TY - JOUR
T1 - Real-time automated composite scanning using forced cooling infrared thermography
AU - Malfense Fierro, Gian Piero
AU - Flora, Francesco
AU - Boccaccio, Marco
AU - Meo, Michele
N1 - Funding Information:
This work has been funded by the NHYTE project under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 723309.
Funding Information:
This work has been funded by the NHYTE project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 723309 .
PY - 2021/11/30
Y1 - 2021/11/30
N2 - The growing importance of reliable, rapid, and non-contact non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of parts/structures either during manufacturing or maintenance operations has promoted the development of real-time, automated, and in-situ methods. The major driving factors for automation of traditional NDE techniques, such as thermographic imaging methods, are savings in cost and time. In this work a novel real-time low-cost automated heating and cooling thermographic system is developed. The system implements a novel cooling mechanism along with heating elements to provide precise control of heating and cooling of inspected structures and was built using low-cost components. A carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite sample with flat bottom holes (FBH) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the system. This system is coupled with a model to provide insights into system optimisation and show the potential that highly flexible inspection systems can be tailored for specific industrial requirements. The modelled heating and cooling process was important in determining which parts of the thermal profile would provide the best results. The system was assessed using three heating/cooling profiles: heating only (HO), cooling only (CO) and heating and cooling (HC). The results show that each method was equally as good as determining defects in the tested structure, with HC having the potential to outperform the others if optimised.
AB - The growing importance of reliable, rapid, and non-contact non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of parts/structures either during manufacturing or maintenance operations has promoted the development of real-time, automated, and in-situ methods. The major driving factors for automation of traditional NDE techniques, such as thermographic imaging methods, are savings in cost and time. In this work a novel real-time low-cost automated heating and cooling thermographic system is developed. The system implements a novel cooling mechanism along with heating elements to provide precise control of heating and cooling of inspected structures and was built using low-cost components. A carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite sample with flat bottom holes (FBH) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the system. This system is coupled with a model to provide insights into system optimisation and show the potential that highly flexible inspection systems can be tailored for specific industrial requirements. The modelled heating and cooling process was important in determining which parts of the thermal profile would provide the best results. The system was assessed using three heating/cooling profiles: heating only (HO), cooling only (CO) and heating and cooling (HC). The results show that each method was equally as good as determining defects in the tested structure, with HC having the potential to outperform the others if optimised.
KW - Composites
KW - Damage
KW - Defects
KW - Forced Cooling
KW - Infrared Thermography
KW - Modelling
KW - Thermal Imaging
KW - Thermography
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114366539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.infrared.2021.103860
DO - 10.1016/j.infrared.2021.103860
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114366539
SN - 1350-4495
VL - 118
JO - Infrared Physics and Technology
JF - Infrared Physics and Technology
M1 - 103860
ER -