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Analyzing the Influence of Thermal NDT Parameters on Test Performance

  • THERMAL METHODS
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Abstract

Thermography is an imaging technique that uses the infrared radiation to create a thermal image. Due to changes induced in the thermal conductivity of materials, the superficial temperature pattern of a defected component can reveal delamination, voids, insertions, moisture, or changes in material continuity when heated. High power light can be used to produce, without contact, a slight increase in the temperature of the component that creates a specific thermal pattern in the vicinity of a defect. The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of thermal NDT parameters on the performance of composite materials boards with simulated defects test using lock-in thermography, and thus find the optimal parameters that maximizes the signal/noise ratio. Four samples were submitted to 60 thermal tests to evaluate the detectability performance c (defect with/defect depth). The results were processed using custom scripts developed in LabVIEW to crop, scale, and extract the thermal information at the sample' slots and sound areas. The results indicated that the parameter with higher influence is the stimulation duration. The best time to conduct a thermal analysis is also very important, which is usually right after the end of the stimulation in order to have the maximum contrast in the thermal images and to minimize the artifacts. In this work, the defect detectability was between 1.25 and 1.67, which shows an higher sensitivity than reported in previous works (c = 2).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to acknowledge the Porto Biomechanics Laboratory (LABIOMEP) by facilitating the thermal camera to conduct the thermal tests. This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, projects LAETA UIDB/50022/2020 and UIDP/50022/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    António Ramos Silva, Mário Vaz & Joaquim Mendes

  2. School of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, 4200-8 072, Portugal

    António Ramos Silva & Sofia Ribeirinho Leite

  3. Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    António Ramos Silva, Mário Vaz & Joaquim Mendes

  4. CINTESIS—Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, 4200-450, Portugal

    Sofia Ribeirinho Leite

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  1. António Ramos Silva
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  2. Mário Vaz
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  4. Joaquim Mendes
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Correspondence to António Ramos Silva or Joaquim Mendes.

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António Ramos Silva, Vaz, M., Leite, S.R. et al. Analyzing the Influence of Thermal NDT Parameters on Test Performance. Russ J Nondestruct Test 57, 727–737 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830921080039

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