Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1784688 Infrared Physics & Technology 2010 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

A methodical approach for qualitative and quantitative non-destructive testing of near-surface structures in civil engineering (CE) with active thermography is presented. It adopts the non-destructive testing (NDT) method of pulsed phase thermography (PPT) for the special requirements of CE and cultural heritage. The concept might be understood as a square pulse thermography (SPT) in frequency domain or an amplitude-expanded PPT with square pulse heating.After a discussion of the material spanning concept and qualitative results in cultural heritage a new approach for quantitative non-destructive testing (NDT) of near-surface structures in CE with active thermography is introduced and tested by investigations on concrete specimen with artificial defects. It is based on the thermal diffusivity of the material and the characteristic frequency of the first extrema of phase and amplitude contrast and aims at complementing the established approaches for defect depth calculation for measurements with long heating and observation times. It should be easily extendable to other fields of application.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Physics and Astronomy Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
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