Vibration analysis by laser speckle correlation

Time-averaged laser speckle correlation is used for flexural vibration-studies. The proposed method employs a diverging laser beam to illuminate the test object and records the object image at a defocused plane with a CCD camera. The speckle correlation coefficient is a function of the out-of-plane tilt of the object. The time-averaged speckle pattern recorded with the object vibrating at a natural mode is subtracted from the one recorded in a static condition. The anti-nodes of the vibrating object can then be identified easily on the subtracted image. A brief analysis of the technique and some experimental results on a cantilever beam and a vibrating plate are presented. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.