Suitability of DIC and ESPI optical methods for monitoring fatigue damage development in X10CrMoVNb9-1 power engineering steel

The aim of this research was to compare the effectiveness of two different optical measurement techniques (digital image correlation—DIC and electronic speckle pattern interferometry—ESPI) during fatigue damage development monitoring in X10CrMoVNb9-1 (P91) power engineering steel for pipes. The specimens machined from the as-received pipe were subjected to fatigue loadings and monitored simultaneously using DIC and ESPI techniques. It was found that DIC technique, although characterised by lower resolution, was more effective than ESPI. DIC allows to monitor the fatigue behaviour of steel specimens and accurately indicate the area of potential failure even within the initial stage of fatigue damage development.