Study of inspection on metal sheet with subsurface defects using linear frequency modulated ultrasound excitation thermal-wave imaging (LFM-UTWI)

The linear frequency modulated ultrasound excitation thermal wave imaging (LFM-UTWI) was investigated on detection of subsurface defects of metal sheet. A numerical finite element analysis is carried out to calculate thermal wave signal dependence of time by linear frequency modulated ultrasonic wave excitation. Cross-correlation operation in time domain and frequency domain are used to extract the main peak value and the corresponding delay time, respectively. Fourier transform (FT) is applied to calculate the amplitude and phase angle of harmonic component of thermal wave. Experimental results show that various deep subsurface defects are readily detected using LFM-UTWI with once excitation, and LFM-UTWI has an advantage of better defect detectability compared to ultrasound lock-in thermography (ULIT).     

Experimental study of inspection on a metal plate with defect using ultrasound lock-in thermographic technique

The ultrasound lock-in thermographic technique was developed to detect interfacial defects and cracks in a metal plate. Discrete correlation method (DCM), Fourier transformation method (FTM), Short Time Fourier transformation (STF) and Discrete Wavelet Transformation (DWT) algorithms were used to extract the characteristic information of the thermal wave signal generated by ultrasonic wave modulated. It is found that STF and DWT algorithms are available for analyzing the thermal wave signal generated by ultrasonic wave modulated due to higher signal–noise ratio. Experiments were performed to investigate the effect on the amplitude contrast and phase angle contrast by the ultrasound transducer position, initial sonotrode action force and modulation frequency, respectively. Experimental results show that transducer position closed to the defect, higher initial sonotrode action force loaded and optimal modulation frequency selected are help to detect the defects of metal plate using ultrasound lock-in thermographic technique.     

Lock-in thermography for nondestructive evaluation of materials

Photothermal radiometry allows for remote measurement of local harmonic heat transport where the phase angle (between remote optical energy deposition and resulting temperature modulation) is sensitive to subsurface features or defects. Phase sensitive modulation thermography (or ‘lock-in thermography’) combines the advantages of photothermal radiometry with the fast technique of infrared imaging thereby revealing hidden defects in a short time. In this paper the principle and various applications are described and analyzed. While this lock-in thermography is based on remote optical heating of the whole area of interest, one can heat defects selectively with modulated ultrasound which is converted into heat by the mechanical loss angle effect which is enhanced in defect regions. This ‘ultrasonic lock-in thermography’ provides images showing defects in a way that is similar to dark field imaging in optical microscopy.     

Application of infrared lock-in thermography for the quantitative evaluation of bruises on pears

An infrared lock-in thermography technique was adjusted for the detection of early bruises on pears. This mechanical damage is usually difficult to detect in the early stage after harvested using conventional visual sorting or CCD sensor-based imaging processing methods. We measured the thermal emission signals from pears using a highly sensitive mid-infrared thermal camera. These images were post-processed using a lock-in method that utilized the periodic thermal energy input to the pear. By applying the lock-in method to infrared thermography, the detection sensitivity and signal to noise ratio were enhanced because of the phase-sensitive narrow-band filtering effect. It was also found that the phase information of thermal emission from pears provides good metrics with which to identify quantitative information about both damage size and damage depth for pears. Additionally, a photothermal model was implemented to investigate the behavior of thermal waves on pears under convective conditions. Theoretical results were compared to experimental results. These results suggested that the proposed lock-in thermography technique and resultant phase information can be used to detect mechanical damage to fruit, especially in the early stage of bruising.     

锁相热像方法实验测量Nb2O5薄膜吸收率

利用锁相热像方法定量测量了光学镀膜的吸收率。待测薄膜吸收周期调制的激光能量,在表面形成热波,将红外相机记录的热分布信号进行锁相相关处理,获得信噪比提高的热图像。采用标准吸收样品对系统进行定标,可获得光热信号幅度与样品吸收率之间的定量联系,进而在相同实验条件下测量待测样品,可通过光热信号直接计算获得其绝对吸收率。在1 060 nm波长处开展了实验研究,测量获得了不同厚度Nb₂O₅镀膜的吸收率数值,实测的吸收可达80 ppm。     

Inspection on SiC coated carbon–carbon composite with subsurface defects using pulsed thermography

An investigation on SiC coated carbon–carbon (C/C) composite plates has been undertaken by pulsed thermography. The heat transfer model has been built and the finite element method (FEM) is applied to solve the thermal model. The simulation results show that defects with DA/DP smaller than one can hardly be detected by an infrared camera with the sensitivity of 0.02 °C. Certificated experiments were performed on the built pulsed thermography system. The thermal wave signals have been processed by subtracting background image method (SBIM), pulsed phase thermography (PPT), and temperature–time logarithm fitting method (TtLFM). The limit DA/DP of defects in SiC coated C/C composite plates with the thickness of 6 mm that can be detected by pulsed thermography with the presented signal analysis algorithms has been obtained.     

Inspection on CFRP sheet with subsurface defects using pulsed thermographic technique

The pulsed thermographic technique was used to detect flat-bottomed hole defects in CFRP sheet. Pulsed phase thermography (PPT) was used to extract the characteristic information of the thermal wave signal generated by thermal pulse. The difference of the phases between the sound and defective areas were analyzed. The defects’ edges were extracted by Fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm.     

Application of thermal wave imaging and phase shifting method for defect detection in Stainless steel

This paper presents an experimental arrangement for detection of artificial subsurface defects in a stainless steel sample by means of thermal wave imaging with lock-in thermography and consequently, the impact of excitation frequency on defect detectability. The experimental analysis was performed at several excitation frequencies to observe the sample beginning from 0.18 Hz all the way down to 0.01 Hz. The phase contrast between the defective and sound regions illustrates the qualitative and quantitative investigation of defects. The two, three, four and five-step phase shifting methods are investigated to obtain the information on defects. A contrast to noise ratio analysis was applied to each phase shifting method allowing the choice of the most appropriate one. Phase contrast with four-step phase shifting at an optimum frequency of 0.01 Hz provides excellent results. The inquiry with the effect of defect size and depth on phase contrast shows that phase contrast decreases with increase in defect depth and increases with the increase in defect size.     

Automatic metal parts inspection: Use of thermographic images and anomaly detection algorithms

A fully-automatic approach based on the use of induction thermography and detection algorithms is proposed to inspect industrial metallic parts containing different surface and sub-surface anomalies such as open cracks, open and closed notches with different sizes and depths. A practical experimental setup is developed, where lock-in and pulsed thermography (LT and PT, respectively) techniques are used to establish a dataset of thermal images for three different mockups. Data cubes are constructed by stacking up the temporal sequence of thermogram images. After the reduction of the data space dimension by means of denoising and dimensionality reduction methods; anomaly detection algorithms are applied on the reduced data cubes. The dimensions of the reduced data spaces are automatically calculated with arbitrary criterion. The results show that, when reduced data cubes are used, the anomaly detection algorithms originally developed for hyperspectral data, the well-known Reed and Xiaoli Yu detector (RX) and the regularized adaptive RX (RARX), give good detection performances for both surface and sub-surface defects in a non-supervised way.     

Thermal wave scattering by two overlapping and parallel cylinders

In this paper an analytical solution of the temperature of an opaque material containing two overlapping and parallel subsurface cylinders, illuminated by a modulated light beam, is presented. The method is based on the expansion of plane and cylindrical thermal waves in series of Bessel and Hankel functions. This model is addressed to the study of heat propagation in composite materials with interconnection between inclusions, as is the case of inverse opals and fiber reinforced composites. Measurements on calibrated samples using lock-in infrared thermography confirm the validity of the model.     

Lock-in thermographic inspection of squats on rail steel head

The development of squat defects has become a major concern in numerous railway systems throughout the world. Infrared thermography is a relatively new non-destructive inspection technique used for a wide range of applications. However, it has not been used for rail squat detection. Lock-in thermography is a non-destructive inspection technique that utilizes an infrared camera to detect the thermal waves. A thermal image is produced, which displays the local thermal wave variation in phase or amplitude. In inhomogeneous materials, the amplitude and phase of the thermal wave carries information related to both the local thermal properties and the nature of the structure being inspected. By examining the infrared thermal signature of squat damage on the head of steel rails, it was possible to generate a relationship matching squat depth to thermal image phase angle, using appropriate experimental/numerical calibration. The results showed that with the additional data sets obtained from further experimental tests, the clarity of this relationship will be greatly improved to a level whereby infrared thermal contours can be directly translated into the precise subsurface behaviour of a squat.     

Comparison of three thermographic post processing methods for the assessment of a repaired aluminum plate with composite patch

Composite patches are widely used to repair damaged metal structures, especially in aerospace industry. Perfect patch and bonding are necessary to achieve an effective repair. Various thermographic methods such as step heating thermography are commonly applied to inspect repaired structures. Since accurate determination of defect features are admirable, some techniques are used to process the thermal films. In this study, three common post processing techniques of thermography (namely, principle component analysis (PCA), pulse phase thermography (PPT) and thermal signal reconstruction (TSR)) have been utilized to inspect an aluminum plate repaired with carbon/epoxy patches. Several delaminations with various sizes and locations along with some disbond defects were artificially embedded in five samples of composite patches to experimentally investigate the performance of the three techniques for post-processing of the step heating thermography data. Furthermore, the outputs of the mentioned processing techniques were quantitatively compared to find the most effective one. Based on the comparison results, it was demonstrated that, TSR outputs leads to the more accurate defect sizing.     

Quantification of defects in composites and rubber materials using active thermography

Active (lock-in and pulsed) thermography technique is used to quantify defect features in specimens of glass fiber reinforced polymer, high density rubber, low density rubber and aluminum bonded low density rubber with artificially produced defects. The relationship between phase contrast and thermal contrast with defect features are examined. Using lock-in approach, the optimal frequencies for different specimens are determined experimentally. It is observed that with increasing defect depth, the phase contrast increases while the thermal contrast decreases. Defects with radius to depth ratio greater than 1.0 are found to be discernible. The phase difference between sound and defective region as a function of square root of excitation frequency for glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen is found to be in good agreement with the predictions of Bennet and Patty model [1]. Further, using pulsed thermography, the defects depth could be measured accurately for glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen from the thermal contrast using the analytical approach of Balageas et al. [2].     

A new measurement method of coatings thickness based on lock-in thermography

Coatings have been widely used in modern industry and it plays an important role. Coatings thickness is directly related to the performance of the functional coatings, therefore, rapid and accurate coatings thickness inspection has great significance. Existing coatings thickness measurement method is difficult to achieve fast and accurate on-site non-destructive coatings inspection due to cost, accuracy, destruction during inspection and other reasons. This paper starts from the introduction of the principle of lock-in thermography, and then performs an in-depth study on the application of lock-in thermography in coatings inspection through numerical modeling and analysis. The numerical analysis helps explore the relationship between coatings thickness and phase, and the relationship lays the foundation for accurate calculation of coatings thickness. The author sets up a lock-in thermography inspection system and uses thermal barrier coatings specimens to conduct an experiment. The specimen coatings thickness is measured and calibrated to verify the quantitative inspection. Experiment results show that the lock-in thermography method can perform fast coatings inspection and the inspection accuracy is about 95%. Therefore, the method can meet the field testing requirements for engineering projects.     

A study on detection of micro-cracks in the dissimilar metal weld through ultrasound infrared thermography

This study was conducted to investigate a possibility of detecting stress corrosion crack defects in a pipe welded with dissimilar metals (STS304 and SA106 Gr. b) through infrared ultrasound thermography and lock-in phase method. The ultrasound generator was set as 250 W in output and 19.8 kHz in frequency. With experiment results, this study could detect, cracks located inside the dissimilar metal weld pipe through lock-in infrared thermography and compare thermography images obtained from both the inside and the outside when the ultrasound vibration was applied to the outer part of the pipe. Besides, after cutting off the pipe in the axial direction, this study conducted PT inspection. As a result, it was found there existed more than a single crack in a certain range inside the pipe, which made hot spots appear in a wide range on the thermography image. Moreover, through ultrasound infrared thermography and lock-in phase method this study verified the possibility of detecting micro-sized shattered cracks through ultrasound thermography, which were not easy to detect with the existing techniques.     

Thermographic inspection of wind turbine rotor blade segment utilizing natural conditions as excitation source,Part II: The effect of climatic conditions on thermographic inspections – A long term outdoor experiment

The present study continues the work described in part I of this paper in evaluating a long-term-experiment, where a rotor blade segment of a wind turbine is exposed to the elements and thereby monitored with passive thermography. First, it is investigated whether subsurface features in rotor blades – mainly made of GFRP – can generally be detected with thermography from greater distances under favorable conditions. The suitability of the sun for acting as a heat source in applying active thermography has been tested in the previous study. In this study, the climatic influence on thermographic measurement is evaluated. It is demonstrated that there are favorable and unfavorable circumstances for imaging thermal contrasts which reflect inner structures and other subsurface features like potential defects. It turns out that solar radiation serves as a very effective heat source, but not at all times of day. Other environmental influences such as diurnal temperature variations also create temperature contrasts that permit conclusions on subsurface features. Particular scenarios are reconstructed with FEM-simulations in order to gain deeper insight into the driving mechanisms that produce the observed thermal contrasts. These investigations may help planning useful outdoor operations for inspecting rotor blades with thermography.     

Solar loading thermography: Time-lapsed thermographic survey and advanced thermographic signal processing for the inspection of civil engineering and cultural heritage structures

The experimental results from infrared thermography surveys over two buildings externally exposed walls are presented. Data acquisition was performed on a static configuration by recording direct and indirect solar loading during several days and was processed using advanced signal processing techniques in order to increase signal-to-noise ratio and signature contrast of the elements of interest. It is demonstrated that it is possible to detect the thermal signature of large internal structures as well as surface features under such thermographic scenarios. Results from a long-wave microbolometer compared favorably to those from a mid-wave cooled infrared camera for the detection of large subsurface features from unprocessed images. In both cases, however, advanced signal processing greatly improved contrast of the internal features.     

太赫兹激励的红外热波检测技术

本文的目的在于探索一种新的适用于红外热波检测技术的热激励方式——太赫兹(THz)热激励. 文中介绍了THz波周期性热激励的热传导理论模型; 尝试利用返波振荡器(返波管backward wave oscillator, BWO)太赫兹源对一块碳纤维基底吸波涂层板进行周期性THz热激励, 红外热像仪连续观测和记录试件表面温场变化, Canny边缘算法处理热图像显示缺陷; 检测结果与闪光灯脉冲激励的结果进行比较, 讨论了太赫兹波激励红外热波检测技术可能的优势. 实现了THz技术与红外热波无损检测技术的结合.     

Determination of thermal wave reflection coefficient to better estimate defect depth using pulsed thermography

Thermography is a promising method for detecting subsurface defects, but accurate measurement of defect depth is still a big challenge because thermographic signals are typically corrupted by imaging noise and affected by 3D heat conduction. Existing methods based on numerical models are susceptible to signal noise and methods based on analytical models require rigorous assumptions that usually cannot be satisfied in practical applications. This paper presents a new method to improve the measurement accuracy of subsurface defect depth through determining the thermal wave reflection coefficient directly from observed data that is usually assumed to be pre-known. This target is achieved through introducing a new heat transfer model that includes multiple physical parameters to better describe the observed thermal behaviour in pulsed thermographic inspection. Numerical simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method against four selected state-of-the-art methods. Results show that the accuracy of depth measurement has been improved up to 10% when noise level is high and thermal wave reflection coefficients is low. The feasibility of the proposed method in real data is also validated through a case study on characterising flat-bottom holes in carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates which has a wide application in various sectors of industry.     

含双圆柱亚表面缺陷板条材料的表面温度分布

基于非傅里叶热传导方程,采用复变函数法和镜像法,研究了含双圆柱亚表面缺陷板条材料热波散射的温度场,并给出了热波散射温度场的解析解。分析了入射波波数、热扩散长度、缺陷的埋藏深度以及板条材料的厚度等对板条表面温度分布的影响。温度波由调制光束在材料表面激发,缺陷表面的边界条件为绝热。该分析方法和数值结果可为工程材料结构的传热分析、热波成像和材料内部缺陷评估,以及热物理反问题研究提供参考。