It is proposed to explore a new optical approach referred to as shearography for nondestructive inspection of bonded metallic/elastomeric interfaces. Shearography is equivalent to a full-field strain gage; it reveals defects by looking for defect-induced strain anomalies. This approach is superior to other techniques in that it allows defect criticality to be quantified. Moreover, it is a fast, non-contacting, and full-field method. The ultimate goal is to develop shearography to become a general purpose nondestructive inspection tool.
