Detection of Subsurface Defects in Metal Materials Using Infrared Thermography; Image Processing and Finite Element Modeling

Infrared thermography is an emerging approach to non-contact, non-intrusive, and non-destructive inspection of various solid materials such as metals, composites, and semiconductors for industrial and research interests. In this study, data processing was applied to infrared thermography measurements to detect defects in metals that were widely used in industrial fields. When analyzing experimental data from infrared thermographic testing, raw images were often not appropriate. Thus, various data analysis methods were used at the pre-processing and processing levels in data processing programs for quantitative analysis of defect detection and characterization; these increased the infrared non-destructive testing capabilities since subtle defects signature became apparent. A 3D finite element simulation was performed to verify and analyze the data obtained from both the experiment and the image processing techniques.