ThermoPoD: A reliability study on active infrared thermography for the inspection of composite materials

In this study, a Probability of Detection (PoD) experimental study was carried out in the framework of a Belgian-Quebec/Canada collaborative research project called ThermoPoD. Experiments were implemented on a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) specimen with embedded material simulating delamination. For active infrared thermography, different heating sources (optical or ultrasound), heating forms (pulsed or lock-in), and data processing methods, such as Fourier Transform, Thermal Signal Reconstruction, Wavelet Transform, Differential Absolute Contrast, and Principal Component Thermography are of interest. In the present study, the effects of various data processing methods on PoD curves are compared.