Open Access

Impact damages and delaminations in fibre-reinforced composites (FRC) might not be visible at the surface, but could have an influence on the resistance and on the long-term behaviour of the component. Therefore, and especially for safety relevant structures, non-destructive methods are required for the assessment of such damages. Active thermography methods are suitable to characterize damages after loading using different kind of excitation techniques and various configurations of infrared (IR) camera and heating sources. Here, flash lamps, impulse excitation with infrared radiator and lock-in technique with halogen lamps or widened laser beams are suited. In addition, non-optical sources like sonotrodes (requiring direct contact to the structure) or induction generators (only suited for carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) structures) could be applied as well. For the investigation of the evolution of the damage during the impact, passive thermography can be applied in-situ. Elastic and plastic deformations alter the temperature of the structure and thus the temperature on the surface. In this contribution, at first the general principles of quantitative defect characterisation in FRC using active thermography with flash, impulse and lock-in excitation are described. Optical and thermal properties of the FRC material and its anisotropy are considered. Results of phase differences obtained at flat bottom holes with flash and lock-in thermography are compared for qualifying both methods for quantitative defect characterization. Secondly, the damage evolution of CFRP and GFRP structures under impact load and static tensile loading is described. The spatial and temporal evolution of the surface temperature enables us to distinguish matrix cracks or fibre-matrix separation from delaminations between the layers. Afterwards, all results for loading defects, obtained by passive and active thermography, are compared with each other. Fig. 1 and 2 show the difference of passive and flash thermography obtained at impact and tensile loaded CFRP plates, respectively. As one purpose of these investigations is the development of standards within national (DIN) and European (CEN) standardisation bodies, new draft and final standards are presented and further needs are discussed at the end of the presentation.

Für die optische Erwärmung von Prüfteiloberflächen sind Blitz- und Halogenlampen Stand der Technik. Der Vorteil dieser Wärmequellen liegt in ihren relativ geringen Anschaffungskosten bei gleichzeitig hohen Leistungsdichten am Prüfobjekt. Nachteilig ist bei den Halogenlampen die Limitierung der möglichen Modulationsffequenz auf ca. 1 Hz für die Anwendung dieser Quelle in der Lockin-Thermografie. Blitzlampen bieten für gewöhnlich nur eine feste Blitzdauer bei einer geringen Taktrate. Beide Anregungsquellen müssen in Reflexionsanordnung mit Filtern betrieben werden um die entstehende thermische Eigenstrahlung als Störquelle zu eliminieren. Wir stellen Untersuchungen an Hochleistungs-LEDs für den Einsatz in der aktiven Thermografie vor. Diese Lichtquellen werden durch die rasante Entwicklung der möglichen Leistungsdichten nun auch für die thermografische ZfP interessant. Sie zeigen ähnlich dem Laser eine schmale und auf den Werkstoff abstimmbare spektrale Verteilung der Strahlungsleistung bei moderaten Kosten. Die zugrunde liegende Elektrolumineszenz generiert kaum Wärmestrahlung und ermöglicht dadurch die Prüfung während des Erwärmungsvorganges ohne größeren Aufwand. Modulationsfrequenzen über 100 Hz mit thermischen Eindringtiefen < 1 mm sind möglich. Dadurch qualifizieren sich die LEDs zur Anwendung in der Lockin-Thermografie von Metallen und zur oberflächennahen Prüfung von Schichtsystemen. Durch die fast verzögerungsffeie Reaktion der LED auf das steuernde Signal sind nahezu beliebige zeitliche Anregungsformen möglich. Mit solch flexiblen Anregungsformen ließen sich bereits bei den photothermischen Verfahren erfolgreich höhere Tiefenreichweiten und -auflösungen gegenüber den klassischen Methoden der monofrequenten Lockin - und energiereichen Kurzimpuls-Anregung erzielen. Untersuchungen dieser Möglichkeiten im praktischen Einsatz der HochleistungsLEDs werden vorgestellt und mit herkömmlichen Lichtquellen verglichen.

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.

Ever larger high pressure die castings (HPDC) with ever thinner walls raise the issue of casting defects. Properties of components are often strongly influenced by inner porosity. In the case of high pressure die castings, shrinkage and gas porosity occur. Two possibilities of characterizing porosity - by microscopy and acitve thermography - are dealt with in two articles. In the previous article, the microscopic investigations are presented. In this article, first the feasibility of thermographic detection will be discussed based on simulations and, thereafter, the experimental determination of porosity with active thermography will be described.

This study evaluates whether subsurface features in rotor blades, mainly made of Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics (GFRP), can generally be detected with ‘‘solar thermography”. First, the suitability of the sun is tested for acting as a heat source for applying active thermography on a 30 mm thick GFRP test specimen. Second, a defective rotor blade segment is inspected outdoors under ideal natural conditions using the sun as excitation source. Additionally, numerical FEM-simulations are performed and the comparability between experiment and simulation is evaluated for outdoor measurements.