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IOP PUBLISHING EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS
Eur. J. Phys. 34 (2013) S91–S109 doi:10.1088/0143-0807/34/6/S91

Nondestructive testing with

thermography
Clemente Ibarra-Castanedo 1 , José Ricardo Tarpani 2
and Xavier P V Maldague 1
1 Computer Vision and Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
1065, ave de la Médecine, Laval University, Quebec City, G1V 0A6, Canada
2 Structural Composites Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Engineering School
of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, São Carlos-SP 13566-590, Brazil

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] and

[email protected]

Received 13 May 2013, in final form 26 July 2013

Published 22 October 2013
Online at stacks.iop.org/EJP/34/S91

Abstract
Thermography is a nondestructive testing (NDT) technique based on the
principle that two dissimilar materials, i.e., possessing different thermo-
physical properties, would produce two distinctive thermal signatures that can
be revealed by an infrared sensor, such as a thermal camera. The fields of NDT
applications are expanding from classical building or electronic components
monitoring to more recent ones such as inspection of artworks or composite
materials. Furthermore, thermography can be conveniently used as a didactic
tool for physics education in universities given that it provides the possibility
of visualizing fundamental principles, such as thermal physics and mechanics
among others.
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. What is thermography?

Thermographic testing, thermal imaging, infrared (IR) thermography or simply thermography

is a nondestructive testing (NDT) imaging technique that allows the visualization of heat
patterns on an object or a scene. The theoretical and experimental aspects of thermography are
covered in [1–6]. Vollmer and Möllmann [1] present a complete chapter dedicated to describe
a number of applications oriented to teaching physics. Indeed, thermography constitutes a
valuable tool for teachers and students willing to understand a wide variety of physical
phenomena, such as the transformation of mechanical energy into heat or the selective
absorption and emission of gases, among several others [1, chapter 5].
In the field of NDT, Meola et al [2], Holst [3] and Maldague [4] widely cover the
basic theory and the possible applications for the inspection of materials. Interested students
and professors can benefit from these resources either as introductory or advanced courses
0143-0807/13/060091+19$30.00 
c 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK & the USA S91
S92 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

Figure 1. Elements to consider in a thermography inspection scenario (refer to the text below for
details).

of thermography. In addition, [5] presents a formal review of the different techniques and
applications from several of the most recognized researchers in the field.
The basic equipment includes an IR detector, a monitor to display images and a PC to
record (and sometimes process) data. There are different types of detectors, from mono-element
sensors to multi-element (focal plane arrays or FPAs) cameras, with the latter becoming more
and more popular given that they provide directly a picture or a video of the scene being
observed and that their operation is relatively straightforward. (Some IR cameras are close to
digital cam recorders with specific functionalities for thermal patterns.)
Thermography is among the seven methods referred by the European (EN 4179) [7] and
American (NAS-410) [8] standards for NDT personal qualification. Hence, qualified personnel
in areas such as aerospace are able to choose and use thermography for the NDT of components
at different stages (production, operation and maintenance).
A formal definition has been proposed as follows [5 6]: ‘Infrared thermography is a
nondestructive, nonintrusive, noncontact technique that allows the mapping of thermal patterns,
i.e., thermograms, on the surface of objects, bodies or systems through the use of an infrared
imaging instrument, such as an infrared camera’.
This definition covers a wide variety of applications and many possibilities exist to carry
out a thermography inspection as explained in the following section.

1.1. Inspection scenarios

Figure 1 presents a diagram summarizing the different elements to take into account when
designing an NDT inspection scenario. It is divided in six columns (from A to F), which contain
the different possibilities that can be employed in order to define an inspection scenario after
answering to some basic questions as discussed hereafter.
NDT with thermography S93

Figure 2. Experimental setup for passive (top) and active (bottom) approaches.

1.1.1. Approaches: is an external energy source required? The first column in figure 1
includes the two possible approaches in thermography:
• passive, in which materials and structures are naturally at different (higher or lower)
temperature than the background, e.g. the human body is normally at a temperature higher
than the ambient, hence it is easily detected by an IR camera without any additional
stimulation and
• active, in which an external stimulus is needed in order to produce a thermal contrast in
the object surface, e.g. an object containing internal defects (such as voids, delaminations,
foreign material inclusions, etc) will require submission to a thermal disequilibrium in
order to produce distinctive surface thermal patterns between the defects and the sound
material that can be detected with an IR camera.
Figure 2 schematizes the configuration for these two approaches. For the passive approach
(figure 2, top), an object or a system  , a human hand in this case, having a distinctive thermal
contrast with respect to the environment can be monitored using an IR camera  without
any additional energy input. A computer system  is used to display and process images.
The setup is very similar for active IR thermography (figure 2, bottom) with the difference that
an energy source  is required to generate a thermal contrast between the feature of interest
and its surroundings, two internal foreign material inserts on a tile specimen in the case.
The passive approach is often qualitative, such as the diagnosis of the presence of a
given abnormality or hot/cold spots with respect to the immediate surroundings. Typical
applications are the monitoring of electrical and electronic components or the detection of
humidity or insulation problems in buildings. Quantitative analysis is also possible such as in
the inspection of civil engineering and cultural heritage structures using solar loading cycles
and water ingress characterization in aircraft structures upon landing among others.
S94 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

Active thermography finds a large number of applications in NDT since practically any
form of energy can be used to stimulate the inspected object, provided that the thermo-physical
properties of the eventual defects are different enough to the non-defective areas in order to
produce a measurable thermal contrast. Besides, the time of application of the external stimulus
can be synchronized with the acquisition, providing the possibility of developing quantitative
data analysis, e.g. the time of appearance of a subsurface defect is proportional to its depth.

1.1.2. Configurations: is the camera, the source or the object in motion? It is also possible
to adopt two different configurations, as shown in the second column of figure 1, these are as
follows:

• static, where the camera, the object and the source remain fixed during the inspection and
• dynamic, where at least one of these three elements is in motion.

There are some differences in the manner in which data are acquired and processed
depending on the selected configuration. Most of the signal processing techniques that are
discussed below are based on a static configuration since, in this case, the time history for
every point at the surface can be straightforwardly tracked.
The static configuration, although very convenient for data analysis, is not always practical.
Complex-shaped, rounded or large components are not easily inspected from one fixed spot.
In these cases, dynamic inspection could provide a complete portrait of the component’s
condition faster and better. For instance, a laser beam could be employed to scan (heat) a
surface point by point, while the object and the camera are fixed or a camera and a lamp
could be mounted on a robot to inspect (in motion) the surface of a static object. Furthermore,
sometimes the objects to be inspected are already in motion such as in people tracking or in
industrial production lines where halting the process for inspection might be proscribed. It is
also possible to reorganize data obtained from a dynamic configuration in order to produce
pseudo-static data sequences to which static signal processing techniques can be applied (if
needed).

1.1.3. Modes: where the energy is transferred or generated from? In the third column of
figure 1, there are three modes in which the energy is transferred to the inspected object or
generated from it with respect to the camera, these are as follows:

• reflection, in which energy is delivered to the specimen from the same side from which
data are recorded;
• transmission, in which energy is delivered to one side of the specimen while observing
from the opposite side and
• internal, in which regardless of the location of the energy source, heat (or cold) is generated
internally while data are collected from either side of the specimen.

Reflection and transmission are applied when using energy sources (see below) such as
optical, conductive and convective. Generally, the reflection mode is best suited to detect
defects located close to the heated surface while the transmission approach allows detection
of defects closer to the rear surface (deeper).
Ultrasounds and eddy currents (see below) are examples of typical internal heat generation
energy sources. In these cases, heat is produced at the interface of defects from where it travels
to the object’s surface by conduction.
NDT with thermography S95

1.1.4. Scanning: how the energy is transferred to the surface? In addition, there are three
scanning methods as indicated in the fourth column of figure 1:
• point scanning, in which only a point of the object’s surface is heated at a time, e.g. the
whole inspected surface can be dynamically scanned (point by point) with a laser;
• line scanning, in which a vertical or horizontal line is projected to the surface being
inspected, e.g. a robotic arm moving across a large component with a line lamp as a
heating source and
• surface scanning, in which an area of the inspected object is heated at once, e.g. using
halogen lamps to heat the whole surface of a component.
Point and line scanning are interesting for the dynamic configuration since heating (or
cooling) can be carried out on a point-by-point or line-by-line basis while the camera acquires
data. Surface scanning is preferred in the static configuration to take advantage of the possibility
of inspecting large surface at once.

1.1.5. Sources: what type of energy is being used? There are several manners in which
energy can be delivered to the surface of the object being inspected, from a hot or cold fluid
(water, air, etc) to microwave heating. Often, a heat source is preferred over a cold one, since
it is more easily controlled. The fifth column in figure 1 presents some examples of energy
sources, the most commonly adopted in the active approach can be subdivided as
• optical; such as photographic flashes, halogen lamps or IR lamps,
• mechanical, such as sound or ultrasound excitation,
• inductive, such as eddy currents or
• other, for instance, heating blankets are frequently used to heat (by conduction) large
aeronautical components, whilst heat guns are also employed in the aeronautical industry
to rapidly inspect (by forced convection) relatively smaller components.
In the passive approach, although external energy sources are not employed, an energy
source can still be identified in many cases. For instance, building inspectors take advantage
of solar energy in order to detect humidity in a building’s exterior envelopes: they wait for
the right moment of the day, usually shortly after either sunrise or sunset when the thermal
gradients are at their maximum, to perform a survey. The inspection is carried out passively
since no external (artificial) stimulus is used with the Sun as the energy source.

1.1.6. Sources: how the surface is being stimulated? Finally, the sources can deliver energy
using different waveforms as enumerated in the sixth column in figure 1:
• modulated, thermal waves modulated at a given frequency;
• pulse, a short pulse of a few milliseconds;
• square pulse, a long pulse of several seconds or minutes; and
• step, continuous heating from a few to several seconds.
Inspections using modulated waveforms require several cycles to reach a steady state,
after which, at least one cycle is recorded and processed. By contrast, inspections using the
last three waveforms are carried out in transient state.
The selected waveform will ultimately dictate the technique to be employed. For instance,
data of interest are recorded and processed (if required) during the heating stage as in step
heating thermography (SHT), during the cooling stage as in pulsed thermography (PT) or
during both stages as in square pulse thermography (SPT). These techniques are discussed in
the following section.
S96 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

1.2. Techniques

Several thermography techniques have been proposed using specific scenarios adapted to a
particular application, these are as follows [1–4]:
• lock-in thermography (LT) [9–11], in which periodic heating at a given frequency is
used in steady state to measure the amplitude and/or phase delay of the thermal response;
• PT [12–14], in which a short (a few milliseconds) energy pulse is utilized to heat the
inspected object, surface temperature is monitored under the principle that defective areas
cool down (or heat up) at a different rate than non-defective areas;
• SPT [15–17], which is similar to PT with the difference that a longer (from a few seconds
to several minutes) pulse is applied, the surface temperature is monitored during both
heating and cooling, or only during cooling (if defects appear during this stage);
• SHT [18, 19], in which the object is heated for several seconds or minutes, similar to SPT,
with the difference that only the heating stage is of interest; and
• point or line scan thermography [20], in which a point (laser) or a line heating source
(IR lamp) moves along the surface of the inspected specimen, while it heats up, the surface
the IR camera follows at a fixed distance and at the same (or at a known) speed.
This classification is based on the waveform being used for the inspection. It is
also customary to categorize techniques according to the type of energy source being
employed [21]:
• optical thermography (OT) [22, 23], most of the time, when no term related to the source
type is included, it is referring to one of the two classical optical thermography inspection
scenarios, either optical PT using photographic flashes (commonly referred simply as PT
or flash thermography) or optical LT halogen lamps (commonly known as LT or modulated
thermography);
• ultrasound thermography (UT) [24–26] also known as vibrothermography or
thermosonics, an ultrasonic (or sonic) pulse is modulated at high frequencies (15–40 kHz,
typically), hence the term burst VT is preferred over pulsed VT; and
• inductive thermography (IT) [27, 28] also known as eddy current thermography, either
pulsed or burst is frequently adopted.
Strictly speaking, a terminology including the type of energy source and waveform
should be used to avoid confusion, e.g. optical PT, ultrasound LT, inductive line scanning
thermography, etc, although in practice, this is rarely the case.
These techniques were developed for the active approach, where proper control of the
energy sources is possible. Nevertheless, they might also be adopted in the passive approach
as illustrated in the second inspection scenario example presented next.

Example 1: inspection scenario for optical pulsed thermography

Figure 1 is intended to cover most of the situations that may arise during an inspection. For
instance, one of the most commonly employed NDT IR techniques is PT using photographic
flashes (optical source). The typical setup is presented in figure 3.
From figure 1 and the above discussion, this scenario can be represented as in figure 4(a).
This scenario corresponds to the first application example presented in section 2.
Alternatively, halogen lamps can be employed instead of flashes. Since, in contrast to
photographic flashes, halogen lamps are not conceived to produce highly energetic short
pulses (of a few milliseconds), the inspection scenario in this case will rather correspond
to the optical square pulse or optical step heating techniques. The main advantages of
NDT with thermography S97

Figure 3. Typical setup for optical pulsed thermography.

this arrangement are that (a) it is easier to acquire low cost lamps to implement the
technique as a first experiment in universities and research laboratories, (b) the amount
of energy and the duration of the stimulation can be easily controlled (with a dimmer
and a switch, or electronically) and (c) it is still a good choice for the inspection of a
variety of materials that require long stimulation, e.g. plastics, building materials and thick
composites.

Example 2: inspection scenario for solar lock-in thermography

Several passive scenarios can also be imagined from figure 1. For instance, a promising
technique for the inspection of historical buildings consists of a passive approach taking
advantage of solar natural cycles. Indeed, there is an inverse correlation between the modulation
frequency f and the maximum depth z that can be attained depending on the thermal diffusivity
α, of the material being inspected, which is proportional to the thermal diffusion length
μ: z = 1.8 μ = 1.8(α/π f )1/2.
This relationship has been conveniently exploited in active LT for the detection of defects
in a variety of applications (aerospace composite components, artworks, etc). On the other
hand, the use of day and night solar cycles, with a very low modulated frequency, f =
1/(3600 × 24) = 0.000 0157 Hz, roughly approximate a sinus modulation that confers the
possibility to detect internal structure or defects (cracks, humidity, delaminations, etc) located
deep in the material.
The inspection scenario for an historical building long-lasting (several days) survey would
be as depicted in figure 4(b). This scenario could also be implemented in the framework of
academic teaching. Although no external stimulation is required, the success of an experiment
will depend on the weather conditions (sunny days are the ideal situation, clouds and
particularly rain will negatively affect the acquired data) and on the acquisition system
(thermographic camera and PC) that should be able to acquire and store thermograms at
regular intervals during at least one day (ideally more). The acquired data sequences can be
processed afterwards using one of the advanced signal processing techniques presented below.
All these techniques share some interesting advantages and limitations with respect to
other NDT techniques, as discussed next.
S98 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

(a)

(b)

Figure 4. Inspection scenario for (a) example 1: classical optical pulsed thermography and
(b) example 2: passive survey of historical buildings under long-lasting solar loading.

1.3. Advantages and limitations of thermography

Thermography is gaining in popularity due to several factors, mainly

• constant progress and continuous price decline in computers, IR detectors and cameras
technology,
• production of standards practices for thermography methods by recognized organizations
(such as the ASTM [29]),
• development of tests methods by the industry, e.g. aeronautical, wind power, petrochemical,
to cite a few and
NDT with thermography S99

• increase of certified personnel (levels I, II and III) to carry out inspections, although still
far behind other NDT methods such as ultrasound testing and radiography.

All NDT techniques have strengths and weaknesses. In the case of thermography,
some of the advantages and limitations with respect to other NDT methods are as
follows [4–6].

• Advantages:

• fast inspection rate;

• contactless, no coupling needed as in the case of conventional ultrasounds. It should
be noted, however, that UT requires a coupling media between the transducer and
the specimen and that induction thermography coils have to be relatively close to the
inspected surface;
• security of personnel, there is no harmful radiation involved as in the case of x-ray
radiography. However, high power external stimulation (such as powerful flashes)
requires eye protection and heat-induced ultrasound requires protective ear plugs;
• imaging capabilities, results are relatively easy to interpret, since they are (often)
obtained in image or video formats;
• applications are varied and numerous;
• unique inspection tool for some inspection applications as in the case of open micro-
cracks in thermally sprayed coatings difficult to inspect with other NDT approaches;
and
• the number of training hours required for level I certification is half the requirement
for other NDT techniques such as ultrasounds and x-rays [7, 8].

• Limitations:

• non-uniform heating, difficulty of obtaining a fast, uniform and highly energetic

thermal stimulation over a large surface (particularly for the optical pulsed scenario).
For this reason, several processing techniques have been proposed as discussed
below;
• thermal losses by convection and heat radiation that might induce spurious contrasts
affecting the reliability of the interpretation;
• cost of the equipment, IR camera and thermal stimulation units for active thermography,
although this is relative, active thermography is more expensive than some NDT
techniques (visual inspection, some ultrasound devices, etc), however, it has very
competitive costs when compared to more sophisticated equipment such as phase
array (ultrasound or eddy currents) and x-rays systems;
• capability to detect only defects resulting in a measurable change of the thermal
properties from the inspected surface;
• ability to inspect a limited thickness of material under the surface, although detection
of defect several centimetres under the surface is sometimes possible, notably by LT
using very low modulation frequencies; and
• emissivity variations, low emissivity materials strongly reflect thermal radiations from
the environment, surface painting can be employed to increase and equalize emissions
when possible.
S100 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

1.4. Qualitative versus quantitative inspection

In many applications, the user is interested in qualitatively detecting the presence of anomalies
in order to establish if the part being inspected is defective or not. Conversely, there are some
applications for which it is important to go a step further and quantify or characterize the
detected defects, i.e., to determine their size, depth and/or thermal properties:
• qualitative thermography: defect detection and
• quantitative thermography: defect characterization:
• defect sizing: determine the size and shape of the detected anomalies;
• depth retrieval: calculate the depth at which the anomalies are located; and
• thermal properties: estimate the thermal properties (diffusivity, thermal resistance)
of the anomalies.

In either case, qualitative or quantitative, it is often necessary to apply some sort of

processing in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to increase defect contrast
and/or to characterize defects.
Different signal processing techniques have been developed or adapted from other fields
to process thermographic data. The next section presents a summary of techniques with some
representative bibliographic references.

1.5. Advanced signal processing

The term advanced signal processing is employed in order to distinguish this group of methods
from more basic image and signal processing such as image averaging, subtraction, division,
filtering, edge detection, etc that are mainly applied as pre- or post-processing steps.
Advanced signal processing can be categorized in different groups according to the manner
in which data are handled. In the following sections, a non-exhaustive list of techniques is
presented. Literature on most of these methods is abundant, some representative works can be
found in [1–6, 30–34] and are summarized hereafter.
• Thermal contrast-based techniques:
• basic thermal contrast: absolute, running, normalized, standard,
• early time,
• peak slope,
• maximum contrast,
• differential absolute contrast,
• thermal tomography and
• thermographic signal reconstruction.
• Statistical techniques:
• statistical analysis using informative parameters,
• statistical moments and
• higher order statistics thermography.
• Matrix factorization techniques:
• principal components thermography (PCT),
• non-negative matrix factorization and
• archetypal analysis.
• Signal transforms:
• Fourier transform:
NDT with thermography S101

150 mm
USP-05

20 J 10 J 5J
100
mm

- label -

16 plies
~5 mm
impacted areas

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 5. Specimen USP-05: (a) map of impacts, (b) front side and (b) back side.

- phase-sensitive LT and
- pulsed phase thermography (PPT);
• Wavelet transform:
- PPT with the wavelet transform;
• Hough transform and
• Laplace transform.
• Artificial intelligence:

• artificial neural networks and

• evolutionary computations.

Thermographic signal processing is a field in constant evolution and is expected to continue

to grow in the next few years.
In the following section, an example of application is presented to illustrate the
experimental aspects of three different inspection scenarios and the subsequent data processing.

2. Application example: impacted carbon fibre specimen

2.1. Inspected specimen

A carbon fibre-reinforced plastic specimen (150 × 100 × 5 mm3) was inspected using
different thermography techniques. The test coupon was manufactured by hot compressing
(∼300 ◦ C) 16 plies of bidirectional (0/90) 5-Harness Satin weave fabric of T300 continuous
carbon (C) fibres semi-impregnated with thermoplastic polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin. The
consolidated PPS-C composite laminate displayed the following stacking sequence: [(0/90),
( ± 45)2, (0/90)]4.
The angles 0◦ , +45◦ , −45◦ and 90◦ refer to the four orientations in which the reinforcing
carbon fibres were disposed in the composite laminate. The subscript 2 indicates that two
consecutive ± 45◦ oriented satin fabrics were placed in between two 0◦ /90◦ positioned woven
fabrics. The subscript 4 denotes that four subsequent sets of [(0◦ /90◦ ), ( ± 45◦ )2 and (0◦ /90◦ )]
fibre array were employed. These characteristics render the whole composite laminate
symmetric and balanced, thus exhibiting in-plane quasi-isotropic mechanical behaviour.
The specimen was fully clamped along its borders and subjected to impacts with three
different energy levels (respectively 5, 10 and 20 J, as illustrated in figure 5) by employing a
falling weight containing a 16 mm diameter steel ball tip, as per ASTM standard [35].
S102 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

Figure 6. Experimental setup for pulsed thermography (reflection) and step heating thermography
(transmission), Inspection scenarios #1 and #2, respectively.

Last 39
thermogram Impact zone
Sound area
t y 36

..
Temperature [o C]

tN . 33

30
..
.
20 J
.. First 27

impact
. thermogram
24
t3 0.01 0.1 1 10 17
t2 x Time [s]
t1
(a) (b)

Figure 7. Inspection scenario #1: optical pulsed thermography: (a) 3D thermogram matrix and
(b) 1D temperature profiles for an impacted zone (dotted line) and sound area (continuous line).

2.2. Inspection scenario #1: optical pulsed thermography in reflection

The inspection scenario is illustrated in figure 6. In reference to figure 1 is an active approach,

performed on a static configuration, in reflection mode, using a surface scanning method
and an optical energy source (photographic flashes) with a pulse waveform, as depicted in
figure 4.
The specimen was stimulated from the front side (the impacted side) using two
photographic flashes (Balcar, 6.4 kJ/flash) and data were recorded in reflection using a mid-
wave IR (MWIR) camera (FLIR Phoenix, InSb, 3–5 μm, 640 × 512 pixels) at a frame rate
of 55 Hz.
Data were stored as a 3D matrix as illustrated in figure 7(a), where x and y are the spatial
coordinates and t is the time.
NDT with thermography S103

Figure 8. Inspection scenario for optical step heating thermography in transmission.

Figure 7(b) shows actual temperature profiles for a small area (mean value) over the 20 J
impacted zone and a sound area next to it. A logarithmic scale is used for the time coordinates
for sake of clarity. Temperature decreases approximately as t−1/2 (at least at early times), as
predicted by the 1D solution of the heat equation (surface temperature evolution for the case
of a Dirac pulse in a semi-infinite isotropic solid): T = T-T0 = Q/[e/(π t)1/2], except for the
defective areas, where the cooling rate is different.
As can be seen, the acquisition lasted 17 s; the 20 J impacted area is not seen right after
the flash since the temperature for both the impact and the reference area is practically the
same. A significant thermal contrast appears a few milliseconds later (∼0.07 s) and fades after
a few seconds of cooling (∼4 s). Similar temperature profiles could be traced for the 10 J
impacted area, although thermal contrast would appear with lesser contrast, and there would
be not enough thermal contrast signature for the 5 J impacted zone. Advanced processing
might help to detect these areas as will be discussed below.

2.3. Inspection scenario #2: optical step heating thermography in transmission

For the second inspection scenario, a halogen lamp was utilized to heat the sample in
the transmission mode (heating from the back side, inspection from the front side). The
experimental setup is schematized in figure 6. In this case (from figure 1), the active approach
was used on a static configuration, in transmission mode, using a surface scanning method
and an optical energy source (halogen lamp) with a step waveform, as depicted in figure 8.
The sample was heated for 60 s using a 1000 W halogen lamp, while data were recorded
in transmission with an MWIR camera (the same camera employed for the inspection scenario
#1) using an acquisition frame rate of 6.5 Hz. The recorded 3D thermogram matrix is presented
in figure 9(a), the thermal profiles corresponding to approximately the same areas around the
20 J impacted area selected for the inspection scenario #1 (figure 7(b)) are shown in figure 9(b).
Temperature is presented in arbitrary units since temperature calibration was not available.
The fact of using non-calibrated data, however, does not have any effect on the processing
techniques that will be presented below.
In this case, the impacted areas are more difficult to see than for the PT scenario. Thermal
contrast starts to be evident only after 40 s of heating (with lesser contrast than in scenario #1).
S104 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

Last 3300
thermogram Impact zone
Sound area
t

Temperature [arbitrary units]

y 2900

tN
..
. 2500

..
. 2100

20 J
.. First
impact
. thermogram
1700
t3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 76.4
t2 x Time [s]
t1
(a) (b)

Figure 9. Inspection scenario #2: optical step heating thermography: (a) 3D thermogram matrix
and (b) 1D temperature profiles for an impacted zone (dotted line) and sound area (continuous
line).

Figure 10. Inspection scenario for ultrasound lock-in thermography.

Although the sample was heated during 60 s, the surface temperature continued to increase
for a few more seconds (until ∼76 s).
The areas damaged with less energetic impacts (10 and 5 J) present practically no
thermal contrast in the raw thermograms. As for the case of optical pulsed thermographic
data (inspection scenario #1), signal processing techniques will be applied to increase impact
damage detection in these areas.

2.4. Inspection scenario #3: ultrasound lock-in thermography

For the third inspection scenario, an ultrasound transducer (Branson 200b, 15–25 kHz) was
employed to stimulate the specimen from the back side. Heat is generated internally while
data are recorded from the front side. In this case, the active approach was used on a static
configuration in which heat is generated internally, using a surface scanning method, and a
mechanical energy source (ultrasounds) with a modulated waveform, as depicted in figure 10.
The experimental setup is presented in figure 11. The sample was heated for 5.3 s using
a 25 kHz ultrasound wave modulated at a frequency of 0.6 Hz and a high velocity MWIR
NDT with thermography S105

Figure 11. Experimental setup for lock-in vibrothermography.

4
Last 1.16
x 10
thermogram Impact zone
Sound area
1.145
t
Temperature [arbitrary units]

tN
..
. 1.12

..
. 1.095

20 J
.. First
impact
. thermogram
1.07
t3 0 1 2 3 4 5.3
t2 x Time [s]
t1
(a) (b)

Figure 12. Inspection scenario #3: lock-in vibrothermography: (a) 3D thermogram matrix and
(b) 1D temperature profiles for the 20 J impacted zone (red curve showing cyclic modulation) and
sound area next to it (black quasi-steady line with only a minor temperature rise).

camera (Telops FAST-IR 1000 MW, InSb, 3–5 μm, 320 × 256 pixels) using an acquisition
frame rate of 1000 Hz.
A sample of the recorded 3D thermogram matrix is presented in figure 12(a), the thermal
profiles corresponding to approximately the same areas around the 20 J impacted area selected
for the inspection scenario #1 (figure 7(b)) are shown in figure 12(b). The temperature scale
is in arbitrary units (non-calibrated data) for which the scale is considerably different than
the data presented in figure 9(b), since a different camera was employed in each inspection
scenario. In this case, the affected area corresponding to the 20 J impacted area can be clearly
distinguished (see last recorded thermogram in figure 12(a)).
Areas affected by lower energy impacts require further processing, as discussed in the
following section.

2.5. Comparative advanced signal processing results

2.5.1. Inspection scenario #1. Figure 13 presents some comparative results from the three
inspection scenarios investigated herein. Figure 13(a) shows a close-up view from the front side
S106 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 13. Comparative results: (a) close-up view of the front side of the test coupon; (b) raw
thermogram at t = 1.75 s; (c) optical pulsed thermography (inspection scenario #1) processed by
PPT: phasegram at f = 0.17 Hz; (d) optical step heating thermography (inspection scenario #2)
processed by PCT: EOF4; and lock-in vibrothermography (inspection scenario #3) processed by
PCT: (e) EOF2 and (f) EOF3.

of the test coupon where surface damage corresponding to the 20 and 10 J impacts is clearly
seen by visual examination. The impacted area corresponding to the 5 J impact presents no
sign of damage. Figure 13(b) presents a raw thermogram from optical PT (inspection scenario
#1) in which the surface thermal signature of only the two more energetic impacts (20 and 10 J)
are noticeable, but not for the less energetic impact (5 J).
Figure 13(c) shows a phasegram obtained by processing data by PPT (see [6] for more
details). In this image, the dark areas around the 20 J impacted zone appear to correspond to
internal damaged, while the bright areas to surface damage. Only slight indications of surface
NDT with thermography S107

damage (bright areas) could be seen around the 10 J impacted area, and no signs of damage
are detected around the 5 J impact. Usually, severe damage caused by a transverse impact in
fibre-reinforced polymer composite laminates will present some clear visual indications in the
surface, but no signs of internal damage. At least for the case of the most energetic impact (20 J),
inspection by optical PT (inspection scenario #1) proves to be advantageous with respect to
the visual inspection. Nevertheless, it appears that the applied energy was not enough to be
able to detect damage of less severe impacts (10 and 5 J).

2.5.2. Inspection scenario #2. The image in figure 13(d) was obtained by processing the
SHT data (inspection scenario #2) by PCT, it corresponds to the fourth empirical orthogonal
function (EOF) (see [6] for more details). Given that data were recorded in a transmission
configuration (the thermal front propagated from the front to the back side of the sample where
data were collected), the thermal signature is likely to be due to the internal damage caused
by the impacts. Internal damage can be seen with good contrast in the area corresponding to
the 20 J impact with less contrast for the area around the 10 J impact and only a hint can be
observed around the 5 J impact. Comparing the EOF image in figure 13(d) with the phasegram
in figure 13(c), a certain correlation between internal damaged areas can be inferred in the
zone around the 20 J impact.

2.5.3. Inspection scenario #3. The images in figures 13(e) and (f) are the result of processing
the ultrasound LT data (inspection scenario #3) by PCT. Given the great number of images in
this case (acquisition lasted 5.3 s at a frame rate of 1000 Hz = 5300 thermograms), the image
was subdivided in three regions of interest (ROI) to facilitate processing, since PCT requires a
great amount of computer resources. A very fast frame rate was employed given that the heat
generation process with ultrasounds is very fast and a large amount of images are required in
order to improve the SNR. The areas corresponding to the damaged areas around the two more
energetic impacted zones can be clearly seen in figure 13(e) and around the three impacted
areas in figure 13(f). In figure 13(e), the ROIs around the 20 and 10 J impacts show good
indications of internal damage (dark colours), although no signs for the 5 J impacts are seen.
In figure 13(f), surface or near the surface damage (bright colours) as well as internal damage
(dark colours) are observed for the two most energetic impacts (20 and 10 J), whilst in the case
of the 5 J impact, only internal damage can be observed. This result is interesting in the sense
that it allows to clearly identify the impacted areas corresponding to the three different energy
levels (20, 10 and 5 J) and to classify them according to their degree, surface or internal.

3. Conclusions

Thermography is an attractive technique gaining popularity for NDT applications, thanks to the
constant technology improvement in different areas (computers, thermal sensors and cameras)
and also because of the progressive acceptance of the technique by the industry (development
of standards practices and test methods and the increase of certified personnel).
A wide variety of scenarios can be conceived in order to carry out a thermographic
inspection. The most formally established scenarios can be divided by the energy source
being used, e.g. optical, ultrasound and inductive, although many other types of source can
be employed. The manner in which energy is transferred to the inspected part is also of great
importance, which can be modulated or pulsed (short pulse, square pulse, or step). In either
case, advanced signal processing is very useful in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio,
increase defect contrast and to characterize defect.
S108 C Ibarra-Castanedo et al

In addition, thermography can be conveniently used as a teaching tool for undergraduate

and graduate university programs to help students to better understand basic physical
phenomena related to heat transfer or in many areas related to the generation of heat.
Some interesting remarks could be made from an impacted test coupon that was inspected
employing three different inspection scenarios.
Optical stimulation is simple and economical. However, the heat front is produced at the
surface and then propagates through the material by conduction. The whole inspected area
needs to be heated and results are therefore greatly affected by non-uniform heating. This was
the case of optical pulsed thermography in reflection (inspection scenario #1) and optical step
heating in transmission (inspection scenario #2).
Advanced signal processing helped to increase defect contrast and to detect internal
damage. In the case of optical pulsed thermography, the photographic flashes did not provide
enough heat to detect damaged areas impacted with energies below 20 J. On the contrary,
optical step heating in transmission allowed clear detection of impact internal damage from 10 J
and more and a slight indication could be detected for the 5 J impacted area.
Detection of low-impact (5 J) internal damage was only possible by ultrasound lock-in
thermography (inspection scenario #3) given that, in this case, heat is generated internally,
providing thermal signatures of increased defect contrast with respect to optical techniques.
Still in this case, advanced signal processing was necessary to retrieve the information of
internal impact damage in the case of medium (10 J) and low (5 J) energy impacts.

Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank the support of the Canada Research Chair in Multipolar Infrared
Vision (MIVIM), the Ministère du développement économique, innovation et exportation du
Québec and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for supporting JRT through the
processes 2006/50110-3 and 2010/08552-4.

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