ADVANCED DIGITAL FRINGE ANALYSIS WORKSTATION

LASER HOLOGRAPHIC INTERFEROMETRY HAS BECOME AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR AERODYNAMIC RESEARCH BECAUSE INTERFEROGRAMS PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF THE FLOWFIELD SURROUNDING WIND TUNNEL MODELS. HOWEVER, UNTIL RECENTLY, ROUTINE USE OF HOLOGRAPHIC INTERFEROMETRY HAS BEEN IMPRACTICAL BECAUSE ANALYZING FRINGE DATA IS AN EXTREMELY LABORIOUS PROCESS. KMS IS NOW DEVELOPING A MODULAR FRINGE ANALYSIS SYSTEM WHICH WILL PROVIDE A FLEXIBLE RESEARCH TOOL FOR AUTOMATING THE ANALYSIS OF FRINGE DATA. HOWEVER, KMS'S CURRENT EFFORT STILL DOES NOT ADDRESS A NUMBER OF KEY TECHNICAL ISSUES, NAMELY; PROVIDING A TRULY USER-FRIENDLY OPERATOR INTERFACE, PROVIDING THE CAPABILITY FOR ANALYZING HIGH RESOLUTION FRINGE IMAGE DATA, AND PROVIDING FAST ANALYSIS OF A SERIES OF IMAGES. TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, KMS PROPOSES FURTHER WORK TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED FRINGE ANALYSIS WORKSTATION WITH A HUMAN-ENGINEERED, OPERATOR'S INTERFACE WHICH CAN EXTRACT FRINGE CONTOURS FROM CLOSELY SPACED FRINGES. THE WORKSTATION WOULD HAVE IMPROVED ABIITY TO DISTINGUISH FRINGE DATA FROM BACKGROUND ARTIFACTS AND NOISE AS WELL AS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED PERFORMANCE. DURING THE PHASE I EFFORT, KMS WILL DEVELOP THE FUNCTIONAL DESIGN SPECIFICATION FOR IMPLEMENTING THE ADVANCED FRINGE ANALYSIS WORKSTATION.