Quantitative evaluation of active thermography using contrast-to-noise ratio

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Non-Destructive Testing
• Infrared Imaging

Background:

• Active thermography is an infrared-based non-destructive testing (NDT) technique.
• It relies on analyzing temperature changes over space and time to detect material defects.
• Current methods often yield contrast differences that are difficult to quantify directly in terms of temperature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) method for quantitative analysis of active thermography results.
• To explore different result interpretation procedures for active thermography.
• To investigate the impact of region selection and image scaling on inspection outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Focus on evaluation parameters within active thermography.
• Application of the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) method for quantitative defect assessment.
• Analysis of different result interpretation procedures, including indication and reference region selection.
• Examination of image scaling effects on inspection data.

Main Results:

• The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) method enables quantitative evaluation of active thermography results.
• Different interpretation procedures and region selection strategies influence inspection outcomes.
• Image scaling can affect the reliability and accuracy of defect detection.

Conclusions:

• The CNR method offers a pathway to more objective and quantitative defect analysis in active thermography.
• Careful selection of analysis parameters, including regions and scaling, is crucial for effective non-destructive testing.
• This work contributes to improving the precision and reliability of infrared-based material inspection techniques.