Digital image correlation for strain measurement in plastic film blowing process

ABSTRACT

Surface deformation study of a polymer film during plastic film blowing (PFB) extrusion process though is considered essential, is difficult to execute as the process is fast and continuous. Digital image correlation (DIC) is an optical technique that is non-destructive, highly accurate and designed to measure deformations from micro to macro scale. DIC can be proposed as a reliable tool to understand the relationship of polymer structure-processing-properties. In this literature, digital image correlation, its basic principle of operation and reliability guided DIC for continuous large deformation are comprehensively explored. Versatility of DIC, and the conditions that affect the measurement algorithm as well as preceding use of DIC in polymer processes are reviewed. The implementation and potential use of DIC in PFB are described.

This review was submitted as part of the 2019 Materials Literature Review Prize of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining run by the Editorial Board of MST. Sponsorship of the prize by TWI Ltd is gratefully acknowledged.

KEYWORDS:

• Displacement
• strain
• deformation
• digital image correlation
• polymer processing
• film blowing process

Acknowledgement

The author, Komethi Muniandy gratefully acknowledges the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia for the financial support given through MyPhD scholarship, and the supervisors Professor Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Ariff and Associate Professor Dr Azhar Abu Bakar for the continuous guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Komethi Muniandy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6539-7403

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (MyPhD).