TY - GEN A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Kästner, L. A1 - Hauffen, Jan Christian A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - Photothermal-SR-Net: A Customized Deep Unfolding Neural Network for Photothermal Super Resolution Imaging T2 - arxiv.org N2 - This paper presents deep unfolding neural networks to handle inverse problems in photothermal radiometry enabling super resolution (SR) imaging. Photothermal imaging is a well-known technique in active thermography for nondestructive inspection of defects in materials such as metals or composites. A grand challenge of active thermography is to overcome the spatial resolution limitation imposed by heat diffusion in order to accurately resolve each defect. The photothermal SR approach enables to extract high-frequency spatial components based on the deconvolution with the thermal point spread function. However, stable deconvolution can only be achieved by using the sparse structure of defect patterns, which often requires tedious, hand-crafted tuning of hyperparameters and results in computationally intensive algorithms. On this account, Photothermal-SR-Net is proposed in this paper, which performs deconvolution by deep unfolding considering the underlying physics. This enables to super resolve 2D thermal images for nondestructive testing with a substantially improved convergence rate. Since defects appear sparsely in materials, Photothermal-SR-Net applies trained blocksparsity thresholding to the acquired thermal images in each convolutional layer. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated and discussed using various deep unfolding and thresholding approaches applied to 2D thermal images. Subsequently, studies are conducted on how to increase the reconstruction quality and the computational performance of Photothermal-SR-Net is evaluated. Thereby, it was found that the computing time for creating high-resolution images could be significantly reduced without decreasing the reconstruction quality by using pixel binning as a preprocessing step. KW - Photothermal super resolution KW - Nondestructive testing KW - Deep unfolding KW - Deep learning KW - Deep imaging KW - Physics-based deep learning KW - Laser thermography KW - Elastic net KW - Iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-525371 UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.10563 SN - 2331-8422 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Cornell University CY - Ithaca, NY AN - OPUS4-52537 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hauffen, J. C. A1 - Kästner, L. A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Caire, G. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - Learned block iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm for photothermal super resolution imaging JF - Sensors N2 - Block-sparse regularization is already well known in active thermal imaging and is used for multiple-measurement-based inverse problems. The main bottleneck of this method is the choice of regularization parameters which differs for each experiment. We show the benefits of using a learned block iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm (LBISTA) that is able to learn the choice of regularization parameters, without the need to manually select them. In addition, LBISTA enables the determination of a suitable weight matrix to solve the underlying inverse problem. Therefore, in this paper we present LBISTA and compare it with state-of-the-art block iterative shrinkage thresholding using synthetically generated and experimental test data from active thermography for defect reconstruction. Our results show that the use of the learned block-sparse optimization approach provides smaller normalized mean square errors for a small fixed number of iterations. Thus, this allows us to improve the convergence speed and only needs a few iterations to generate accurate defect reconstruction in photothermal super-resolution imaging. KW - Thermography KW - Laser KW - Machine learning KW - Optimization KW - Non-destructive testing KW - NDT KW - Neural network KW - Defect reconstruction KW - Block-sparsity KW - Active thermal imaging KW - Regularization KW - Laser thermography PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-554598 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s22155533 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 22 IS - 15 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55459 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Puthiyaveettil, N. A1 - Krishna, S. A1 - Kidangan, R. A1 - Unnikrishnakurup, Sreedhar A1 - Krishnamurthy, C. V. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Myrach, Philipp A1 - Balasubramaniam, Krishnan T1 - In-line laser thermography for crack detection at elevated temperature: A Numerical modeling study T2 - QIRT 2016 N2 - The detection and characterization of cracks prior to damage is a technologically and economically highly significant task and is of very importance when it comes to safety-relevant structures. The evaluation of a components life is closely related to the presence of cracks in it. Laser thermography has already high capability for the detection of surface cracks and for the characterization of the geometry of artificial surface flaws in metallic samples. Crack detection in metallic samples at high temperature is highly significant in present manufacturing scenario. During the casting process of billets, surface cracks form, due to the suboptimal cooling rates. These cracks reduce value of the billet and must be removed using machining process after cooling. This secondary process increases cost of manufacturing. In this work we developed a heat transfer model for laser thermography to study the thermal contrast variation with increase in surface temperature using finite element method (FEM). Here we are mainly concentrating the capability of the scanning laser thermography in crack detection which are in elevated temperature and numerical modeling study of thermal contrast variation of crack with respect increase in metal surface temperature. This study is important to prove the capability of laser thermography for crack detection in elevated temperature. Since we are using High power CW Laser to local heating of the metal surface which can give relatively high thermal contrast even at elevated temperature compare to other heating source. Here we are modeled and simulated 2D laser scanning across a surface breaking crack and developed an algorithm to produce the vicinity of crack. The algorithm we developed applied for various surface temperature data. And validated the credibility of the algorithm with experimental data. T2 - 13th Quantitative Infrared Thermography Conference 2016 CY - Gdansk, Poland DA - 04.07.2016 KW - Thermal contrast KW - Laser thermography KW - Thermography KW - Surface cracks KW - Elevated temperatures KW - FEM PY - 2016 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/qirt2016/papers/092.pdf DO - https://doi.org/10.21611/qirt.2016.092 VL - 2016 SP - 588 EP - 596 PB - QIRT 2016 Proceedings AN - OPUS4-39105 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Thiel, Erik A1 - Studemund, T. T1 - Thermography using a 1D laser array – From planar to structured heating JF - Materials Testing N2 - In the field of optically excited thermography, flash lamps (impulse shaped planar heating) and halogen lamps (modulated planar heating) have become established for the specific regimes of impulse and lock-in thermography. Flying-spot laser thermography is implemented by means of a rasterized focused laser, e. g. for crack detection (continuous wave operation) and photothermal material characterization (high-frequency modulated). The availability of novel technologies, i. e. fast and high-resolution IR cameras, brilliant innovative light sources and high-performance data acquisition and processing technology will enable a paradigm shift from stand-alone photothermal and thermographic techniques to uniform quantitative measurement and testing technology that is faster and more precise. Similar to an LED array, but with irradiance two orders of magnitude higher, a new type of brilliant laser source, i. e. the VCSEL array (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser), is now available. This novel optical energy source eliminates the strong limitation to the temporal dynamics of established light sources and at the same time is spectrally clearly separated from the detection wavelength. It combines the fast temporal behavior of a diode laser with the high optical irradiance and the wide illumination area of flash lamps. In addition, heating can also be carried out in a structured manner, because individual areas of the VCSEL array can be controlled independently of each other. This new degree of freedom enables the development of completely new thermographic NDT methods. KW - Thermography KW - Laser thermography KW - Laser KW - Lock-in KW - VCSEL KW - Thermal wave KW - Photothermal PY - 2018 UR - https://www.hanser-elibrary.com/doi/abs/10.3139/120.111209 DO - https://doi.org/10.3139/120.111209 SN - 0025-5300 VL - 60 IS - 7-8 SP - 749 EP - 757 PB - Carl Hanser Verlag CY - München AN - OPUS4-45482 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Burgholzer, P. A1 - Berer, T. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Thiel, Erik A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Gruber, J. A1 - Mayr, G. A1 - Hendorfer, G. T1 - Blind structured illumination as excitation for super-resolution photothermal radiometry T2 - Proceedings of the 14th QIRT Conference 2018 N2 - Using an infrared camera for radiometric imaging allows the contactless temperature measurement of multiple surface pixels simultaneously. From the measured surface data, a sub-surface structure, embedded inside a sample or tissue, can be reconstructed and imaged when heated by an excitation light pulse. The main drawback in radiometric imaging is the degradation of the spatial resolution with increasing depth, which results in blurred images for deeper lying structures. We circumvent this degradation with blind structured illumination, combined with a non-linear joint sparsity reconstruction algorithm. The ground-breaking concept of super-resolution can be transferred from optics to thermographic imaging. T2 - Conference QIRT 2018 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 25.06.2018 KW - Thermography KW - Laser thermography KW - Super resolution PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-454506 SN - 978-3-940283-94-8 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/17686733.2019.1655247 SP - We.3.A.2, 1 EP - 7 AN - OPUS4-45450 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Burgholzer, P. A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Caire, G. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - Super resolution laser line scanning thermography JF - Optics and Lasers in Engineering N2 - In this paper we propose super resolution measurement and post-processing strategies that can be applied in thermography using laser line scanning. The implementation of these techniques facilitates the separation of two closely spaced defects and avoids the expected deterioration of spatial resolution due to heat diffusion. The experimental studies were performed using a high-power laser as heat source in combination with pulsed thermography measurements (step scanning) or with continuous heating measurements (continuous scanning). Our work shows that laser line step scanning as well as continuous scanning both can be used within our developed super resolution (SR) techniques. Our SR techniques make use of a compressed sensing based algorithm in post- processing, the so-called iterative joint sparsity (IJOSP) approach. The IJOSP method benefits from both - the sparse nature of defects in space as well as from the similarity of each measurement. In addition, we show further methods to improve the reconstruction quality e.g. by simple manipulations in thermal image processing such as by considering the effect of the scanning motion or by using different optimization algorithms within the IJOSP approach. These super resolution image processing methods are discussed so that the advantages and disadvantages of each method can be extracted. Our contribution thus provides new approaches for the implementation of super resolution techniques in laser line scanning thermography and informs about which experimental and post-processing parameters should be chosen to better separate two closely spaced defects. KW - Super resolution KW - Laser thermography KW - Compressed sensing KW - Laser scanning KW - Joint sparsity PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-509796 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2020.106279 SN - 0143-8166 VL - 134 SP - 106279 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-50979 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Burgholzer, P. A1 - Mayr, G. A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Caire, G. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - Photothermal super resolution imaging: A comparison of different thermographic reconstruction techniques JF - Nondestructive Testing & Evaluation International N2 - This paper presents different super resolution reconstruction techniques to overcome the spatial resolution limits in thermography. Pseudo-random blind structured illumination from a onedimensional laser array is used as heat source for super resolution thermography. Pulsed thermography measurements using an infrared camera with a high frame rate sampling lead to a huge amount of data. To handle this large data set, thermographic reconstruction techniques are an essential step of the overall reconstruction process. Four different thermographic reconstruction techniques are analyzed based on the Fourier transform amplitude, principal component analysis, virtual wave reconstruction and the maximum thermogram. The application of those methods results in a sparse basis representation of the measured data and serves as input for a compressed sensing based algorithm called iterative joint sparsity (IJOSP). Since the thermographic reconstruction techniques have a high influence on the result of the IJOSP algorithm, this paper Highlights their Advantages and disadvantages. KW - Super resolution KW - Compressed sensing KW - Laser thermography KW - Virtual wave KW - Defect reconstruction PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2020.102228 VL - 111 SP - 2228 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Netherlands AN - OPUS4-50419 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Puthiyaveettil, N. A1 - Thomas, K. R. A1 - Myrach, Philipp A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Rajagopal, P. A1 - Balasubramaniamam, K. T1 - Defect detection in steel bars up to 600 °C using laser line thermography JF - Infrared Physics & Technology N2 - Crack detection in steel bars at high surface temperatures is a critical problem in any manufacturing industry. Surface breaking cracks are the major problems during the billet casting. Many NDT techniques are proven its capability in crack detection at room temperature. Here, we are demonstrating the possibility of exposure of cracks using laser line thermography at higher surface temperatures (up to 600 °C). A continuous-wave (CW) laser is used to excite the sample kept at higher surface temperatures. The temperature distribution over the sample due to the laser line scanning is captured using a temperature calibrated infrared (IR) thermal camera. The response of the sample temperature in crack detection is investigated using a validated FE model. The impact of the oxide layer in crack detection is investigated by using two types of samples; one without any oxide layer and the second is with the oxide layer. The influence of laser power in the detection of defects at high temperatures is studied. 3D numerical models were developed for the cases; when the sample is with oxide layer and without any oxide layer for a better understanding of physics. The surface temperature rise due to laser heating is higher for the scaled sample compared to the no-scale sample. The presence of the oxide layer above the parent metal will reduce the reflectivity of the surface. Lower reflectivity will lead to increased absorption of incident energy so that the surface temperature rise will be higher than the surface with no scale. Thermal contrast linearly depends on laser power, which means higher laser power will increase the defect detectability even at a higher surface temperature. KW - Laser thermography KW - High temperature KW - Modeling KW - Surface cracks KW - Non-destructive testing PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infrared.2020.103565 SN - 1350-4495 VL - 111 SP - 103565 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51573 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kästner, L. A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Jonietz, Florian A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Caire, G. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Lambrecht, J. T1 - Classification of Spot-Welded Joints in Laser Thermography Data Using Convolutional Neural Networks JF - IEEE Access N2 - Spot welding is a crucial process step in various industries. However, classification of spot welding quality is still a tedious process due to the complexity and sensitivity of the test material, which drain conventional approaches to its limits. In this article, we propose an approach for quality inspection of spot weldings using images from laser thermography data. We propose data preparation approaches based on the underlying physics of spot-welded joints, heated with pulsed laser thermography by analyzing the intensity over time and derive dedicated data filters to generate training datasets. Subsequently, we utilize convolutional neural networks to classify weld quality and compare the performance of different models against each other. We achieve competitive results in terms of classifying the different welding quality classes compared to traditional approaches, reaching an accuracy of more than 95 percent. Finally, we explore the effect of different augmentation methods. KW - Active thermal imaging KW - Laser thermography KW - Spot-welded joints KW - Convolutional neural network KW - Classification KW - Data processing PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-524216 DO - https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3063672 VL - 9 SP - 48303 EP - 48312 AN - OPUS4-52421 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Thiel, Erik T1 - Wenn die Wärme Wellen schlägt JF - Physik in unserer Zeit N2 - Mit Laserlicht kann man eine Materialoberfläche berührungslos und schnell moduliert aufheizen. Dabei entsteht eine stark gedämpfte Wärmewelle, die tief ins Material eindringen kann. Erzeugt und überlagert man solche thermischen Wellen auf kohärente Weise, dann kann man damit versteckte Materialfehler zerstörungsfrei und sehr präzise aufspüren. Sogar eine bildgebende Tomografie ist denkbar. KW - Thermography KW - Laser thermography KW - Lock-in thermography KW - NDT KW - Thermal waves PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/piuz.201801512 SN - 0031-9252 VL - 49 IS - 6 SP - 296 EP - 303 PB - Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-46630 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Thiel, Erik A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Studemund, Taarna T1 - Localization of subsurface defects in uncoated aluminum with structured heating using high-power VCSEL laser arrays JF - International Journal of Thermophysics N2 - We report on photothermal detection of subsurface defects by coherent superposition of thermal wave fields. This is made possible by structured heating using high-power VCSEL laser arrays whose individual emitter groups can be arbitrarily controlled. In order to locate the defects, we have developed a scanning method based on the continuous wavelet transformation with complex Morlet wavelet using the destructive interference effect of thermal waves. This approach can also be used for thermally very fast and highly reflective materials such as uncoated aluminum. We show that subsurface defects at an aspect ratio of defect width to defect depth down to 1/3 are still detectable in this material. KW - Thermography KW - Heat diffusion KW - Laser thermography KW - Structured heating KW - NDT KW - Subsurface defects KW - Thermal wave KW - VCSEL KW - Wavelet transformation PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-018-2478-9 SN - 1572-9567 SN - 0195-928X VL - 40 IS - 2 SP - 17, 1 EP - 13 PB - Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 AN - OPUS4-47208 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ziegler, Mathias A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Thiel, Erik A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Maierhofer, Christiane T1 - Benefits & peculiarities of using highpower lasers for lock-in thermography N2 - Optical lock-in thermography is a completely contactless and very sensitive NDE technique. As an optical source of energy, incandescent (i.e. halogen) lamps are most commonly used because they are relatively inexpensive, do not need any work safety measures and offer high irradiances at the test site. However, they are strongly restricted by their low modulation bandwidth with a maximum modulation frequency of only about 1 Hz. The use of high-power kilowatt-class laser sources, e.g. diode laser arrays, pushes this constraint beyond 100 Hz. This allows for the exploration of the near-surface region of metals and layer systems with better and more accurate penetration depth and depth resolution. Moreover, these lasers are virtually free of any additional thermal radiation that could interfere with the “true” thermal response emitted from the heated sample. In turn, they can be easily used in a one-sided test configuration. Altogether using lasers considerably increases the application range of lock-in thermography, since especially for metals with a high reflectance and high thermal diffusivity a high irradiance is vitally important to allow for lock-in testing [1, 2]. We report on the mentioned benefits of using such high-power lasers and analyze the range of materials to be tested using lock-in thermography in dependence on the laser irradiance, the modulation frequency, the infrared camera as well as the optical and thermal material parameters. In this context, we also address a number of systematic errors caused by the use of ideal and non-ideal heat sources. For example, the measured phase angle in lock-in thermography depends on the irradiance and the modulation bandwidth of the source. This in turn has a decisive influence on the uncertainty in the quantification of, e.g. layer thicknesses. T2 - INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, 62nd Course, Progress in Photoacoustic & Photothermal Phenomena CY - Erice, Italy DA - 06.09.2018 KW - Thermography KW - Laser thermography KW - Lock-in thermography KW - NDT PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-46282 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Hirsch, Philipp Daniel A1 - Lecompagnon, Julien A1 - Hassenstein, Christian A1 - Jung, P. A1 - Caire, G. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - New techniques in super resolution photothermal imaging for nondestructive testing T2 - SMSI 2020 Proceedings N2 - In this work we focus on our most recent studies to super resolution (SR) laser thermography. The goal of SR nondestructive testing methods is to facilitate the separation of closely spaced defects. We explain how to combine laser scanning with SR techniques. It can be shown that stepwise as well as continuous scanning techniques are applicable. Finally, we discuss the effect of experimental parameters and im-age processing techniques to find the optimal SR technique which leads to the highest reconstruction quality within laser thermography. T2 - SMSI 2020 Conference CY - Online meeting DA - 22.06.2020 KW - Super resolution KW - Laser thermography KW - Nondestructive testing KW - Laser scanning KW - Photothermal imaging PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.5162/SMSI2020/C4.1 SP - 169 EP - 170 AN - OPUS4-50895 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ahmadi, Samim A1 - Lecompagnon, Julien A1 - Hirsch, Philipp Daniel A1 - Burgholzer, Peter A1 - Jung, Peter A1 - Caire, Giuseppe A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - Laser excited super resolution thermal imaging for nondestructive testing T2 - SMSI 2021 Proceedings N2 - The work to be presented focuses on our most recent studies to laser excited super resolution (SR) thermography. The goal of nondestructive testing with SR is to facilitate the separation of closely spaced defects. Photothermal SR can be realized by performing structured illumination measurements in com-bination with the use of deconvolution algorithms in post-processing. We explain that stepwise as well as continuous scanning techniques are applicable to generate structured illumination measurements. Finally, we discuss the effect of experimental parameters and image processing techniques to find the optimal SR technique which leads to the highest reconstruction quality within laser thermography. T2 - Sensor and Measurement Science International Conference SMSI 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 03.05.2021 KW - Super resolution KW - Laser thermography KW - Nondestructive testing KW - Laser scanning KW - Photothermal imaging PY - 2021 SP - 181 EP - 182 AN - OPUS4-52780 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -