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Within the field of optically excited thermography, full-field thermal imaging is used to characterize materials, to determine thicknesses of layers or to find inhomogeneities such as voids or cracks. Classical light sources, such as flash lamps (impulse heating) or halogen lamps (modulated heating), are hereby specifically used. This has led to the different testing methods lock-in and flash thermography. The VCSEL array promises to merge these excitation methods.
Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) are laser diodes emitting light perpendicular to their surface. Due to the vertical structure they can be arranged in large arrays of many thousand individual lasers and still be controlled like ordinary diode lasers. Recently a high-power albeit very compact version of such a VCSEL-array became available which offers both the fast timing behavior of lasers and large illumination areas. Moreover, it allows a spatial and temporal control of the heating because individual parts of the VCSEL-array can be controlled arbitrarily in frequency, amplitude, and phase.
Although the VCSEL-array has a high potential for a new range of applications, it is too early to proclaim them. As one out of very few labs, we already adopted to this new VCSEL technology and show a thorough characterization and first results obtained with a 2.4 kW device. Specifically, we will discuss
- the linearity between control voltage and optical output
- the minimal pulse duration
- the maximal applicable modulation frequency
- optical projection and its influence on the optical output
- spatial control of the illumination and thermal wave shaping
Our results indicate that a VCSEL-array can be used for conventional impulse (aka flash) thermography whereas pulse duration and power are instantaneously accessible compared to flash lamp excitation. In case of lock-in thermography, we can apply frequencies in excess of 200 Hz without a loss in amplitude or an after glowing of the source, making it attractive for photo thermal applications. Consequently, this means that the VCSEL-array is able to merge the two main excitation methods lock-in and impulse thermography.
Im Bereich der optisch angeregten Thermografie haben sich Blitzlampen (impulsförmig-flächige Erwärmung) und Halogenlampen (moduliert-flächige Erwärmung) für die spezifischen Regime Impuls- und Lockin-Thermografie etabliert.
Mittels eines rasternden fokussierten Lasers wird die Flying-spot Laserthermografie z.B. zur Risserkennung (Dauerstrichbetrieb) und die photothermische Materialcharakterisierung (hochfrequent moduliert)implementiert. Durch die Verfügbarkeit neuer Technologien (schnelle und hochauflösende IR-Kameras, brillante innovativer Lichtquellen und performante Datenakquisitions- und Verarbeitungstechnik) wird ein Paradigmenwechsel von den getrennt voneinander stehenden photothermischen und thermografischen Techniken hin zu einer einheitlichen quantitativen Mess-und Prüftechnik ermöglicht, die schneller und präziser ist. Ähnlich wie ein LED-Array, jedoch mit einer um zwei Größenordnungen höheren Bestrahlungsstärke, steht jetzt eine neuartige brillante Laserquelle, das VCSEL-Array (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) zur Verfügung, welches die starke Beschränkung der zeitlichen Dynamik der etablierten Lichtquellen aufhebt und gleichzeitig spektral sauber von der Detektionswellenlänge getrennt ist. Es vereint somit das schnelle zeitliche Verhalten eines Diodenlasers mit der hohen optischen Bestrahlungsstärke und dem großen Beleuchtungsbereich von Blitzlampen. Darüber hinaus kann die Erwärmung auch strukturiert vorgenommen werden, da einzelne Bereiche des VCSEL-Arrays unabhängig voneinander angesteuert werden können. Dieser neue Freiheitsgrad ermöglicht die Entwicklung ganz neuer thermografischer ZfP-Verfahren.
Im Bereich der optisch angeregten Thermografie haben sich Blitzlampen (impulsförmig-flächige Erwärmung) und Halogenlampen (moduliert-flächige Erwärmung) für die spezifischen Regime Impuls- und Lockin-Thermografie etabliert.
Mittels eines rasternden fokussierten Lasers wird die Flying-spot Laserthermografie z.B. zur Risserkennung (Dauerstrichbetrieb) und die photothermische Materialcharakterisierung (hochfrequent moduliert)implementiert. Durch die Verfügbarkeit neuer Technologien (schnelle und hochauflösende IR-Kameras, brillante innovativer Lichtquellen und performante Datenakquisitions- und Verarbeitungstechnik) wird ein Paradigmenwechsel von den getrennt voneinander stehenden photothermischen und
thermografischen Techniken hin zu einer einheitlichen quantitativen Mess-und Prüftechnik ermöglicht, die schneller und präziser ist. Ähnlich wie ein LED-Array, jedoch mit einer um zwei Größenordnungen höheren Bestrahlungsstärke, steht jetzt eine neuartige brillante Laserquelle, das VCSEL-Array (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) zur Verfügung, welches die starke Beschränkung der zeitlichen Dynamik der etablierten Lichtquellen aufhebt und gleichzeitig spektral sauber von der Detektionswellenlänge getrennt ist. Es vereint somit das schnelle zeitliche Verhalten eines Diodenlasers mit der hohen optischen Bestrahlungsstärke und dem großen Beleuchtungsbereich von Blitzlampen. Darüber hinaus kann die Erwärmung auch strukturiert vorgenommen werden, da einzelne Bereiche des VCSEL-Arrays unabhängig voneinander angesteuert werden können. Dieser neue Freiheitsgrad ermöglicht die Entwicklung ganz neuer thermografischer ZfP-Verfahren.
Laser thermography has its roots in the late-1960s when Kubiak first used a focused light source to raster-scan a specimen containing surface breaking cracks and employed an infrared detector to monitor the blocking effect of the cracks on the heat flow. Nowadays, this technique has evolved into the flying-spot laser thermography. In the mid-1970s, when Rosencwaig and Gersho worked out the theory for the photoacoustic effect, they laid the foundation for the development of the photothermal testing methodology. The decisive difference to the flying-spot technique is that in the photothermal methodology, a high-frequency modulated laser beam is used, which explicitly uses the concept of the thermal wave.
Starting in the 1980s, infrared cameras came into play and enabled full-field thermal imaging, but this time, slow thermal light sources were used. Today, flash lamps (pulsed planar heating) and halogen lamps (modulated planar heating) have been established as the standard light sources for the specific regimes of pulsed and lock-in thermography.
Only recently, the availability of novel technologies – fast and high-resolution infrared cameras, innovative brilliant laser sources and high-performance data acquisition and processing technology – has enabled a paradigm shift from the separated photothermal and thermographic methodologies to a versatile tool for NDE that combines both approaches. In addition, the heating can also be spatially structured using laser arrays. This new degree of freedom allows the development of completely new thermography NDE methods.
In the talk, we present current activities with kilowatt-class high-power laser sources for advanced flying-spot, pulsed, lock-in and laser-projected thermography.
Among the photothermal methods, full-field thermal imaging is used to characterize materials, to determine thicknesses of layers, or to find inhomogeneities such as voids or cracks. The use of classical light sources such as flash lamps (impulse heating) or halogen lamps (modulated heating) led to a variety of nondestructive testing methods, in particular lock-in and flash-thermography.
In vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), laser light is emitted perpendicular to the surface with a symmetrical beam profile. Due to the vertical structure, they can be arranged in large arrays of many thousands of individual lasers, which allows power scaling into the kilowatt range. Recently, a high-power yet very compact version of such a VCSEL-array became available that offers both the fast timing behavior of a laser as well as the large illumination area of a lamp.
Moreover, it allows a spatial and temporal control of the heating because individual parts of the array can be controlled arbitrarily in frequency, amplitude, and phase. In conjunction with a fast infrared camera, such structured heating opens up a field of novel thermal imaging and testing methods. As a first demonstration of this approach, we chose a testing problem very challenging to conventional thermal infrared testing: The detection of very thin subsurface defects perpendicularly oriented to the surface of metallic samples. First, we generate destructively interfering thermal wave fields which are then affected by the presence of defects within their reach. It turned out that this technique allows highly sensitive detection of subsurface defects down to depths in excess of the usual thermographic rule of thumb, with no need for a reference or surface preparation
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.
Structured illumination using high-power diode lasers generates a two-dimensional interference of thermal waves. In addition, the sources and the sample are moving relative to each other. Using different configurations, we investigate the validity of the temporal and spatial superposition principle of the heat diffusion equation for these cases both experimentally and by numerical-analytical modelling. Furthermore, we investigate the potential of this approach for non-destructive testing.
Among the photothermal methods, full-field thermal imaging is used to characterize materials, to determine thicknesses of layers, or to find inhomogeneities such as voids or cracks. The use of classical light sources such as flash lamps (impulse heating) or halogen lamps (modulated heating) led to a variety of nondestructive testing methods, in particular, lock-in and flash-thermography. In vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), laser light is emitted perpendicularly to the surface with a symmetrical beam profile. Due to the vertical structure, they can be arranged in large arrays of many thousands of individual lasers, which allows power scaling into the kilowatt range. Recently, a high-power yet very compact version of such a VCSEL-array became available that offers both the fast timing behavior of a laser as well as the large illumination area of a lamp. Moreover, it allows a spatial and temporal control of the heating because individual parts of the array can be controlled arbitrarily in frequency, amplitude, and phase. In conjunction with a fast infrared camera, such structured heating opens up a field of novel thermal imaging and testing methods. As a first demonstration of this approach, we chose a testing problem very challenging to conventional thermal infrared testing: The detection of very thin subsurface defects perpendicularly oriented to the surface of metallic samples. First, we generate destructively interfering thermal wave fields, which are then affected by the presence of defects within their reach. It turned out that this technique allows highly sensitive detection of subsurface defects down to depths in excess of the usual thermographic rule of thumb, with no need for a reference or surface preparation.
Lock-in- and flash thermography are standard methods in active thermography. They are widely used in industrial inspection tasks e.g. for the detection of delaminations, cracks or pores. The requirements for the light sources of these two methods are substantially different. While lock-in thermography requires sources that can be easily and above all fast modulated, the use of flash thermography requires sources that release a very high optical energy in the very short time.
By introducing high-power vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) arrays to the field of thermography a source is now available that covers these two areas. VCSEL arrays combine the fast temporal behavior of a diode laser with the high optical irradiance and the wide illumination range of flash lamps or LEDs and can thus potentially replace all conventional light sources of thermography.
However, the main advantage of this laser technology lies in the independent control of individual array areas. It is therefore possible to heat not only in terms of time, but also in terms of space. This new degree of freedom allows the development of new NDT methods. We demonstrate this approach using a test problem that can only be solved to a limited extent in active thermography, namely the detection of very thin, hidden defects in metallic materials that are aligned vertically to the surface. For this purpose, we generate destructively interfering thermal wave fields, which make it possible to detect defects within the range of the thermal wave field high sensitivity. This is done without pre-treatment of the surface and without using a reference area to depths beyond the usual thermographic rule of thumb.
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.