NDT inspection of aeronautical components by projected thermal diffusivity analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the application of an innovative method for thermographic NDT data processing to inspections on real aeronautical components. The results provided by this method are related to thermal diffusivity values obtained by projecting the characteristics of a 3D thermal diffusion model onto one of the coordinate planes. In previous studies, laboratory experiments demonstrated that this method produces a higher increase in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to conventional processing algorithms and it also provides a novel way of representing detected defects identifying the area affected by the lateral thermal diffusion effect.

KEYWORDS:

• Infrared thermography
• non-destructive testing
• thermal diffusion model
• data processing
• projected diffusivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P. Venegas

Pablo Venegas obtained his BS degree in Industrial Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of the Basque Country (UPV, Spain) in 2006 and received his Ph.D. degree at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in 2019 (UNED, Spain). He has been working in The Aeronautical Technologies Centre as a project manager for 13 years, where has gained extensive experience in projects for research and development of thermographic techniques applied as NDT tools.

J. Perán

Juan Perán, born in 1963 at Cáceres (Spain), studied mathematics at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), where he graduated in 1986. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1996 at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED, Spain). J. Perán is Associate Professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics in the Technical School of Industrial Engineers (UNED, Spain). His research has been focused on different areas of Applied Mathematics throughout his career.

R. Usamentiaga

Rubén Usamentiaga, Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Oviedo. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Oviedo in 1999 and 2005, respectively. In recent years he has been working on several projects related to computer vision and industrial systems. His research interests include real-time imaging systems and thermographic applications for industrial processes.

I. Sáez De Ocáriz

Idurre Sáez de Ocáriz, Ph.D. Head of Science & Technology Department of CTA (Aeronautical Technologies Centre). She holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of the Basque Country (2001), a Masters in Telecommunications from the School of Engineering of Bilbao (2001) and a Master in Management of Technological and Industrial Innovation by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (2012). She has more than 18 years of experience in R&D, been participating in regional, national and international R&D projects.