Abstract:
THE SEPARATION OF TWO POINTS, EACH LOCATED ON A MEMBER AND BEING SEPARATED BY AN APERATURE, IS MEASURED BY DIRECTING WAVES, SUCH AS LIGHT WAVES, ON THE POINTS TO FORM A DIFFRACTION PATTERN OF THE SINGLE APERATURE TYPE. A CHANGE IN DIMENSION OF THE MEMBER, OR IN THE SPACING BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT MEMBERS, CAUSES THE SEPARATION OF THE EDGES TO CHANGE WHICH, IN TURN, CAUSES A CHANGE IN THE CONFIGURATION OF THE PATTERN. BY COMPARING THE INTENSITY OF A GIVEN PORTION OF THE PATTERN WITH A PORTION OF A PATTERN PRODUCED UNDER KNOWN CONDITIONS, A CHANGE IN THE SEPARATION OF THE POINTS CAN BE DETERMINED FROM WHICH MEASUREMENT OF DIMENSION, STRAIN, ETC., CAN BE DETERMINED.