Pulse thermography experimental data processing by numerically simulating thermal processes in a sample with periodical structure of defects

Abstract

Standard thermal camera capabilities were extended for application in pulsed thermography, so that more accurate values of maximal temporal temperature difference, and therefore more reliable defect characterization, were acquired. This was achieved by fitting maximal values for temperature difference, extracted from successive frames, by a curve calculated with developed software based on thermal transport processes. Maximal temporal temperature difference is not possible to sample directly because it usually occurs between the frames. Thermal image processing and analysis were greatly simplified by specially prepared targets with periodic structure of defects. Developed numerical code can be further used to investigate defect detectability in different materials, but also to determine material thermal properties.