Non-destructive visualization of defect borders in flawed plates inspected by thermal load

Abstract

This paper presents a method for visualizing the borders of hidden defects in plates under thermal load. The approach is based on the post-processing of the temperature profile measured over the observed surface of the sample and can be applied to experimental data obtained by means of infrared thermography or optical interferometric techniques. The main advantage of this approach is that it allows the shape and size of the defects to be determined independently of their depth. The method was applied to experimental data and the obtained results show the feasibility of the proposed approach for use as a tool for defect characterization.