Quantitative subsurface defect evaluation by pulsed phase thermography: depth retrieval with the phase

La Thermographie de Phase Pulsée (TPP) est une technique d’Évaluation Non-Destructive basée sur la Transformée de Fourier pouvant être considérée comme étant le lien entre la Thermographie Pulsée, pour laquelle l’acquisition de données est rapide, et la Thermographie Modulée, pour laquelle l’extraction de la profondeur est directe. Une nouvelle technique d’inversion de la profondeur reposant sur l’équation de la longueur de diffusion thermique : μ=(α /πf)½, est proposée. Le problème se résume alors à la détermination de la fréquence de borne fb, c à d, la fréquence à laquelle un défaut à une profondeur particulière présente un contraste de phase suffisant pour être détecté dans le spectre des fréquences. Cependant, les profils de température servant d’entrée en TPP, sont des signaux non-périodiques et non-limités en fréquence pour lesquels, des paramètres d’échantillonnage Δt, et de troncature w(t), doivent être soigneusement choisis lors du processus de discrétisation du signal. Une méthodologie à quatre étapes, basée sur la Dualité Temps-Fréquence de la Transformée de Fourier discrète, est proposée pour la détermination interactive de Δt et w(t), en fonction de la profondeur du défaut. Ainsi, pourvu que l’information thermique utilisée pour alimenter l’algorithme de TPP soit correctement échantillonnée et tronquée, une solution de la forme : z=C1μ, peut être envisagée, où les valeurs expérimentales de C1 se situent typiquement entre 1.5 et 2. Bien que la détermination de fb ne soit pas possible dans le cas de données thermiques incorrectement échantillonnées, les profils de phase exhibent quoi qu’il en soit un comportement caractéristique qui peut être utilisé pour l’extraction de la profondeur. La fréquence de borne apparente f’b, peut être définie comme la fréquence de borne évaluée à un seuil de phase donné φd et peut être utilisée en combinaison avec la définition de la phase pour une onde thermique : φ=z /μ, et le diamètre normalisé Dn=D/z, pour arriver à une expression alternative. L'extraction de la profondeur dans ce cas nécessite d'une étape additionnelle pour récupérer la taille du défaut.Pulsed Phase Thermography (PPT) is a NonDestructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT& E) technique based on the Fourier Transform that can be thought as being the link between Pulsed Thermography, for which data acquisition is fast and simple; and Lock-In thermography, for which depth retrieval is straightforward. A new depth inversion technique using the phase obtained by PPT is proposed. The technique relies on the thermal diffusion length equation, i.e. μ=(α /π·f)½, in a similar manner as in Lock-In Thermography. The inversion problem reduces to the estimation of the blind frequency, i.e. the limiting frequency at which a defect at a particular depth presents enough phase contrast to be detected on the frequency spectra. However, an additional problem arises in PPT when trying to adequately establish the temporal parameters that will produce the desired frequency response. The decaying thermal profiles such as the ones serving as input in PPT, are non-periodic, non-band-limited functions for which, adequate sampling Δt, and truncation w(t), parameters should be selected during the signal discretization process. These parameters are both function of the depth of the defect and of the thermal properties of the specimen/defect system. A four-step methodology based on the Time-Frequency Duality of the discrete Fourier Transform is proposed to interactively determine Δt and w(t). Hence, provided that thermal data used to feed the PPT algorithm is correctly sampled and truncated, the inversion solution using the phase takes the form: z=C 1 μ, for which typical experimental C 1 values are between 1.5 and 2. Although determination of fb is not possible when working with badly sampled data, phase profiles still present a distinctive behavior that can be used for depth retrieval purposes. An apparent blind frequency f’b , can be defined as the blind frequency at a given phase threshold φd , and be used in combination with the phase delay definition for a thermal wave: φ=z /μ, and the normalized diameter, Dn=D/z, to derive an alternative expression. Depth extraction in this case requires an additional step to recover the size of the defect.La Termografía de Fase Pulsada (TFP) es una técnica de Evaluación No-Destructiva basada en la Transformada de Fourier y que puede ser vista como el vínculo entre la Termografía Pulsada, en la cual la adquisición de datos se efectúa de manera rápida y sencilla, y la Termografía Modulada, en la que la extracción de la profundidad es directa. Un nuevo método de inversión de la profundidad por TFP es propuesto a partir de la ecuación de la longitud de difusión térmica: μ=(α /π·f)½. El problema de inversion se reduce entonces a la determinación de la frecuencia límite fb (frecuencia a la cual un defecto de profundidad determinada presenta un contraste de fase suficiente para ser detectado en el espectro de frecuencias). Sin embargo, las curvas de temperatura utilizadas como entrada en TFP, son señales no-periódicas y no limitadas en frecuencia para las cuales, los parámetros de muestreo Δt, y de truncamiento w(t), deben ser cuidadosamente seleccionados durante el proceso de discretización de la señal. Una metodología de cuatro etapas, basada en la Dualidad Tiempo-Frecuencia de la Transformada de Fourier discreta, ha sido desarrollada para la determinación interactiva de Δt y w(t), en función de la profundidad del defecto. Así, a condición que la información de temperatura sea correctamente muestreada y truncada, el problema de inversión de la profundidad por la fase toma la forma : z=C 1 μ, donde los valores experimentales de C 1 se sitúan típicamente entre 1.5 y 2. Si bien la determinación de fb no es posible en el caso de datos térmicos incorrectamente muestreados, los perfiles de fase exhiben de cualquier manera un comportamiento característico que puede ser utilizado para la extracción de la profundidad. La frecuencia límite aparente f’b , puede ser definida como la frecuencia límite evaluada en un umbral de fase dado φd , y puede utilizarse en combinación con la definición de la fase para una onda térmica: φ=z /μ, y el diámetro normalizado Dn , para derivar una expresión alternativa. La determinación de la profundidad en este caso, requiere de una etapa adicional para recuperar el tamaño del defecto

Thermographic non-destructive evaluation of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer plates after tensile testing

Infrared thermography (IT) is a safe non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique that has a fast inspection rate and is generally contactless. It is used for diagnostics and monitoring in several fields including composite materials. In this paper carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates submitted to tensile testing are inspected using IT. More specifically, carbon/PEEK (Polyether ether ketone) panels made of random-oriented strands (ROS) by compression moulding are submitted to tensile testing and then inspected using three different IT active approaches. The first two approaches use optical sources however with different scanning modes. The first active approach tested is a static surface scanning inspection in reflection mode. The second one is a dynamic line scanning technique where the energy source and camera are in movement with regards to the test sample. The last active IT approach tested uses a mechanical source (ultrasound excitation) to transfer heat to the sample being tested. This last approach is commonly called vibrothermography (VT). Results obtained were then compared to results obtained by micro computed tomography (µCT) inspection and microscopy. Results revealed voids associated with resin-rich regions as well as cracks

Fiber orientation assessment on randomly-oriented strands composites by means of infrared thermography

In this paper, an infrared thermography technique is used to assess the fiber orientation on the surface of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) moulded with randomly-oriented strands (ROS). Due to the randomness of the material, a point by point inspection would be very time consuming. In this paper it is proposed to use a flying laser spot technique to heat a line-region on the surface of the sample instead of a spot. During our experiments, a flying laser spot inspection was performed in 30 s while a point by point inspection of the same area would require about 25 min. An artificial neural network (ANN) was then used to estimate the fiber orientation over the heated line. The classification rate obtained with the network was 91.2% for the training stage and 71.6% for the testing stage

Monitoring of jute/hemp fiber hybrid laminates by nondestructive testing techniques

Abstract Damage following static indentation of jute/hemp (50 wt.% total fiber content) hybrid laminates was detected by a number of nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques, in particular, near (NIR) and short-wave (SWIR) infrared reflectography and transmittography, infrared thermography (IRT), digital speckle photography (DSP), and holographic interferometry (HI), to discover and evaluate real defects in a laminate with a complex structure. A comparative study between thermographic data acquired in the mid- (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectrum bands, by pulsed (PT) and square pulse (SPT) thermography, is reported and analyzed. A thermal simulation by COMSOL® Multiphysics (COMSOL Inc., Burlington, MA, USA) to validate the heating provided is also added. The robust SOBI (SOBI-RO) algorithm, available into the ICALAB Toolbox (BSI RIKEN ABSP Lab, Hirosawa, Japan) and operating in the MATLAB® (The MathWorks, Inc., Natick, MA, USA) environment, was applied on SPT data with results comparable to the ones acquired by several thermographic techniques. Finally, segmentation operators were applied both to the NIR/SWIR transmittography images and to a characteristic principal component thermography (PCT) image (EOFs) to visualize damage in the area surrounding indentation

Thermography data fusion and non-negative matrix factorization for the evaluation of cultural heritage objects and buildings

The application of the thermal and infrared technology in different areas of research is considerably increasing. These applications involve nondestructive testing, medical analysis (computer aid diagnosis/detection—CAD), and arts and archeology, among many others. In the arts and archeology field, infrared technology provides significant contributions in terms of finding defects of possible impaired regions. This has been done through a wide range of different thermographic experiments and infrared methods. The proposed approach here focuses on application of some known factor analysis methods such as standard nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) optimized by gradient-descent-based multiplicative rules (SNMF1) and standard NMF optimized by nonnegative least squares active-set algorithm (SNMF2) and eigen-decomposition approaches such as principal component analysis (PCA) in thermography, and candid covariance-free incremental principal component analysis in thermography to obtain the thermal features. On the one hand, these methods are usually applied as preprocessing before clustering for the purpose of segmentation of possible defects. On the other hand, a wavelet-based data fusion combines the data of each method with PCA to increase the accuracy of the algorithm. The quantitative assessment of these approaches indicates considerable segmentation along with the reasonable computational complexity. It shows the promising performance and demonstrated a confirmation for the outlined properties. In particular, a polychromatic wooden statue, a fresco, a painting on canvas, and a building were analyzed using the above-mentioned methods, and the accuracy of defect (or targeted) region segmentation up to 71.98%, 57.10%, 49.27%, and 68.53% was obtained, respectively

Influence of different design parameters on a coplanar capacitive sensor performance

Coplanar capacitive sensors are employed in Non-destructive Testing (NDT) methods to measure the difference in dielectric properties of the materials. The most important design parameters for a coplanar capacitive sensor include the shape, size, and separation distance of the electrodes which affect the sensor performance. In addition, the impact of the shielding plate and guard electrode should be considered. In the framework of this paper, numerical simulations and physical experiments are studied for two shapes of electrodes, triangular and rectangular, by examining different sizes and different separation distances between electrodes to assess and analyze the important features of the coplanar capacitive electrodes, such as the penetration and strength of the electric field as a function of sensor geometrical properties. Therefore, a detailed analysis of numerical simulation using Finite Element Modelling (FEM) is provided to study these geometric parameters. In addition, the influence of the different frequencies, lift-off, and the presence or absence of a metal shielding plate and guard electrode on the output result is analyzed. Finally, sensors were manufactured and several experiments were carried out under different configurations. Comparison of the numerical simulation results and physical experiments illustrate that they are in good qualitative agreement

Carbon fiber composites inspection and defect characterization using active infrared thermography : numerical simulation and experimental results

Composite materials are widely used in the aeronautic industry. One of the reasons is because they have strength and stiffness comparable to metals, with the added advantage of significant weight reduction. Infrared thermography (IT) is a safe nondestructive testing technique that has a fast inspection rate. In active IT, an external heat source is used to stimulate the material being inspected in order to generate a thermal contrast between the feature of interest and the background. In this paper, carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers are inspected using IT. More specifically, carbon/PEEK (polyether ether ketone) laminates with square Kapton inserts of different sizes and at different depths are tested with three different IT techniques: pulsed thermography, vibrothermography, and line scan thermography. The finite element method is used to simulate the pulsed thermography experiment. Numerical results displayed a very good agreement with experimental results

Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila, Italy) : historical reconstruction by non-destructive testing techniques

The main goal of this work was the non-destructive testing (NDT) of an ancient fresco (15th century) preserved in the Santa Maria di Collemaggio Church (L’Aquila, Italy) and damaged after the 2009 earthquake. Active infrared thermography (IRT), near-infrared (NIR) reflectography and ultraviolet imaging (UV) were used. In addition, the state of the fresco prior to the earthquake was analyzed by electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI), digital speckle correlation (DSC), raking light, tap, and chemical NDT techniques. The use of these techniques was important for the monitoring of new damages and for a comparison between the results over the years. Square heating thermography (SHT) data were processed using principal component thermography (PCT) and pulsed phase thermography (PPT) algorithms, in order to improve the defects’ signature and to reduce the impact of non-uniform heating and emissivity variations due to the painting’s pigments. A multi-analysis approach, segmentation operators and a specific data correlation method emphasize the overall study of the fresco. Furthermore, the facade and the high altar area were inspected by passive thermography and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), respectively. In the present case, the combined use of NDT techniques was useful to fill in the gaps in the construction history of the building

Thermographic non-destructive evaluation for natural fiber-reinforced composite laminates

Natural fibers, including mineral and plant fibers, are increasingly used for polymer composite materials due to their low environmental impact. In this paper, thermographic non-destructive inspection techniques were used to evaluate and characterize basalt, jute/hemp and bagasse fibers composite panels. Different defects were analyzed in terms of impact damage, delaminations and resin abnormalities. Of particular interest, homogeneous particleboards of sugarcane bagasse, a new plant fiber material, were studied. Pulsed phase thermography and principal component thermography were used as the post-processing methods. In addition, ultrasonic C-scan and continuous wave terahertz imaging were also carried out on the mineral fiber laminates for comparative purposes. Finally, an analytical comparison of different methods was give