias error,
not the accuracy. This was observed with smoother bias error plots
with the same amplitude being generated when the number of
iterations was increased.
The strain error, εmax error , can be calculated as follows:
2 × Bias error
εmax error ¼ (6)
Gauge length
where gauge length = diameter of the circular subset mesh or the
width of the rectangular subset mesh in pixels. Hence, from Eq. (6),
the strain error is inversely proportional to the gauge length of the
mesh used. Bias error is just one of three sources of error for ideal
images, the other two being gauge length, which will be discussed
in the next section, and texture, which is the subject of ongoing
research.
Effect of Gauge Length
To demonstrate the effect of gauge length on strain measurement
accuracy for different subpixel interpolation approaches, artificial
images were strained isotropically in increments of 100 microstrain,
up to a total of 2,000 microstrain. Strain was measured by using the
Mohr’s circle of strain technique using different diameters of
circular subset meshes. Each mesh contained 200 pairs of subsets,
and each subset was 64 × 64 pixels in size. The upper-bound strain
error [calculated by using Eq. (6)] was plotted as a function of
gauge length for different subpixel interpolation schemes in Fig. 9.
Absolute values were used to account for the occurrence of strain
readings being too large and too small.
The plots in Fig. 9 support the claims of Eq. (6)—that higher
order interpolation techniques, which induce lower bias errors,
along with longer gauge lengths, increase strain accuracy. Hence,
to obtain optimal strain resolution, the largest possible circular sub-
set mesh should be used, spanning the entire image. As previously
mentioned, this is acceptable as long as the strain field is constant in
both principle strain directions. Using a long gauge length with a
only be a weighted average of all the different strains within the
gauge length. To produce a strain field that accurately reflects
the strain variation across a material, the use of smaller gauge
lengths is required. However, using smaller gauge lengths presents
a major limitation for DIC strain measurement, because trying to
1 capture strain variation with shorter gauge lengths results in an
overall loss of accuracy. Hence, a compromise must be found be-
tween desired accuracy of strain variation depiction and acceptable
error in individual readings. This error will become increasingly
less of a concern as more accurate subpixel interpolation techniques

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING IN CIVIL ENGINEERING © ASCE / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 / 801

J. Comput. Civ. Eng. 2012.26:795-803.

 50
40
30
Cubic
polynomial
Upper-bound
20
B-spline
coefficient
4 engineering ceramics.” Key Eng. Mater., 86–87, 237–244.
10 6 Dai, Y. Z., Tay, C. J., and Chiang, F. P. (1991). “Determination of the
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8
Foil
0 gages
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Gage length (pixels)
Fig. 9. Effect of gauge length on theoretical strain measurement error
for various subpixel interpolation schemes
are developed to further reduce bias error. In addition, higher
resolution cameras will allow for longer pixel gauge lengths for
the same field of view, reducing strain error.
Conclusions
The 2D-DIC strain measurement has the potential to provide the
same strain accuracy as foil and vibrating wire strain gauges for
materials experiencing homogeneous strain. Using the Mohr’s
circle of strain as a strain averaging technique was shown to be
a more accurate method than using single pairs of subsets or aver-
aging subset pairs aligned with the image axes. The Mohr’s circle
of strain approach accurately calculates both principle and shear
strains, enabling reliable use when principle strain directions and
image axes are not aligned. Analysis of artificial images simulated
the absence of experimental and field-induced errors. With the
artificial texture used, a minimum gauge length of 1,000 pixels,
and an 8 coefficient B-spline interpolation scheme, mean strain er-
rors under two microstrain are achievable. Further advancements in
subpixel interpolation methods and camera technology will allow
the 2D-DIC technique to be used to accurately provide readings for
a varying strain field. Because 2D-DIC strain measurement has
been shown to have the same level of accuracy as conventional
strain gauges, it is worthwhile to pursue techniques to reduce
laboratory and experimental errors, such as camera motion and
misalignment, illumination changes, image acquisition inconsisten-
cies, and lens distortion. The accuracy of strain measurements that
can be achieved in the laboratory is the subject of ongoing research.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Natural Science and Engineer-
ing Research Council of Canada for their financial support of this
research.
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