The use of infrared thermography in the corrosion science area

AbstractThe use of infrared (IR) cameras has in recent years gained interest as a non‐destructive testing (NDT) technique in a number of different research fields. All objects with a temperature above absolute zero emits IR radiation, and the amount of radiation increases with temperature. Infrared thermography is a non‐contact technique with high speed which allows inspection of large areas in a relatively short time. In the present work different aspects of IR thermography are described and discussed. Further, corrosion panels with defects, i.e. blisters and filiform corrosion, have been investigated with pulsed thermography. The area of the blisters and filaments, measured with pulsed thermography, have been evaluated, the result obtained have been compared with results from surface profile measurements of the same area. The differences between the results and the limitations of the pulsed thermography are discussed.