14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2014
EYE ON DESIGN
W
ith its staggering ability
to show displacements
of submillimeter scale
to stern waves of several
meters high, the Digital Image Correla-
tion technique has been applied on a
wide range of projects at MARIN. Ex-
amples from research programs in con-
trolled conditions and full-scale trials are
highlighted.
In some situations conventional sen-
sors cannot be applied. For example,
when the sensors alter the hydro-dynam-
ical or structural properties of the object
or, when the sensor capabilities are sim-
ply too limited. However, Digital Image
Correlation can provide a solution. This
is a method where the shape and defor-
mation of a three-dimensional surface
can be measured using two cameras.
Recently, a fl exible composite propel-
ler was tested in the Cavitation Tunnel
at MARIN. As strain gauges could not
be applied, the Digital Image Correla-
tion technique was used. A random pat-
tern was painted on the propeller blades
so the deformation could be captured by
the cameras. The measured data from
the deforming propeller blades under
various conditions was used to improve
structural models of composite propel-
lers.
LNG Containment System
Full-scale wave impact tests have been
conducted on an instrumented LNG con-
tainment system panel. Here, a random
pattern was also painted on the surface.
The duration of the deformations was
shorter than 1 millisecond, which meant
that the cameras had to acquire images
at 15,000 frames per second! These mea-
surements were combined with data from
pressure sensors, strain gauges and high-
speed videos of the wave impacts. This
combined dataset provided valuable in-
sight and a better understanding of wave
impact loading and the corresponding
structural response of the containment
system. For the validation Computation-
al Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software stern
wave measurements were performed on
a +100 m vessel. A fi eld of 25 m behind
the vessel was covered by two cameras
to capture the stern wave at different
ship speeds. Here, the natural texture of
the stern wave was used for the Digital
Image Correlation. The measured shapes
of the stern wave were compared to the
shapes calculated by MARIN’s Parnas-
sos CFD Software. Digital Image Cor-
relation opens up new possibilities for
measurement campaigns that previously
seemed impossible. MARIN continues
to apply this technique within challeng-
ing projects.
Imaging
Measurement
Techniques open up new possibilities
BY WIM LAFEBER
The Author
Wim Lafeber is Researcher Hydro-struc-
tural Services at the Trials & Monitoring
Department of MARIN, the Maritime Re-
search Institute Netherlands.
e: w.lafeber@marin.nl
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