Vic-3D Stereo Microscope

The Vic-3D Micro system is a new addition to the Vic-3D product line of measurement solutions. Vic-3D Micro enables accurate displacement and strain measurements under high magnification.

BackgroundStereomikroskop2

Three-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) has found widespread popularity for strain measurements due to its excellent accuracy, robustness and ease of use. However, 3D measurements have been difficult to obtain on specimens where high magnification is required. This is mainly due to the lack of optics with sufficient depth-of-field to acquire two high magnification images from different viewing angles.

Stereo microscopes overcome these depth-of-field limitations. However, the internal construction of stereo microscopes prevents proper correction of image distortions using traditional models, such as Seidel lens distortions. These uncorrected images will result in severely biased shape and strain measurements. In fact, it is not uncommon to observe bias levels of several thousand microstrain.

To overcome this problem, Correlated Solutions, Inc., has developed and patented an easy-to-use calibration method that does not suffer from the problems associated with traditional parametric distortion models. The calibration method computes the non-parametric distortion fields of the stereo microscope and has been shown to completely eliminate shape and strain bias from the measurements.

System Features

  • Field of view (zoom range): 0.8mm-7mm
  • Full-field measurements of 3D coordinates, displacements, velocities, and complete strain tensors
  • Automatic calibration
  • Image pairs can be automatically overlapped with a simple adjustment
  • Powerful tools for visualizing data
    • Contour displays which can be overlaid onto images of the test specimen
    • Data extraction from 3D plots based on user defined lines and circles
    • Post-processing tools for statistical analysis, stress-strain curves, and more
  • Convenient exporting of data with the FLEXPort data tool
    • Data can be exported in Tecplot/plain ASCII, Matlab, and STL formats
    • Node data can be easily extracted for FEA validation
  • One year of technical support and software upgrade
  • One-year replacement warranty for defects in materials and/or workmanship on all parts

Application examples about Vic-3D Micro:

Servered ceramic capacitor chip under bending load

Combination Stereomicroscope and Vic-3D digital image correlation