Monitoring and evaluation of drying of paint by using phase-shifting digital holography

We propose a novel method for monitoring the drying process of a painted surface by using phase-shifting digital holography. In comparison with previous methods using speckle patterns, the proposed method can afford an intensity image for directly monitoring and local variations of drying without an imaging lens. It can also be used for surfaces of complex shapes. In addition, quantitative analysis utilizing a cross-correlation function and phase change derived from the reconstructed complex amplitude is performed and the drying time of paint for different areas and temperature is evaluated. The technique is also applied to monitoring the drying process of a complex surface of a lightbulb.