Development and test of a numerical model for pulse thermography in civil engineering

Pulse thermography of concrete structures is used in civil engineering for detecting voids, honeycombing and delamination. Quantitatively realistic numerical 3D simulation is difficult due to the arising boundary layer at the heated surface and unreliable information about material parameters and environmental conditions. We address both issues by a semi-analytic reformulation of the heat transport problem and by parameter identification. Numerical results are compared with measurements of a test specimen.