Thermal nondestructive testing: traditional approaches and novel trends (review)

Abstract

In the last years, thermal testing has shown up as a quickly growing nondestructive evaluation technique. This is explained by wide implementation of composite materials in many industrial spheres, first of all, aviation and aerospace. Inspection of composites by means of traditional nondestructive testing (NDT) methods encounters some difficulties, which can successfully be overcome by using thermal NDT. Moreover, an overwhelming progress in development and commercialization of infrared imagers also took place in the last two decades. On the basis of earlier reviews in the field of thermal NDT, the author has attempted to summarize recent achievements in this field, including inspection methodologies and data processing, as well as development of thermal NDT equipment and applications of this technique. The review describes both national achievements and international approaches, which have been lately proposed in thermal NDT thus making this technique a very promising in NDT of some classes of materials and constructions.