Experimental IRT applications in building elements with 3D thin defects

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study performed on building elements with embedded 3D thin defects looking to evaluate testing techniques used in Infrared Thermography (IRT) applications in buildings. An experimental campaign is performed on building elements with 3D defects located at different depths, using a pulse phase thermography based experimental setup. While numerous active IRT testing techniques have already been developed for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in many areas, there is still a substantial lack of active IRT applications in Civil Engineering due to the specific characteristics of building materials and construction solutions. This paper looks to further the application of experimental active IRT in buildings by presenting an experimental active IRT campaign which has been performed on test specimens simulating defected building elements containing thin inclusions beneath a ceramic tiling system. Test results are presented in terms of phase contrast curves.