Design and calibration of a projection moiré interferometer for detection of out-of-plane displacement of aircraft components

This work describes the design and testing process of a simple Projection Moiré Interferometer (PMI). The calibration phase, based on Design of Experiments, served to estimate accuracy of measurements done with the PMI and to set opportunely the parameters of the PMI system. In order to prove PMI suitability for practical industrial applications, the system has been used for measuring distortions induced by aerodynamic loads on a landing light glazing of an Airbus A340 aircraft. Remarkably, the PMI system proved itself able to achieve the expected accuracy in spite of the fact that very simple equipment and software are used.