Infrared thermography refers to the NonDestructive, nonintrusive, noncontact mapping of thermal patterns (i.e. thermograms) on the surface of objects [MALD01b]. The term Thermography alone, refer to thermal testing techniques regardless of the physical phenomena used to monitor the thermal changes. For instance, the application of a temperature sensitive coating to a surface in order to measure its temperature is a thermographic contact technique based on heat conduction, but not infrared. There are many other terms in use all referring to Infrared Thermography, the adoption of one or other term depends on the author’s background and preferences. For instance, Video Thermography and Thermal Imaging draw attention to the fact that a sequence of images is acquired and is possible to see it as a movie. Pulse-Echo Thermography and Thermal Wave Imaging [FAVR98, FAVR96, FAVR95a, FAVR95b] are adopted to emphasize the wave nature of heat. Pulsed Video Thermography [MILNE84, REYN86], Transient Thermography [ALMO94, ALMO93, SAIN95], and Flash Thermography [PARK61], are used when the specimen is stimulated using a short energy pulse.
Last update: Wednesday, November 21, 2007
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