ARTICLE IN PRESS

Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144

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Optics and Lasers in Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/optlaseng

Proposal for underwater structural analysis using the techniques of ESPI and
digital holography
Jose Luis Valin Rivera a,, J.M. Monteiro b, H.M. Lopes c, M.A.P. Vaz d, Francisco Palacios e,
Edison Gonc- alves f, Gilberto Garcia del Pino g, Jorge Ricardo Perez
 e

a
Mechanics Department, High Politechnical Institute ‘‘Jose Antonio Echeverrı́a’’, CP 1930, AP 6028, Havana, Cuba
b
Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management—INEGI, Portugal
c
Politechnical Institute of Braganc- a, Portugal
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management of Engineering of the University of Porto—DEMEGI-FEUP, Portugal
e
Physics Department, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
f
Engineering Mecatronic and Mechanic System Department, Politechnical School, Sao Paulo University (USP), Brazil
g
University of the State of Amazons (UEA), Brazil

a r t i c l e in fo abstract

Article history: The purpose of this article is to study the application of the holographic interferometry techniques in
Received 22 April 2008 the structural analysis of submarine environment. These techniques are widely used today, with
Received in revised form applications in many areas. Nevertheless, its application in submarine environments presents some
18 June 2009
challenges. The application of two techniques, electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) and
Accepted 22 June 2009
digital holography, comparison of advantages and disadvantages of each of them is presented. A brief
Available online 31 July 2009
study is done on the influence of water properties and the optical effects due to suspended particles as
Keywords: well as possible solutions to minimize these problems.
Digital holography & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Underwater inspection
Phase unwrapping
Filter
Phase fringe pattern

1. Introduction Holographic interferometry techniques are today perfectly

The offshore structures like pipelines and oil platforms are
today widely used in the industry of exploration of natural
resources like gas and oil. The implementation of these structures
in new areas such as the submarine exploration of minerals and
energy generation is done with the installation of wind farms in
marine platforms.
Normally, the platforms placed at high sea are subjected to
severe loads resulting from hydrodynamic loads, impact, fatigue,
severe corrosion, tension and these structures can suffer cata-
strophic structural failures. So, to guarantee safety, a regular
maintenance of submarine or non-submarine parts is necessary.
Specially trained divers are normally involved in the under-
water maintenance; however, this involves risks to the human life.
With automatic non-destructive inspection techniques and cap-
ability of using the operations of underwater maintenance, it is
possible to detect structural faults at the right time that may
compromise the integrity of the structures.
 Corresponding author. Tel.: +53 7 2671208; fax: +53 7 2671208.
E-mail address: vala29cu@hotmail.com (J.L. Valin Rivera).
developed and have potential in structural inspections. Placing a
laser and the optical devices on board a small submarine, remote
operated vehicle (ROV), it will be possible to use the interfero-
metric technique directly on the structures in service. Diverse
systems are available to execute the underwater inspection of
structures using conventional techniques such as: ultrasound,
X-ray and Eddy currents.
2. Optical techniques
Some preliminary studies on underwater holography have
shown promising results mainly regarding the underwater
assessment of displacement fields [1,2]. The most recent investi-
gation was carried out in the laboratory without considering the
effects of turbulence and the presence of microorganisms and
suspended particles. This is a limitation, a problem since light
attenuation is generated through mechanisms of dispersion and
absorption [3], and the water movements disturb the stability of
the optical setup. On the other hand, high concentrations of
suspended particles could prevent the measurement. The turbu-
lence is probably the main factor in the loss of resolution of the

0143-8166/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.optlaseng.2009.06.018
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1140 J.L. Valin Rivera et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144

image formation system, and it is a result of currents or

convection phenomena. The optical aberrations and the
image movements could be corrected using an adaptive optics
solution.

Fig. 1. Reconstruction geometry.

3. Basic principles of ESPI and digital holography

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry is a speckle inter-

ferometry technique that uses laser radiation and an optical setup integral which in discrete form will be
where the interferometric patterns are recorded on a video " !#
camera. Its description and governing equations can be found in ia m2 n2
b0 ðx; yÞ ¼ exp ipld 2
þ
Refs. [4,5]. ld N2 Dx M 2 DZ2
The basic principle of the ESPI technique is that the speckle   
ip 2
pattern intensity distribution is a function of the relative phases of Fld hðx; ZÞrðx; ZÞexp  ðK 2 Dx þ l2 DZ2 Þ ð4Þ
ld
two interfering plane waves inside each cell of an imaging setup.
Displacement of the surface affects the intensity received in each where m, n, l and k are indices, Dx and DZ the camera pixel size in
speckle cell on the image. The intensity distribution of a reference x and y axes, respectively, in the hologram plane, Fld is the
speckled image can be described as modified inverse Fourier transform. The first exponential term is
I1 ðx; yÞ ¼ I0 ðx; yÞ½1 þ Vðx; yÞ cos ðfs ðx; yÞÞ ð1Þ the phase factor, which should be evaluated in shape
determination, although in deformation analysis it is not
where I0 is the bias intensity, V the visibility and fs the original necessary because both interferograms are registered with the
phase from the speckle. After the displacement, the intensity same wavelength.
distribution becomes, The zero-order term of the Fourier transform (dc term) may be
corrected using the method proposed by Kreis and Juptner [9],
I2 ðx; yÞ ¼ I0 ðx; yÞ½1 þ Vðx; yÞ cos ðfs ðx; yÞ þ jðx; yÞÞ ð2Þ both of which are considered in the program.
For reference wavefront plane, like in Schnars configurations
where j is the phase change in the light resulting from the [6], the spherical phase factor inside the Fourier transform should
displacement. The speckle correlation fringes are obtained by the be considered, but if r(x, Z) is spherical [9–12] with the same
subtraction of a reference-speckled image from images of average curvature
displaced surfaces. The resulting intensity distribution is given by  
ip 2 2
j  j rðx; ZÞ ¼ const  exp ðK Dx þ l2 DZ2 Þ ; ð5Þ
Iðx; yÞ ¼ I2  I1 ¼ 2I0 V sin sin fs þ ð3Þ ld
2 2
then Eq. (4) can be described by
" !#
ia m2 n2 
The above subtraction operation can be performed by the b0 ðx; yÞ ¼ exp ipld þ  Fld hðx; ZÞ ð6Þ
ld 2 M 2 DZ2
hardware built-into a real-time frame grabber, which requires less N2 Dx
1
than 30 s. Therefore, the resultant fringe pattern can be generated
and displayed in real-time (i.e. at video rate). Frame grabbers with
real-time subtraction capability are commercially available. The image’s intensity distribution can be calculated as
The digital holography uses a similar setup, but in this case no Iðx; yÞ ¼ jb0 ðx; yÞj2 ¼ Re2 ½b0 ðx; yÞ þ Im2 ½b0 ðx; yÞ ð7Þ
image formation system is needed. Digital holography is one of
many other techniques for measuring deformation. Digital
holography uses an electronic sensor for the registration of a In the above, Re is the real part; Im the imaginary part of the
hologram. The technique provides intensity and phase informa- complex image field b0 (x, y). The phase field, if Re [b0 (x, y)]40 is
tion simultaneously. Digital hologram is reconstructed numeri- Im½b0 ðx; yÞ
cally by simulating the wave field diffracted from the hologram. jðx; yÞ ¼ arctan ð8Þ
Re½b0 ðx; yÞ
For quantitative analysis of the physical variables the phases of
the two reconstructed wave fields, which are recorded for
different states of the object, are calculated from the complex If Re[b0 (x,y)]o0:
amplitude, and the deformation is obtained from the phase Im½b0 ðx; yÞ
difference of the two images’ wave fields corresponding to the two jðx; yÞ ¼ arctan þ p sgn½Im½b0 ðx; yÞ ð9Þ
Re½b0 ðx; yÞ
recorded digital holograms, before and after deformation.
The real image reconstruction of an object can be done
numerically starting from a hologram digitally sampled with a Here j(x, y) takes values between p and p as result from
CCD camera, calculating the diffraction of the reconstructing wave arctan function. This phase field is said to be wrapped in the
in the microstructure of the hologram by applying the Fresnel interval [p, p]. An unwrapped phase distribution is then
transformation. In the literature, this was introduced by Schnars determined by the phase unwrapping algorithm.
[6], Schnars and Juptner [7] and Poma rico et al. [8].
The transmitted wavefront through a hologram is given by the
product of the reconstructing wave r(x, Z) and the digital 4. ESPI and digital holography in the assessment of the object
holograms h(x, Z) in the hologram plane (x, Z). Fig. 1 shows the deformation in air and underwater
hologram plane (x, Z); object plane (x, y) and the image’s plane (x0 ,
y0 ). If the recording distance is d, for d0 ¼ d, the reconstructed The implemented ESPI setup, Fig. 2, is based in an
real image complex field is found using the Fresnel–Kirchhoff interferometer, where a coherent laser light (Coherents Verdi
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J.L. Valin Rivera et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144 1141

Fig. 2. Electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) setup.

Fig. 3. Digital holography setup.

V2, l ¼ 532 nm, 2 W), is divided to generate the two
interferometer arms, reference and object beams.
One of the beams is injected in a monomode fibre through a
fibre coupler and used as reference beam, the other one is used to
illuminate the object. The light coming from the object is picked
up by the image formation optical system and combined to
interfere with the reference beam in the CCD plane. The resulting
speckle pattern is captured by the CCD camera (752  582 pixels,
with pixel dimension 8.6 mm  8.3 mm) and stored in an
image processing system. This pattern contains the information
that encodes the object surface. After the object has been
deformed, another pattern that contains the modifications
resulting from object surface changes is stored. When these
two patterns are correlated, a distribution of displacements is
obtained. Driven by the need for automatic fringe analysis, a
phase shifting setup is incorporated in the object beam
interferometer, using a mirror mounted on a piezoelectric
transducer (PZT). In this way four holograms are recorded, by
introducing known phase steps differences in the interference
pattern.
The obtained intensity patterns allow the calculation of the
phase at each point on the object surface. This method provides
accurate phase measurements and eliminates the phase sign
ambiguity of the interference fringes. The digital holographic
recording system is sketched in Fig. 3.
The laser is divided into two beams by a beam splitter. One of
them, object beam, that illuminates the object after being
reflected by a mirror, and the other, reference, illuminates the
CCD, after being reflected by a mirror and collimated. A 576  768-
pixel CCD array with a pixel size of 10.8 mm  10 mm is used in the
experiment for the digital recording of the holograms.
A steel cantilever plate with a central hole was selected for the
first measurements with the ESPI setup presented in Fig. 2. The
plate was loaded with a micrometer screw placed on its tip as
shown in Fig. 4.
Figs. 5a and b show photographs of the setups used for the
measurements in air and underwater, respectively. In the second
case, the object was placed inside of an aquarium to simulate the
underwater environment. Due to oxidation, the water became
muddy and this was used in a measurement program that lasted
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1142 J.L. Valin Rivera et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144

several days to simulate the influence of the suspended particles
in water on the quality of images.
With the object inside the aquarium, some perturbations were
detected in the interferometric patterns. This was due to the
movement of water and deformation of the aquarium. To reduce
Fig. 4. View of the cantilever steel plate and the loading mechanism.
this effect, the acrylic aquarium was substituted by a glass one
with a wall thickness of about 6 mm.
Fringe patterns were measured using the ESPI setup and with
the object placed in air (Fig. 6) and in aquarium (Fig. 7). In both
cases different loads were applied as can be seen by the fringe
number. The phase maps shown in Fig. 6 were obtained by the
four images phase stepping method [13]. Deformation of the
typical plate rotation around its fixture of a cantilever plate is
subject to a load on its top.
When the object was placed in aquarium and facing to the
object beam, some problems related with the inclusion of a glass
window and the presence of the water were identified. The light
variations that result from the glass reflection diminish the
contrast of the fringe patterns and were eliminated by darkening
the laboratory and reorienting the object illumination. It is
evident from Fig. 7b–d that some fluctuations on the fringe
geometry exist due to water movements.
The results shown in Fig. 7b–d represent phase maps
corresponding to different object deformation. This data could
be presented in a more understandable way as can be shown in
Fig. 8, after an unwrapping procedure was applied to them. In this
case, the in-house developed software ProITec was used to present
continuous phase maps and pseudo 3D presentations.

Fig. 5. Photos of optical setup used to perform ESPI measurements; (a) object in open air; (b) object inside an aquarium to simulate the underwater environment.

Fig. 6. (a) Image of the object in the air and phase maps obtained with ESPI for different loads.

Fig. 7. . (a) Image of the object inside the aquarium and phase maps obtained with ESPI for different loads.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
J.L. Valin Rivera et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144
After the preliminary tests the system was used to obtain the
displacements that were expected in the inspection of a pipeline.
A plastic tube was sealed at both ends and cut in its wall to
Fig. 8. Data post processing with the software, ProITec (a) and (c) unwrapped
phase map of respectively wrapped maps of Figs. 6b and 7b. Correspondingly
pseudo 3D presentation of Fig. 8a and c are presented in Fig. 8b and d.
Fig. 9. View of the setup with the pipe placed underwater.
Fig. 10. Results obtained with ESPI in underwater inspection of a cracked pipe: (a) unwrapped phase map, (b) pseudo 3D displacement and (c) derivative of the
displacement to put more in evidence the defect presence.
1143
simulate a pressurized pipeline with a partial crack. The tube was
placed inside the aquarium and air pressure was applied through
a pneumatic appliance mounted in one end, which can be seen in
Fig. 9.
The results shown in Fig. 10 were obtained for the
displacements in the vicinity of the crack when the internal
pressure was slightly increased. The obtained displacement field
after a spatial derivative reveals clearly the presence of the crack.
The result obtained demonstrates the potential of this technique
to non-destructive inspection of underwater structural
components. However, another optical setup could be used for
this application. Digital holography needs numerical
reconstruction of the holographic recordings [7], but uses a
much simple setup. Having in mind the remote use needed in this
specific application, other measurements were performed with
digital holography to evaluate its potential for the present
application. In this technique larger and high-resolution sensors
were needed to increase the measuring area, so a D200 Nikon
photographic camera with 10.2 megapixel (3872  2592 pixels,
with pixel dimension 6.1 mm  6.3 mm) was selected.
A software module was developed and included in ProITec
pack to be used with digital holography. This technique was used
to access displacement fields generated on the surface of the
previously described object. Some of the obtained results are
shown in Fig. 11.
The results shown in Fig. 11 correspond to the plate displace-
ments obtained when a displacement is imposed at its tip. The
results are similar to the ones obtained with ESPI. In Fig. 11a the
image was obtained with the object in air, in Fig. 11b the object is
underwater and in Fig. 11c the object is partially submerged. The
fringe rotation was due to asymmetric load, the fringe waviness
comes from water turbulence. Finally, in Fig. 11c, a set displace-
ment appears in the water/air interface due to refraction index
change. In spite of some advantages such as: simple setup, better
light efficiency and one image phase calculation, this technique
still has some drawbacks, namely, small size of the measuring
area (5  7 cm2), lack of real-time operation and more elaborate
calculations for image reconstruction. Fig. 11d–f correspond to the
3D representation of the deformations applied to the object
placed in the air, underwater and partially submerged, respec-
tively, as well as the view of the engraved circle in the object.
5. Conclusions
The proposed techniques could have a positive impact in the
offshore inspection of structures and pipelines. The optical
techniques are reliable tools and are demonstrated to be well
adapted for structural inspection. With these techniques it is
possible to detect, with high resolution and without contact,
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
1144 J.L. Valin Rivera et al. / Optics and Lasers in Engineering 47 (2009) 1139–1144
Fig. 11. Plate displacements obtained when a displacement is imposed at its tip.
defects which can compromise the structural integrity. It is even
possible to build a compact and reliable system which could be
mounted in a small ROV, constituting a tool for inspection and
control of underwater structures. Problems due to instabilities
could be minimized with pulsed laser, isolation of the measure-
ment area or adaptive optics solutions. The influence of water
properties and other structural excitation methods are still to be
addressed.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Lyndon Alves for his reading and
correction of the manuscript. The first author had the financial
support of FCT (Fundac- a~ o para a Ciência e a Tecnologia–Portugal)
through a one-year post doctoral grant; the contributions of CNPq
(Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı́fico e Tecnológico),
Brazil; ISPJAE (Superior Polytechnic Institute Jose Antonio
Echeverrı́a) from Havana, Cuba; UEA (University of the State of
Amazons), Brazil; FAPEAM (Fundac- a~ o de Amparo a Pesquisa do
Estado do Amazonas) and SistIng Project are also appreciated.
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