TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - EvalTherm - Weather-dependent passive thermography and thermal simulation of in-service wind turbine blades N2 - To cope with the increase in the manufacturing and operation of wind turbines, wind farm operators need inspection tools that are able to provide reliable information while keeping the downtime low. Current inspection techniques require to stop the wind turbine. This work presents the current progress in the project EvalTherm, in which passive thermography is evaluated as a possible non-destructive inspection tool for operational wind turbine blades (WTBs). A methodology to obtain thermal images of rotating WTBs has been established in this project. However, the quality of the results is heavily dependent on various aspects such as weather conditions, information on the inspected WTB, damage history, etc. In this work, a section of a used WTB is simulated using finite-element modelling (FEM) as well as experimentally tested for evaluating the accuracy of the model. Such a model will provide insight into the potential thermal response of a certain structure (with specific material properties) in given weather (boundary) conditions. The model is able to provide satisfactory predictions of the thermal response of the structure, as well as indicate what thermal contrast(s) result from artificial defects introduced in the structure. T2 - WindEurope Annual Event 2023 CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 25.04.2023 KW - FEM KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie anlage rotorblätter PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58274 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Weather-dependent passive thermography and thermal simulation of in-service wind turbine blades N2 - The thermographic methods NDT division of BAM is aiming to develop a wind turbine blade (WTB) inspection tool using infrared thermographic scanning of operational wind turbines in the project EvalTherm. T2 - WindEurope Annual Event 2023 CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 25.04.2023 KW - FEM KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie anlage rotorblätte PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58275 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Stamm, Michael A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer T1 - Weather-dependent passive thermography and thermal simulation of in-service wind turbine blades N2 - . To cope with the increase in the manufacturing and operation of wind turbines, wind farm operators need inspection tools that are able to provide reliable information while keeping the downtime low. Current inspection techniques require to stop the wind turbine. This work presents the current progress in the project EvalTherm, in which passive thermography is evaluated as a possible non-destructive inspection tool for operational wind turbine blades (WTBs). A methodology to obtain thermal images of rotating WTBs has been established in this project. However, the quality of the results is heavily dependent on various aspects such as weather conditions, information on the inspected WTB, damage history, etc. In this work, a section of a used WTB is simulated using finite-element modelling (FEM) as well as experimentally tested for evaluating the accuracy of the model. Such a model will provide insight into the potential thermal response of a certain structure (with specific material properties) in given weather (boundary) conditions. The model is able to provide satisfactory predictions of the thermal response of the structure, as well as indicate what thermal contrast(s) result from artificial defects introduced in the structure. T2 - WindEurope Annual Event 2023 CY - Copenhagen, Denmark DA - 25.04.2023 KW - FEM KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie Anlage Rotorblätter PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-582777 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2507/1/012025 VL - 2507 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - IOP Publishing Ltd. AN - OPUS4-58277 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - EvalTherm - Detectability of internal defects in wind turbine rotor blades using passive infrared thermography N2 - A steady increase of wind energy infrastructure brings along a challenge of maintaining and operating wind turbines (WT) with its multiple components. Inspection of wind turbine rotor blades (WTB) is an important part of maintaining the overall health and safety of a WT. It involves visually or mechanically examining the blades for signs of damage or wear that could affect their performance and structural integrity of the entire WT. A WTB is a complex structure due to its ever-increasing scale (going beyond 100 m for a 16 MW WT) as well as multi-material construction. Passive infrared thermography offers an alternative to contact- or proximity-based inspection techniques currently in use such as visual inspection performed by technical personnel (using a lift or a drone) and involves looking for signs of damage on the surface of the blades, and ultrasonic testing to detect internal defects. In contrast to active thermography, passive thermography uses the sun as source of heat, instead of conventional heat lamps, flash, or laser. An inspection technique to (semi-autonomously) inspect the WTBs of an operating WT from the ground has been developed. Given the optimum thermal contrast (weather conditions for field measurements), external as well as internal features of the WTB can be visualised with appropriate post-processing. The work presented here is part of an ongoing multi-partner project titled “EvalTherm”: the evaluation of passive thermography as a non-destructive inspection tool of WTBs in operation. In this work, artificial defects representative of realistic defects in glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) WTBs are introduced in out-of-service WTB pieces. These are scanned using X-ray computed tomography to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction to be used as input for finite-element based thermal simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics. The simulation data is compared with infrared thermal inspection of the same WTB section, in order to compare the effect of thermal contrast caused in certain weather conditions. In addition, the influence of defect characteristics such as defect size, morphology, and location on detectability is investigated. Validated simulation models are used to predict thermal signatures of defects along with the optimal thermal contrast. Such simulation models in combination with weather forecast data can assist operators of wind turbine infrastructure to plan passive thermography inspection without the need of dangerous inspection procedures and associated shutdown of energy production. T2 - Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC) 2023 CY - Glasgow, Scotland DA - 23.05.2023 KW - FEM KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie anlage rotorblätter KW - Thermography PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58283 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehri Sofiani, F A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Elahi, S.A. A1 - Hectors, K. A1 - De Waele, W. T1 - Quantitative Analysis of the Correlation between Geometric Parameters of Pits and Stress Concentration Factors for a Plate Subject to Uniaxial Tensile Stress N2 - The offshore environment is inherently corrosive. Consequently, pits may nucleate on exposed steel surfaces. Corrosion pits can be a source of crack initiation when the structure is subject to fatigue loading. The criticality of a corrosion pit with respect to the structural integrity depends on its shape and size and can be quantified using a stress concentration factor (𝐾𝑡). In this work, a parametric 3D finite element model is developed to perform stress analysis of a pitted plate subjected to uniaxial tensile stress. The model is used for an extensive parameter study in which 𝐾𝑡 is determined for various pit configurations. It is demonstrated that each one of the geometrical parameters holds a substantial influence on the location of the Most Critical Region (MCR). It is shown that 𝐾𝑡 increases as the pit gets narrower. Pits with an elliptical mouth yield higher 𝐾𝑡 values when the angle between the load direction and the pit mouth major axis increases. Moreover, 𝐾𝑡 increases with the increase in the localized thickness loss which is more pronounced for relatively wider pits. Finally, a regression model is presented for estimating 𝐾𝑡 based on the geometric parameters of a pit. KW - FEM KW - Corrosion KW - SCF KW - Pitting corrosion PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2023.104081 SN - 0167-8442 VL - 127 SP - 1 EP - 27 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-58284 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Stamm, Michael T1 - Infrared thermography of turbulence patterns of operational wind turbine rotor blades supported with high-resolution photography: KI-VISIR Dataset N2 - With increasing wind energy capacity and installation of wind turbines, new inspection techniques are being explored to examine wind turbine rotor blades, especially during operation. A common result of surface damage phenomena (such as leading-edge erosion) is the premature transition of laminar to turbulent flow on the surface of rotor blades. In the KI-VISIR (Künstliche Intelligenz Visuell und Infrarot Thermografie – Artificial Intelligence-Visual and Infrared Thermography) project, infrared thermography is used as an inspection tool to capture so-called thermal turbulence patterns (TTP) that result from such surface contamination or damage. To compliment the thermographic inspections, high-resolution photography is performed to visualise, in detail, the sites where these turbulence patterns initiate. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed and used to detect and localise the turbulence patterns. A unique dataset combining the thermograms and visual images of operational wind turbine rotor blades has been provided, along with the simplified annotations for the turbulence patterns. Additional tools are available to allow users to use the data requiring only basic Python programming skills. KW - Reference Data KW - Infrared Thermography KW - Wind energy KW - Dataset PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13771899 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-61102 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Stamm, Michael A1 - Lapšanská, Ivana A1 - Lançon, Thibault A1 - Osterbrink, Lars A1 - Driebe, Thomas A1 - Hein, Daniel A1 - Harendt, René T1 - Infrared Thermography of Turbulence Patterns of Operational Wind Turbine Rotor Blades Supported With High‐Resolution Photography: KI‐VISIR Dataset N2 - With increasing wind energy capacity and installation of wind turbines, new inspection techniques are being explored to examine wind turbine rotor blades, especially during operation. A common result of surface damage phenomena (such as leading edge erosion) is the premature transition of laminar to turbulent flow on the surface of rotor blades. In the KI-VISIR (Künstliche Intelligenz Visuell und Infrarot Thermografie—Artificial Intelligence-Visual and Infrared Thermography) project, infrared thermography is used as an inspection tool to capture so-called thermal turbulence patterns (TTPs) that result from such surface contamination or damage. To complement the thermographic inspections, high-resolution photography is performed to visualise, in detail, the sites where these turbulence patterns initiate. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was developed and used to detect and localise turbulence patterns. A unique dataset combining the thermograms and visual images of operational wind turbine rotor blades has been provided, along with the simplified annotations for the turbulence patterns. Additional tools are available to allow users to use the data requiring only basic Python programming skills. KW - Thermography KW - Thermografie KW - Wind energy KW - Leading edge erosion KW - KI PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-615772 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/we.2958 IS - e2958 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-61577 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saeed, Hasan A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - De Waele, Wim T1 - Experimental evaluation of the short and long fatigue crack growth rate of S355 structural steel offshore monopile weldments in air and synthetic seawater N2 - Welded steel structures used in the offshore wind industry are exposed to harsh marine environments, which can result in corrosion-induced fatigue damage. Of particular concern is the heat affected zone (HAZ) of welded joints, a region known for its altered microstructure and mechanical properties, which can significantly influence the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks. This study investigates the short and long fatigue crack growth rates, and the effect of seawater exposure, for the HAZ in S355 steel weldments. Single-edge notch bend (SENB) specimens are used, with a shallow notch in the HAZ. A series of specimens is immersed in synthetic seawater that is continuously circulated at a controlled temperature to assess the synergistic effects of corrosion and fatigue. The experimental method integrates a novel application of front face strain compliance for monitoring short cracks, alongside an extended back-face strain compliance approach for monitoring long crack propagation. It is concluded that the short fatigue crack growth rate of the HAZ is 2.7 to 3.5 times higher in seawater as compared to air. As the crack propagates and enters into the long crack regime, the ratio decreases to 2.2 times at the transition point of the two-stage crack growth curve and further decreases to 1.5 times when the notch advances towards fracture. The findings indicate that the fatigue crack growth rates documented in standards tend to be on the conservative side. This study significantly enriches the fatigue crack growth data available in literature, which will contribute to a more accurate lifetime assessment offshore wind turbine structures. KW - Fatigue crack growth rate KW - Short crack KW - Offshore monopile foundation KW - Corrosion fatigue PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2024.104063 VL - 149 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-60691 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehri Sofiani, F. A1 - Tacq, J. A1 - Elahi, S.A. A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - De Waele, W. T1 - A hybrid probabilistic-deterministic framework for prediction of characteristic size of corrosion pits in low-carbon steel following long-term seawater exposure N2 - A hybrid deterministic-probabilistic framework is presented that combines in-situ measurements and numerical analysis to predict the characteristic size of corrosion pits over extended periods of exposure to seawater. A probabilistic model, informed by corrosion current density and temperature data, applies a sampling method to a range of overpotential values to reflect the surface deterioration in terms of pitting. The model is calibrated and validated with pit size data obtained from corroded coupons. Results reveal a positively skewed truncated lognormal distribution of pit depths which implies a higher prevalence of smaller pit depths, corroborated both experimentally and numerically. KW - Pitting corrosion KW - Offshore structures KW - Probabilistic analysis KW - Potentiodynamic polarisation PY - 2024 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2024.112039 VL - 232 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-60693 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Passive infrared thermography as an inspection tool for operational wind turbine rotor blades N2 - The growing wind energy infrastructure presents a significant challenge in the maintenance and operation of wind turbines (WT) and their intricate components. An important aspect of WT maintenance is the inspection of wind turbine rotor blades (WTB) to ensure the overall health and safety of the turbine. This inspection process involves both visual and mechanical examinations of the blades to identify any indicators of damage or wear that could compromise their performance and, consequently, the structural integrity of the entire WT system. The complexity of WTBs is compounded by their ever-expanding dimensions, exceeding 100 meters in length for 16 MW WT systems, and their multi-material composition. Within this context, passive infrared thermography emerges as a potential alternative to conventional contact- or proximity-based inspection methods. Unlike active thermography, passive thermography uses solar radiation and ambient temperature variation for thermal contrast, eliminating the need for traditional heat lamps, flash, or laser-based techniques. A novel inspection method has been developed to semi-autonomously assess wind turbine blades (WTBs) while the wind turbine (WT) is operational, from ground level. This approach leverages optimal thermal contrast, which depends on prevailing weather conditions during field measurements, enabling the visualization of both external and internal features of the WTBs through post-processing techniques. In this study, thermal data obtained through passive thermography is compared with contemporaneous visual imagery to definitively classify observed features in thermal images as either surface or sub-surface features. This analysis, coupled with corresponding weather conditions, provides valuable insights into the capabilities and limitations of the inspection technique. Additionally, finite-element-based (FE) thermal simulations of a WTB section are employed to parametrically assess the influence of weather conditions, beyond those observed during field measurements, based on a validated model. In addition, the thermal images also consist of thermal signatures of leading-edge turbulence due to possible leading-edge erosion in WTBs. These are primarily vortices, and their shape and size depend on the morphology of the damage as well as the rotational speed of the WTBs. The inspections are accompanied by automatic data evaluation of the thermal signatures. To improve the precision of erosion damage identification, a fully convolutional network (FCN) is employed, trained, and tested using over 1000 annotated thermographic blade images. Additionally, the study introduces strategies for grouping smaller damage indications and simplification rules based on realistic thermal imaging resolutions. As leading-edge erosion could potentially lead to annual energy production (AEP) losses, this technique could prove to be a powerful tool in establishing the presence of damage and the resulting AEP loss. T2 - 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing CY - Incheon, South Korea DA - 27.05.2024 KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie Anlage Rotorblätter KW - Thermography PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60695 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Fatigue damage detection using Lock-In Thermography N2 - Early detection of fatigue cracks and accurate measurements of the crack growth play an important role in the maintenance and repair strategies of steel and composite structures exposed to cyclic loads during their service life. Commonly used non-destructive techniques such as strain gauges, clip gauges, ultrasound, etc. used for detection and monitoring of fatigue damage are contact-based and perform local measurements. In addition, complex full-field techniques are commonly investigated, such as digital image correlation (DIC) and infrared thermography (IRT). In this work, a specific implementation of IRT, called lock-in IRT, is implemented for fatigue damage detection. This technique evaluates the thermal stress response of test specimens, specifically focusing or “locking-in” on the frequency of applied cyclic loads. Three different test scenarios are presented. First, a section of a wind turbine rotor blade made of a glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) shell structure under cyclic load was examined with Lock-In IRT along with DIC. The primary advantage of Lock-In IRT in this test setup was that it required no sample preparation, as compared to the painting and speckle pattern required for DIC. In the frequency domain, specifically the frequency of applied cyclic load, it was possible to extract local directional inhomogeneous loading within the shell structure due to progressive damage, confirmed with the deformation obtained from DIC results. Second, thick welded specimens made of structural steel S355 were subjected to multiple NDT methods such as strain gauges, crack luminescence penetration (developed specifically at BAM), ultrasound, and IRT, with the aim of investigating the ability of each technique to detect fatigue damage initiation as early as possible in the total fatigue life of the specimen. Amongst the range of implemented techniques, Lock-In IRT provided the first indication of fatigue crack initiation at the weld toe of the specimens. This was validated with the other techniques as well as fractography. Third, steel S355 specimens used to manufacture offshore wind turbine monopiles were tested. The specimens were extracted from a plate that was submerged in a marine environment, resulting in a corroded surface with corrosion pits. These specimens were subjected to cyclic tensile loads without removing the corrosion pits. The fatigue tests were monitored using IRT in a special full-field capturing setup that enables both sides of the specimen to be examined with one IRT camera. This allowed the entire pitted surface to be monitored for fatigue damage initiation at the same time. With the implementation of Lock In IRT, the surface stress distribution could be captured (the stress concentration at the pits), and fatigue crack initiation could be detected and linked with specific corrosion pits. T2 - 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing CY - Incheon, South Korea DA - 27.05.2024 KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Thermografie KW - Thermal stress analysis KW - Fatigue testing KW - Damage detection PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60697 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Pittner, Andreas A1 - Winterkorn, Rene A1 - de Finis, Rosa A1 - Palumbo, Davide A1 - Galietti, Umbero T1 - Thermographic investigation of the anisotropic behaviour of additively manufactured AISI316 steel using DED-Arc N2 - Additive manufacturing is one of the most promising techniques for industrial production and maintenance, but the specifics of the layered structure must be considered. The Direct Energy Deposition-Arc process enables relatively high deposition rates, which is favourable for larger components. For this study, specimens with different orientations were prepared from one AISI316 steel block – parallel and orthogonal to the deposition plane. Quasistatic tensile loading tests were carried out, monitored by an infrared camera. The obtained surface temperature maps revealed structural differences between both orientations. The consideration of surface temperature transients yields more details about the behaviour of the material under tensile loading than the conventional stress-strain-curve. These preliminary investigations were supplemented by thermographic fatigue trials. Although the anisotropy was also observed during fatigue loading the fatigue behaviour in general was the same, at least for both inspected specimens. The presented results demonstrate the abilities and the potential of thermographic techniques for tensile tests. T2 - 17th Quantitative Infrared Thermography Conference CY - Zagreb, Croatia DA - 01.07.2024 KW - WAAM PY - 2024 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-62548 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Stamm, Michael A1 - Lapšanská, Ivana A1 - Aderhold, J. A1 - Schlüter, F. T1 - EvalTherm – Evaluierung der passiven Thermografie für die Zustandsbewertung von Rotorblättern an Windenergieanlagen N2 - Der Bericht gibt einen Überblick über im Rahmen des Projektes durchgeführte Forschungsarbeiten sowie ausgewählte Ergebnisse. Er wurde zusammen mit dem FhI für Holzforschung (WKI) erstellt. KW - Rotorblattinspektion KW - Passive Thermografie KW - Feldmessungen KW - Windturbine PY - 2025 N1 - Schlussbericht des Projektes N1 - Laufzeit: 1.9.2020 – 31.8.2024 N1 - Das Verbundprojekt wurde im Rahmen des 7. Energieforschungsprogramms "Innovationen für die Energiewende" gefördert N1 - Das Vorhaben wurde mit Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klima unter dem Förderkennzeichen 03EE3035A/B gefördert SP - 1 EP - 67 PB - Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) CY - Hannover AN - OPUS4-62647 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Junker, Birgit T1 - Infrared thermography as an inspection tool for wind turbine rotor blades N2 - With the rapid expansion of wind turbine construction, rotor blades have increasingly been identified as a primary cause of turbine downtime and failure. This has led to a growing demand for inspection technologies through which energy production losses can be minimised—particularly in comparison to conventional methods such as rope-access inspections—and through which sub-surface blade conditions can be assessed to detect damage or failure in advance. Infrared thermography has been considered as a promising non-contact, full-field inspection method that can be applied to rotor blades in both operational and idle states. In this presentation, delivered at BladesEurope 2025, the physical mechanisms that give rise to thermal contrast during thermographic inspection were explained, as this contrast enables the detection and visualisation of structural features. Results obtained from a collaborative project between BAM and Statkraft Norway were presented, followed by the validation of a finite element simulation through experiments conducted in a climate chamber.” T2 - BladesEurope Forum 2025 CY - Edinburgh, Scotland DA - 29.04.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Wind energy KW - Inspection KW - Windenergie anlage rotorblätte KW - Damage detection PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63060 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Elahi, Seyed Ahmad A1 - Mehri Sofiani, F. A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Balbin, J.A. A1 - Larossa, N.O. A1 - De Waele, Wim T1 - A numerical study on fatigue strength degradation due to pitting corrosion of S355 structural steel in a marine environment N2 - This study investigates the influence of pitting corrosion on the fatigue strength of S355 steel, commonly used in offshore wind support structures. A short crack microstructural model is employed to estimate the degraded fatigue strength, effectively capturing the physics of the problem with minimal input parameters. Material characterization tests provide the key mechanical properties of S355 steel. A parametric analysis is used to examine the effects of pit shape, size, and aspect ratio. A generic relationship is identified between degraded fatigue strength and pit size for various pit aspect ratios. A sensitivity analysis reveals that the pit aspect ratio significantly influences fatigue strength, with sharper pits leading to greater reductions. The threshold stress intensity factor has a moderate effect, while in-air fatigue strength and grain size have minimal impacts. A case study is performed to evaluate the fatigue strength degradation of S355 steel exposed to the North Sea environment. Findings indicate that the most severe degradation occurs in the initial years of exposure, with the degradation rate declining over time. The results align well with experimental data, offering a robust framework for assessing structural integrity in a marine environment. KW - Fatigue strength KW - Corrosion fatigue KW - Pitting corrosion KW - Short crack KW - Micromechanical model KW - S355 structural steel PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.109669 SN - 1873-1961 VL - 177 SP - 1 EP - 21 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-63062 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Infrared thermography as an inspection tool for wind turbine rotor blades N2 - This presentation explores the use of infrared thermography as an inspection tool for wind turbine rotor blades. It highlights the implementation of ground-based thermographic techniques, demonstrates what can be achieved through such inspections, and presents a case study conducted in partnership with Statkraft. Particular attention is given to the discussion of thermal contrast and how it can be obtained for effective defect detection. To assess the potential and limitations of thermography, results from controlled climate chamber experiments and complementary simulations are also presented. T2 - IQPC Wind Week 2025 CY - Bremen, Germany DA - 26.08.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie anlage rotorblätte KW - Damage detection PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64056 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - WTB-IRT: Modelling and Measurement of Thermal Contrast in wind turbine rotor blades (WTBs) N2 - To understand the results that can be obtained with thermography of operational wind turbine blades, a climate chamber based experiment was performed. The results of these experiments were additionally modelled using COMSOL Multiphysics. The results have been presented at the conference. T2 - Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications (AITA) 2025 CY - Kobe, Japan DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Thermografie KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie Anlage Rotorblätter KW - FEA PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64222 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Purayil, Sruthi Krishna Kunji A1 - Kruse, Julius A1 - Madia, Mauro A1 - Nielsen, Sören T1 - Thermography-Assisted Mechanical Testing of Cold-Spray (AM) Repair N2 - Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) is a solid-state process that is being increasingly used for structural repairs in aerospace and energy sectors. It enables the deposition of dense material at low temperatures by accelerating metal particles to supersonic velocities, thereby reducing thermal distortion. However, the structural integrity of CSAM repairs—particularly at the interface between the deposited layer and the substrate—remains a critical concern. Various post-treatments and characterization methods have been explored to optimize performance. While X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) is effective for sub-surface inspection, it cannot be applied in situ during mechanical testing. Digital Image Correlation (DIC), a surface-based method, also lacks sub-surface sensitivity. To address this, Infrared Thermography (IRT) was employed alongside DIC during the tensile and fatigue testing of aluminum CSAM-repaired specimens. A cooled IRT camera operating at 200 FPS captured thermal data, with lock-in processing subsequently applied in post-processing. IRT successfully detected early interfacial damage and enabled the tracking of crack propagation, which was later confirmed through fracture surface analysis. This extended abstract presents findings from fatigue tests using IRT. T2 - 18th International Workshop on Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications (AITA 2025) CY - Kobe, Japan DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Thermografie KW - Thermal stress analysis KW - Cold spray KW - Damage detection PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642299 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025129018 VL - 129 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-64229 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Lapšanská, Ivana A1 - Stamm, Michael T1 - WTB-IRT: Modelling and Measurement of Thermal Contrast in Wind Turbine Rotor Blades (WTBs) N2 - The rapid growth of wind energy infrastructure over the past two to three decades has led to an urgent need for advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) methods—both for newly installed wind turbine blades (WTBs) and for ageing components nearing the end of their service life. Among emerging techniques, passive infrared thermography (IRT) offers a promising solution by enabling contactless, time-efficient inspection based on naturally occurring thermal variations. The effectiveness of passive IRT depends on the presence of sufficient thermal contrast to distinguish surface features, subsurface structures, and defects. To better understand the possibility of obtaining such contrast in composite structures such as WTBs, a controlled study was carried out on a blade section exposed to programmed temperature transients in a climate chamber. Infrared measurements were recorded, and the thermal behaviour of the specimen was simulated using finite element models (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics 6.3. Although direct validation is limited by measurement uncertainties and transient effects, the comparison provides insight into the capabilities and limitations of FEM in replicating real-world thermal behaviour. This paper focuses specifically on the challenges related to the modelling approach. T2 - 18th International Workshop on Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications (AITA 2025) CY - Kobe, Japan DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Wind energy KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie Anlage Rotorblätter KW - FEA PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642308 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025129015 VL - 129 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-64230 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Thermography-Assisted Mechanical Testing of Cold-Spray (AM) Repair N2 - Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing (CSAM) is a solid-state process that is being increasingly used for structural repairs in aerospace and energy sectors. It enables the deposition of dense material at low temperatures by accelerating metal particles to supersonic velocities, thereby reducing thermal distortion. However, the structural integrity of CSAM repairs—particularly at the interface between the deposited layer and the substrate—remains a critical concern. Various post-treatments and characterization methods have been explored to optimize performance. While X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) is effective for sub-surface inspection, it cannot be applied in situ during mechanical testing. Digital Image Correlation (DIC), a surface-based method, also lacks sub-surface sensitivity. To address this, Infrared Thermography (IRT) was employed alongside DIC during the tensile and fatigue testing of aluminum CSAM-repaired specimens. A cooled IRT camera operating at 200 FPS captured thermal data, with lock-in processing subsequently applied in post-processing. IRT successfully detected early interfacial damage and enabled the tracking of crack propagation, which was later confirmed through fracture surface analysis. T2 - Advanced Infrared Technology and Applications (AITA) 2025 CY - Kobe, Japan DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Thermografie KW - Thermal stress analysis KW - Cold spray KW - Damage detection PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64227 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - EvalTherm: Evaluation of passive thermography for the inspection of operational wind turbine rotor blades N2 - Wind turbine rotor blades (WTBs) have undergone numerous developments related to their design, manufacturing, and material selection. The drive for cost efficiency has resulted in increasingly longer WTBs over the past two decades [1]. Despite advancements in wind turbine technology, WTB inspection methods have seen little change over the years. While drones are increasingly used, inspections still rely primarily on visual assessments. However, critical structural damage - often originating from manufacturing defects - typically begins within the composite blade structure. With the increase in wind turbine blade (WTB) sizes, now exceeding lengths of 120 meters, passive infrared thermography (IRT) has been explored as an alternative inspection method when thermal or optical excitation is impractical [2]. Despite its advantages, employing IRT in wind industry presents significant challenges due to inherent uncertainties related to material properties, environmental conditions, and calibration factors [3]. The effects of these conditions can be analysed through finite element (FE) modelling, albeit with certain limitations [4, 5]. This work is part of the multi-partner project “EvalTherm,” which aims to evaluate passive IRT as a non-destructive inspection tool for WTBs in operation (schematic of the project is shown in Figure 1:). One parameter that can be used to investigate its effectiveness is thermal contrast, which allows two distinct features to be distinguished in thermal data. Selected results from the project “EvalTherm” are discussed and shown in the presentation. They are primarily categorised into inspections done under controlled conditions: i.e. in laboratory (with active excitation in the form of irradiation) and a climate chamber (with a temperature transient introduced with airflow). Results from these trials help understand the combined effect that are observed in outside measurements, with exposure to the sun and diurnal temperature changes. The presentation will include results obtained from field inspections on operational WTBs. T2 - Wind Energy Science Conference (WESC) 2025 CY - Nantes, France DA - 24.06.2025 KW - Thermography KW - Wind energy KW - Wind turbine rotor blades KW - Windenergie Anlage Rotorblätter KW - Damage detection PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63558 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro T1 - Infrarot-Thermografie zur Überwachung von mittels Kaltgasspritzen (Cold- Spray) reparierten Bauteilen unter zyklischer Belastung N2 - Das Kaltgasspritzen ist ein vielversprechendes Verfahren für die Reparatur von metallischen Komponenten , insbesondere sicherheitsrelevante Bauteile in der Luft- und Raumfahrt. Durch die Abscheidung von Partikeln mit hoher Geschwindigkeit ohne Schmelzen entsteht eine mechanisch verbundene Grenzfläche zwischen dem Substrat und der Beschichtung. Die Überwachung der Integrität dieser Grenzfläche unter Ermüdungsbelastung stellt jedoch nach wie vor eine Herausforderung dar, da die Grenzfläche nicht sichtbar ist. Die Röntgencomputertomographie (XCT) wird bereits häufig zur Charakterisierung von Defekten in Kaltgasspritzbeschichtungen und Grenzflächenbereichen eingesetzt. XCT bietet zwar hochauflösende Einblicke in interne Strukturen, ihre Anwendung bei mechanischen Prüfungen ist jedoch aufgrund praktischer Einschränkungen bei der In-situ-Implementierung begrenzt. In dieser Studie wurde die Infrarot-Thermografie (IRT) eingesetzt, um die Schadensentwicklung in kaltgespritzten Al6061-Proben während Zug- und Ermüdungsbelastung zu überwachen. Eine gekühlte Infrarotkamera mit hoher Bildfrequenz wurde synchron mit den mechanischen Prüfungen eingesetzt, und die Daten wurden mit Lock-in-Thermografieverfahren verarbeitet, um Phasen- und Amplitudensignale zu extrahieren, die mit thermoelastischen und dissipativen Effekten in Zusammenhang stehen. Die IRT ermöglichte die Erkennung thermischer Anomalien an der Grenzfläche zwischen Beschichtung und Substrat, die mit der Rissbildung und -ausbreitung korrelierten. Parallel dazu wurde die digitale Bildkorrelation (DIC) angewendet, um Oberflächenverformungsfelder abzubilden. Der Vergleich von DIC und IRT ermöglichte eine multimodale Betrachtung der Schadensmechanismen. Die fraktografische Analyse bestätigte, dass die mit IRT identifizierten Bereiche gut mit der Rissentstehung an der Grenzfläche übereinstimmen. Diese Ergebnisse bestätigen den Wert der Infrarot-Thermografie als zerstörungsfreies Verfahren zur In-situ-Überwachung der strukturellen Integrität bei Kaltgasspritzreparaturen. Sie ergänzt XCT und DIC, indem sie eine kontinuierliche Verfolgung der Schadensentwicklung unter realistischen Belastungsbedingungen ermöglicht. T2 - Thermo25: Infrarot-Thermografie im Dialog zwischen Forschung und Praxis CY - Garching bei München, Germany DA - 12.11.2025 KW - Thermografie KW - Lock-In KW - Kaltgasspritzen KW - Grenzflächenintegrität PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64709 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Pittner, Andreas A1 - Winterkorn, Rene A1 - de Finis, Rosa A1 - Palumbo, Davide A1 - Galietti, Umberto T1 - Thermographic investigation of the anisotropic behaviour of additively manufactured AISI316 steel using DED-Arc N2 - Additive manufacturing is one of the most promising techniques for industrial production and maintenance, but the specifics of the layered structure must be considered. The Direct Energy Deposition-Arc process enables relatively high deposition rates, which is favourable for larger components. For this study, specimens with different orientations were prepared from one AISI316 steel block – parallel and orthogonal to the deposition plane. Quasistatic tensile loading tests were carried out, monitored by an infrared camera. The obtained surface temperature maps revealed structural differences between both orientations. The consideration of surface temperature transients yields more details about the behaviour of the material under tensile loading than the conventional stress-strain-curve. These preliminary investigations were supplemented by thermographic fatigue trials. Although the anisotropy was also observed during fatigue loading the fatigue behaviour in general was the same, at least for both inspected specimens. The presented results demonstrate the abilities and the potential of thermographic techniques for tensile tests. T2 - 17th Quantitative Infrared Thermography Conference CY - Bologna, Italy DA - 07.07.2025 KW - Thermoelastic effect KW - Wire-arc-additive manufacturing KW - thermal stress analysis KW - fatigue testing PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.21611/qirt-2024-029 SP - 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-65372 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kunji Purayil, Sruthi Krishna A1 - Röllig, Mathias A1 - Hirsch, Philipp Daniel A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Lecompagnon, Julien A1 - Strobach, L. A1 - Ziegler, Mathias T1 - PCA-enhanced Computational Thermography for the Non-destructive Investigation of the Historic Bücker Bü 181 Aircraft N2 - Infrared thermography is a widely recognized non-destructive testing (NDT) method used in material research and defect detection across various industrial applications. Moreover, thermography plays a crucial role in preserving cultural heritage, including historical paintings and buildings. This study focuses on the application of thermography in inspecting the historic Bücker Bü 181 aircraft, which was used in Germany during World War II. Over time, the original appearance of aircraft has often been altered as part of preservation efforts, either before or during their time in museums, leading to deviations from their historically original state. Additionally, the operational history of such objects is frequently undocumented or entirely lost, making it difficult to understand the presence of artifacts and historically significant data. These factors present major challenges in cultural heritage preservation, and destructive methods cannot be used to investigate such invaluable objects. Therefore, thermography is implemented as a non-destructive and contactless examination method. Active flash thermography combined with phase analysis is a powerful tool for evaluating multilayer systems. In this study, multiple layers of old paint on the object posed a challenge in assessing defect conditions and retrieving other critical information beneath the surface coatings. Nevertheless, pulse thermography not only demonstrated its capability to identify defects and markings in multilayered coatings but also provided insights into the internal structure and subsections of the investigated aircraft. KW - Non-destructive Testing KW - Infrared Thermography KW - Defect Detection KW - Cultural Heritage KW - Multilayer Coatings PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-645709 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31934 SN - 2941-4989 VL - 3 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - NDT.net AN - OPUS4-64570 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Krankenhagen, Rainer A1 - Lapšanská, Ivana A1 - Stamm, Michael T1 - Modeling Temperature Responses of a Wind Turbine Blade Section Under Climate Chamber Conditions – Part 1: Challenges for FEM Simulations N2 - The rapid expansion of wind energy infrastructure over the past 20–30 years has led up to a situation where advanced non‐destructive testing (NDT) technologies are the need‐of‐the‐hour, not only for new wind turbine blades (WTBs) that are being installed, but also for older infrastructure which is reaching their designed lifetime. NDT technologies that improve both the quality as well as reduce the time required for the inspection are sought after, and one such example is passive infrared thermography (IRT). For passive IRT to provide significant information/insight into the integrity of the WTB, there needs to exist certain thermal contrast to both visualize and distinguish between features in WTB. These features could be surface features, subsurface structure or defects. The temperature variations due to air temperature fluctuations and the sun assist (passively) to obtain the necessary thermal contrast. To better understand the thermal response of composite structures such as WTBs, a validation study was conducted using a WTB section subjected to controlled temperature transients within a climate chamber, without external irradiation. Infrared measurements were recorded using a thermographic camera, and the same specimen was modeled using finite element methods (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics. While a direct validation of the simulation is limited due to transient and unmeasured variables in the experimental data, qualitative comparison provides valuable insight into the applicability of FEM for predicting thermal behavior in passive IRT scenarios. This article represents the first part of a two‐part study, focusing on the FEM modeling approach and associated challenges. The second part will address the experimental investigation in more detail, with an emphasis on thermal contrast behavior under varied transient conditions. KW - Finite element modeling KW - Non- destructive testing KW - Passive infrared thermography KW - Thermal contrast KW - Wind turbine blades PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655330 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/we.70102 SN - 1095-4244 VL - 29 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-65533 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehri Sofiani, F. A1 - Chaudhuri, Somsubhro A1 - Elahi, S. A. A1 - Wallaert, E. A1 - Depover, T. A1 - De Waele, W. T1 - Accelerated laboratory simulation of corrosion pit evolution in low-carbon steel using phase-field guided overpotential application N2 - This study is performed to replicate field data of pit geometry evolution in the laboratory by accelerating pit evolution through the application of relatively high overpotential on low-carbon steel. A phase-field model is used to reduce the number of trials and errors in the laboratory. The effect of overpotential on pitting corrosion is studied in low-carbon steel in the electrolyte representative of the North Sea. Based on the results obtained through the numerical model, potentiostatic polarisation tests are performed, and a comparison is made between such accelerated tests and steel coupons collected from the field. The results of this comparison suggest that the pitting corrosion acceleration mechanism effectively produces surface conditions closely resembling those of naturally pitted steel. Additionally, it enables the investigation of the electrochemical characteristics of a stable pit over long-term exposure, where direct probing is challenging. This framework strives to mitigate the excessive costs of time-consuming coupon experiments by correlating accelerated pitting corrosion in short periods of time with actual pitting corrosion observed over the long term. KW - Pitting corrosion KW - Corrosion acceleration KW - Potentiodynamic tests KW - Phase-field KW - S355 PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2025.110352 SN - 1350-6307 VL - 184 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford AN - OPUS4-64805 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -