Mirror-assisted multi-view digital image correlation: Principles, applications and implementations

Mirror-assisted multiple-view digital image correlation (MV-DIC) is a recently developed variant of DIC technique for panoramic or dual-surface shape, motion and deformation measurements. In contrast to the conventional MV-DIC technique requiring four or more synchronized cameras, mirror-assisted MV-DIC involves only a regular binocular stereo-DIC system and two reflective mirrors. The inherent advantages of low-cost setup and simple implementation procedures make it a very practical and cost-efficient replacement of the regular MV-DIC technique for panoramic/dual surface deformation measurement of regular-sized samples. This review comprehensively overviews the advances we made to this technique in our recent works. First, the principle of the method is described. Then, detailed implementation of the key procedures (i.e., the calibration of the reflection transformation of the mirrors) involved in mirror-assisted MV-DIC is reviewed. Finally, typical applications of the mirror-assisted MV-DIC are presented. Instead of contributing in originality, this review aims to overview the advancement of mirror-assisted MV-DIC and encourage its future applications in experimental mechanics.