10/31/2009

NDE using IR Thermography

October 30, 2009

C.V.Krishnamurthy

What is IR Thermography ?
Collecting radiation of heat in the infrared
band of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Quantifying the measured radiation and
assessing the Temperature

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Infrared Spectrum

IR Absorption Characteristics

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Matter Radiates Heat

Gases/Liquids/Solids at T > 0 Radiate Heat

Thermal and Heat Transfer Characteristics

of Materials

Thermal Conductivity (k )

Heat Capacity (Cp)

ability to store heat (also referred to as thermal

capacitance); structures with low thermal
capacitance reach equilibrium sooner when
placed in a cooler environment

Thermal Diffusivity ( = k/ Cp )

capability to transfer heat across a domain

having a steady temperature gradient; higher
the value, faster the approach to equilibrium; it
is high for metals and low for porous materials

relates more to transient heat flow; widely

used in NDE for flaw detection

Convection

Conduction

requires medium; involves physical movement

of molecules; depends on flow parameters;
depends linearly on thermal gradient

requires medium; involves vibrational

characteristics of molecules; depends linearly
on thermal gradient

Radiation

No medium required; involves

electromagnetic wave propagation
characteristics; depends on the fourth power of
the absolute temperature of the object

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Thermal Properties of Common Materials

k
C

k C

Blackbody Radiation Characteristics

Wiens displacement law

2hf 3
1
hf / k BT
2
c e
1

ef

(Planck Radiation Law)

For

ef

hf

k BT

2k BT
2

(Rayleigh-Jeans Approximation)

L , B (T )d
e( 1 ,

)
2

L , B (T )d
1

L , B (T )d

T4

e(0,

) e(0, 1 )

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Black and Gray Bodies

Radiometry

(1

) L0 (Ta )

(1

L0 (To )

) L0 (Ta )
L0 (To )

(1

) L0 (Tatm )

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Radiation Transfer
Specimen
Temperature Te

Source A

Source B

TB4)

Reflected (Wr
reflectivity

Transmitted (Wt

TA4)

transmissivity

Emitted (We
emissivity

Te4)

Wr+Wt+We = Specimen Radiosity

Radiation Transfer Characteristics

Smooth Surface

Source A

: absorptivity
: reflectivity
: transmittivity
+

+ =1

(from the law of energy

conservation)

Specular
Reflection = Eo

Transmitted Energy = Eo

Diffuse
Reflections

Absorbed Energy = Eo
When transmittivity is low (for opaque bodies),
1-

Rough Surface
Thermal equilibrium is achieved when a body is emitting radiation at
the same rate that it absorbs it from the surroundings

Kirchoffs law:
ratio of radiation intensities for two
surfaces is equal to the ratio of their
absorptivities.
Implies

(i.e.,

1- )

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Surface Features and Emissivity

smooth

slightly rough

moderately
rough

very rough

Spectral Emissivities of Common Materials

Material

T (C)

Wavelength Range
( m)

Emissivity
( )

Concrete (dry)

36

25

0.95

Plastic (acrylic)

36

25

0.94

Wood (polished)

36

25

0.86

Water

8 14

0.98

Ice

8 - 14

0.97

Snow

8 - 14

0.8

Rubber

8 - 14

0.95

Lampblack

8 - 14

0.96

Steel - oxidized

8 - 14

0.88

Steel rolled freshly

8 - 14

0.24

Steel nickel plated

8 - 14

0.11

Sources: AGEMA Infrared Systems, Inc. and Linear Laboratories, Inc.

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Advantages of high

It follows from Stefan-Boltzmanns law

that surfaces with a high emit a higher
intensity radiation at a given T, thereby
providing a larger signal
(high S/N ratio)

High surfaces are, by definition, poor

reflectors. Low surfaces tend to
reflect radiation from other sources.
Detected signal unrelated to the object
(low S/N ratio)

High surfaces also absorb more

radiant energy. Radiant sources can
therefore be effective in inducing a
thermal gradient a favourable feature
in testing

Coating

Substrate

Thermography - Techniques
Passive
Active
Pulsed (pulse heating with observation during the
cooling phase time domain)
Step heating (long pulse with observation during
continuous heating time-resolved infrared radiometry)
Lock-In (continuous sinusoidal heating with
observation while heating frequency domain)
Pulsed Phase (mix of pulsed and lock-in methods using
Fourier transforms)

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Infrared Thermography - Features

Non-contact
Sensor collects radiated heat flux over a narrow wavelength
interval
Sensors can be a point sensing type, line scanners or focal plane
arrays (2D)
Detection can be either pyroelectric (signal is proportional to
absorbed thermal energy) or photonic (photoconductive or
photoelectric - signal is proportional to the number of IR
photons collected)
Real-time information of radiating object can generate images
from which anomalies can be identified and assessed
Radiation temperature is evaluated from the received/collected
energy/photons

Application Areas

Electrical Systems
Pipe thinning
Building Envelopes and Structures
Moisture Ingress
Mechanical Systems
Petrochemical Applications
Heat leaks
Electronic Equipment
Overheating
Environmental Applications
Material
Automotive Applications
characterisation
Aerospace Applications
Online Process
Medical / Veterinary Applications
Monitoring
Pulp and Paper
Steam Turbine and Hydroelectric Generators

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IR Imaging - I

Example:
(IFOV) = 1 mrad; d = 1m; D

1 mm

HFOV =30 ; VFOV = 20 leads to

inspection area of
0.53 m

0.36 m at d = 1m

IR Imaging - II

NETD

T
SNR

MRTD

NETD O HIFOV VIFOV

MTF( O ) teye F
eye integration time

NETD

T
SNR

e.g., MRTD

frame rate

0.05 C at 25 C

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Modulation Transfer Function (MTF)

Lmax
Lmax

Lmin
; MTF
Lmin

M
Mo

IR Detectors

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Passive Thermography
Infrared Thermography has been proven to find, quantify, and document problems
caused by:

Electrical

Faulty components
Poor connections
Corrosion
Contamination
Load imbalances
and much more

Mechanical

Shaft misalignment
Worn bushings & bearings
Improper tension of belts & pulleys
Over or under lubrication
Gear box anomalies
Excess friction
and much more

Building

Moisture infiltration of roof

Air infiltration or exfiltration
Areas of potential mold growth
Air circulation and distribution
Leaky or clogged pipes
and much more

Examples of Passive IR Thermography

Electrical Inspections

The anomaly, or hot spot, indicates a probable problem

with the disconnect.

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Examples of Passive IR Thermography

Subsurface Leaks

Leak in radiant heating system under a concrete pad.

Examples of Passive IR Thermography

Mechanical Inspections

Infrared Image: Bearing

Over Lubrication

Digital Image

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Moisture ingress in building walls

Effects of Environment on T Measurement

Solar radiation
Masks the inspection strongly; periods of quick heating (day) /
cooling (night) preferred

Cloud cover
Absorbs and scatters; slows heat transfer; little or no cloud cover
preferred

Wind
Aids heat transfer; < 6.7 m/s (15 mi/hr) preferred

Moisture (also humidity)

Moisture on the ground masks the true features; humidity affects
inspection as water vapour absorbs strongly

Ambient temperature
Need to factor temporal fluctuations

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Thermography - Techniques
Passive
Active
Pulsed (pulse heating with observation during the
cooling phase time domain)
Step heating (long pulse with observation during
continuous heating time-resolved infrared radiometry)
Lock-In (continuous sinusoidal heating with
observation while heating frequency domain)
Pulsed Phase (mix of pulsed and lock-in methods using
Fourier transforms)

Transient Thermography - I

Reflection Mode

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Response of a semi-infinite homogenous

medium to a short heat pulse
One-dimensional equation for
Temperature evolution when heated by
an instantaneous pulse of strength Q

k
t

d 2T
dx 2

dT
dt

- density; k thermal conductivity; c specific heat

T ( x, t )

Q
exp
2 ( t)

x2
;
4 t

k
c

Thermal
diffusivity

Response of a homogenous slab to a

short heat pulse
accounts for
multiple reflections

T (x

0, t )

n 2l 2
t

Q
1 2 R n exp
2 ( t)
n 1

slab
x=0

Reflection coefficient

x=l

b 1
; b e2 / e1; effusivity e
b 1

Shallow
delamination
ln (T)

Reflectivities of
common materials

Deeper
delamination
Semi-infinite
medium (slope 0.5)

k c

Back wall

Al/Air

1.0

Al/Epoxy Resin

0.95

CFRP/Air

1.0

CFRP/Epoxy Resin

0.3 ( )
0.7 ( )

ln (t)

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Transient Thermography
Defect detection with derivatives
Thermographic Signal Reconstruction (TSR)

Derivatives can be evaluated quickly and without adding noise

Source: Steven Shepard, James Lhota, Bharat Chaudhry, and Yulin Hou, Thermal Wave Imaging, Inc.

Transient Thermography - II
T ( L, t )

Q
1 2
DCL
n

1 exp
1

n2
L2

where,
T : Temperature, L: Thickness, t : Time, Q : Pulse of radiation energy,
D: Density, C: Heat capacity, : Thermal diffusivity,

Transmission Mode
w =1.38 at T/TM = 0.5

Flash method for determining thermal diffusivity,

heat capacity and thermal conductivity of a slab

1.38 l 2
Q
;C
;K
C
2
t1
lTM
2

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Features of commonly used

excitation sources
Stimulus Source

Power/Energy Approximations

Pulse Duration

Flash Lamps

1kW

~1 50 ms

Quartz Bulbs

10kW

1 15 s

Ceramic Heater

250W 5 kW

> 60 s

Hot/Cold Water

1 kW

> 60 s

Hot/Cold Air

1 kW

>1s

Pulsed Laser

~ 100 J

1 10 ps

2 kW

Few ms

Ultrasonic Transducer

from N.P. Avdelidis et al, Progress in Aerospace Sciences vol.40 (2004) pp 143-162

6 mm thick soft steel samples, Xenon flash lamps or Quartz heaters

> 6 mm thick soft steel samples, Quartz heaters

Source: ASNT Handbook (2001)

Transient Thermography - Issues

Frames captured by the IR camera

amplitude

IR Camera
Integration
time
Video frame rate
(60 Hz)

time

Typical heat pulse Spectral content changes with

time !
Initial frames get saturated

Need clean pulses of

short duration and
without long tails

Long tail affects many frames

Non-uniformity of irradiation
Ambient noise can become significant

Need reference or
non-defect image

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Pulse Thermography - Honeycomb

Sample

Planar defect sizes of 25 mm 25 mm

and 40 mm 40 mm were considered

Pulse Thermography
Corrosion under Paint

Paint thickness varies between 0.2 mm to 0.8 mm

Maximum metal plate thickness is about 1.1 mm

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0.38

Thickness (mm)

Corrosion under Paint - Results

0.53

Scan length (mm)

Depth Estimation - Comparison between Different Methods

Ultrasonic
C-Scan (avg.)

Peak contrast slope

Pulse Phase
Thermography

Defect #1

0.35 mm

0.38 mm

0.27 mm

Defect #2

0.49 mm

0.53 mm

0.54 mm

Steel: Rules of Thumb

For < 2.5 mm thick, high carbon content steel, high
intensity, short duration pulse ( 4 ms)
For > 2.5 mm thick steel, lower intensity, longer pulse
(> 3s) or stepped mode heating

10% material loss detectable (under lab conditions) for

< 0.1 inch thick steel plates

25% material loss identifiable (under lab conditions) for

steel plates 2.5 mm to 25 mm thick

Source: ASNT Handbook, Xavier P.V. Maldague, 2nd Edition (2001)

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Response of a semi-infinite homogenous

medium to step heating
Q
T (x

0, t )

2 Fo
k

ln

(T*)

Surface response of a
coating on a
conducting substrate

Surface response of a
coating on a
non-conducting substrate

ln

(T*)

Solution for surface Temperature evolution under step heating with constant flux Fo
per unit time per unit area for t > 0

ln (t)

ln (t)

The logarithmic temperature-time profile of the surface temperature is a straight line

with slope +0.5 for a semi-infinite, defect-free sample.

Response of a layer on a substrate

to step heating
T ( x 0, t )

2( R) n exp(

A t 1
n 1

x=0

n 2l 2 nl
)
erfc
ot
ot

nl
o

x=l
Involves the thermal characteristics of the substrate

Zirconia coatings

Computed

Measured

Source: Spicer et al (1991) in Thermosense XIII, Proc.

SPIE vol.1467: 311-321

Source: Oslander et al (1991) in Thermosense XIII,

Proc. SPIE vol.2766: 218-227

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Response of a semi-infinite homogenous

medium to periodic excitation
k

One-dimensional equation for Temperature evolution

d 2T
dx 2

dT
dt

- density; k thermal conductivity; c specific heat

surface temperature is prescribed by

T ( x 0, t )

A cos( t

Temperature at any interior point as a function of time is given by

T ( x, t )

Ae

cos( t

);

( /2 )

Solution represents a temperature wave of wavenumber

given by 2 / = (4
/ f ) where f = /2

and wavelength

Propagating speed of these temperature waves is given by

- dispersive

Temperature waves at higher frequencies attenuate more rapidly with depth with the
thermal diffusion length given by
Phase of the temperature wave shows a progressive lag which increases with frequency

Thermal Wave Characteristics of Materials

T (x

, t ) To e

cos( t 2

To
cos( t 2
535

Thermal
Diffusion length
at 0.1 Hz

Thermal
Diffusion length
at 1.0 Hz

Aluminum

108.2 mm

34.2 mm

Titanium

34.2 mm

10.8 mm

CFRP ( )

7.3 mm

2.3 mm

CFRP ( )

21.5 mm

6.8 mm

Material

fall in
amplitude

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Lock-in Thermography Amplitude and

Phase Images
Amplitude A( x1 )

Determine

Phase

Avg. Temperature

( x1 )

Tavg

( S3 S1 ) 2 ( S4 S 2 ) 2

tan

S3 S1
S4 S2

S1 S 2

using 4 measurements in
one modulation cycle

S3 S 4
4

Steady-state response assumed

Pixel-wise data
retrieval

IR Focal Plane Array

Phase image insensitive to surface

roughness and related issues which
affect amplitude images

Lock-in Thermography
Experimental arrangement

Transmission Mode

Reflection Mode

More than 4 points per cycle required to reduce noise

Acquisition time should be at least one period (eg. f = 0.03 Hz used
to inspect 2 mm thick composite laminates requires an acquisition
time of 2 min)
Phase image provides more depth information than amplitude image

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Example of Lock-in Thermography with

Ultrasonic Excitation

Source: Th. Zweschper et al, NDT.net - February 2003, Vol. 8 No.2

Principle and set-up of lockin thermography with ultrasonic excitation.

Care needs to be taken for avoiding standing wave patterns

The real and imaginary parts of the coupling between the

ultrasonic wave and the defect exist.

Ultrasound Lock-in Thermography

Illustration

Configuration of the blind hole steel

sample. Metal cylinders were bonded into
the holes with a diameter of 36 mm and
18 mm to serve as ultrasonic absorbers.
Front of sample was painted black.

Phase image and profile of second row of holes. Lock-in

frequency 0.03 Hz. Excitation frequency 19.4 kHz.
Excitation power: 800W.

from Dillenz et al Lock-in thermography for depth resolved defect characterisation

at the 15th WCNDT Conference, 2000

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Vibrothermography (Thermosonics)

up to about
25 kHz

Schematic of vibrothermography interaction

Acoustic energy from a horn is injected into a solid sample, causing frictional heating at
the tip, or along the faces of a crack

Issues

Sonic energy from the horn should be coupled into the part as
efficiently as possible.

Repeatable ?

Energy inserted to the part should not be coupled to the fixtures

or mounting hardware.

Irreversible ?

The part and horn should be mounted rigidly.

Quantitative models ?

The horn should not damage the surface of the part.

Pulsed Phase Thermography (PPT)

IR Focal Plane Array
Principle
Infrared image sequence
(after thermal pulse)
Pixel-wise data
retrieval

fn

n
N

Number of
thermograms in the
sequence

= 16.6 ms

(i,j)

T( C)

Time interval between

thermal images

for each pixel(i,j)

fmax = 60 Hz

N = 32 images, fmin = 1.88 Hz

N 1

Use of max at each pixel leads to

better image quality

T ( k )e 2

Fn

ikn / N

Re n i Im n

k 0

An

Re 2n i Im2n ;

tan

Imn
Re n

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Pulsed Phase Thermography - Features

Plastic plate with a bonded half-sphere
(non-flat specimen)

PPT provides phase images

in addition to amplitude
images produced by PT
(Pulsed technique)

Unlike in PT, PPT does not

require reference or nondefect image

Better than the Lock-in

technique since information
can be deduced at several
frequencies

from: Maldague et al, Can. Soc. Nondestructive Testing Journal, vol. 19 pp 5-10 (1997)

Tomography
Principle - surface temperature evolution sequence,
after pulse excitation, used to construct a Thermogram

Raw
image

Timegram

Thermal tomography of 1.2 mm deep

Teflon insert in carbon-epoxy specimen

Smoothed
image

Timegram
TGMc_max

Tomogram of
the layer at
0.8 to 1.5 mm

Tomogram of
the layer at
1.4 to 1.8 mm

Tomogram of
the layer at
1.8 to 2.0 mm

3.64 z 2
2

CFRP panel specimen 4.25 mm

thick layers (28) with a 10 mm dia
Teflon insert

Source: Theory and Practice of Infrared Technology for Nondestructive Testing, Xavier P.V. Maldague
John Wiley & Sons Inc. (2001)

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Scanning Thermal Wave Microscopy

(Ohmyoung Kwon1, Li Shi and Arun Majumdar, Transactions of the ASME, vol 125 Feb 2003)

Combines high spatial

resolution microscopy with
thermal wave imaging
(topographic, amplitude and
phase images)
Surface and sub-surface
features can be imaged
Micro- and Nano-scale images
(kHz frequencies used)
Probe-tip sample interaction
complex due to couplant
(requires standardization)

Thermal wave imaging of a VLSI via structure:

(a) Topography image;
(b) Phase lag image at 6.4 kHz;
(c) Amplitude image at 6.4 kHz.

Summary
Non-contact
Fast (one sided) surface
inspection
Portability
Large area inspection
(several m2)
Simulations help

Variable Emissivity
Non-uniform heating
(Active mode)
Transitory nature of
signals require fast
recording IR cameras
Deep defects difficult to
detect

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Matter radiates heat, but

False color images can be misleading!

References

H.S. Carslaw and J.C. Jaeger, Conduction of Heat in Solids, 2nd Ed.
OUP (1959) Reprinted 2004
Xavier P.V. Maldague, Theory and Practice of Infrared Technology
for Nondestructive Testing, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2001
Xavier P.V. Maldague, Infrared and Thermal Testing, ASNT Vol. 3,
2001
Proceedings of SPIE Thermosense
Quantitative Infrared Thermography (QIRT) Conferences
World Conferences on Nondestructive Evaluation
Reviews of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation
(QNDE)

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