Abstract

By using both electronic speckle-pattern interferometry (ESPI) and whole-field subtractive moiré, we followed the changes in the topography of 1100 aluminium sheet samples subjected to uniaxial tensile tests. We compare the performance of both techniques and discuss their advantages and limitations. We observed that, during the transition zone to the stage of plastic deformation of the test, the sheet metal specimens were thinned mainly along a relatively broad inclined band that exhibited a remarkable degree of localization. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.