Microdeformation measurement via single-element extended digital image correlation

The microdeformation measurement of biomaterials is a crucial issue in the field of experimental mechanics. The single-element extended digital image correlation (single-element X-DIC) method was developed in this paper. If the actual deformation of the specimen is in accordance with the displacement hypothesis, single-element X-DIC possesses a higher measurement accuracy and a higher computational efficiency. With the assistance of a novel discretization method, single-element X-DIC could be used to measure the complex deformation. All results of the verification experiment show that single-element X-DIC is suitable for the measurement of various deformations. Furthermore, combined with optical microscopy, single-element X-DIC was applied to measure the microdeformation of bovine bone, which demonstrates that single-element X-DIC has wide application prospects in the microdeformation measurement of biomaterials.