INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY AS A USEFUL TOOL IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING TRAINING

Abstract

Engineering education faces a number of challenges in training qualified professionals for the long-term needs of today's broad-based industry. To prepare future specialists it is necessary to implement innovative training methods, together with more laboratory work related to solving real problems in practice. In recent years, with the development of information technology for the training of future engineers, more and more reliance is placed on computer-based methods for performing routine activities such as design, simulations and verification, etc. Most students gain sufficient knowledge to work in an electronic environment, but there is less and less practical component in the educational process.In addition to computer methods for design, students studying in electrical engineering laboratories should be more involved in working with specialized measuring equipment, as well as in the application of innovative tools for diagnostics and monitoring of machinery and equipment. In this article, we share our experience in using infrared thermography in engineering education as a diagnostic preliminary method for detecting problems and defects in electrical equipment. Thermography has been implemented in electrical engineering courses where the main aspects of thermography theory and practice are taught as a part of programmes of engineering and technology studies at the Faculty of Physics and Technology of Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, Bulgaria. After training students to work with specialized thermographic equipment, thermal diagnostics has been performed, which helped students identify the location of potential problem areas and understand that thermal anomalies are a prerequisite for detecting faults in electrical equipment and machinery. Students have been trained to use the capabilities of specialized software, through which they gained sufficient practical knowledge for processing infrared images in thermal analysis.The applied approach allows students to acquire in-depth knowledge of fundamental engineering disciplines by discovering a causal relationship between the theory in teaching materials and physical processes in reality. In this way the students' interest in difficult engineering disciplines is preserved and their motivation and learning outcomes is improved.