Ther­mo­graphy for Material Testing

Stress changes during tensile testing provide information about material properties of metals such as tensile strength. With the help of thermographic cameras metallic solid bodies can be tested for such stress changes.

The combination of measuring results from the digital image correlation (ARAMIS, DIC) and temperature measuring data from infrared cameras enables the simultaneous analysis of the thermal and mechanical behavior of test specimens in the materials and components testing field.

Additive manufacturing has developed rapidly from its original field of prototype manufacturing, becoming a complete production technology for use on an industrial scale. Precise monitoring of machinery, equipment, materials and – above all – temperatures is of vital importance in this regard.

New materials with precisely controlled optical and thermal transport characteristics can make a large contribution to resource-saving thermal management. Scientists of the University of Bayreuth are pursuing this vision. They use infrared thermography to quantitatively determine thermal conductivity in nano- and mesostructured polymer materials.

Epoxy resin systems are mostly used as a matrix material in fibre composites. In a variety of manufacturing processes, the corresponding resin system is processed in a flowable state. The material only acquires its rigidity in a subsequent curing process. This is characterized by an exothermic chemical reaction with a pronounced temperature dependence.

A core topic of modern materials research is the research on plastics as a versatile material for various technological applications. Quite often, industrial applications are developed from academic basic research. At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Paderborn, Kunststofftechnik Paderborn (KTP) works intensively on this topic using a VarioCAM® HD for this purpose.

STMicroelectronics is a European manufacturer that produces a wide range of semiconductor components for electronic applications worldwide. The company uses InfraTec’s E-LIT system to perform fault analysis on chips, discrete components, sensors, LEDs, and power modules. Users particularly appreciate the system’s flexibility when testing different components and its ability to visually identify faults with ease.

Thermographic damage and functional analysis of electronic components has become one of the established testing methods in electrical engineering. This method is also used for research purposes at the Institute for Electrical Systems and Energy Logistics at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. In this context, Prof. Dr. Ralph Schacht focuses intensively on material and system characterization as well as non-destructive failure analysis of printed circuit boards, electronic components, microelectronics, and composite systems in assembly and interconnection technology.

The energy efficiency of electronic components is playing an increasingly important role in numerous fields of application. What’s more, in our age of electronics and high-tech, there is a demand for ever-faster active components, higher power densities in miniaturized systems, and absolute reliability. Added to this are the demands for environmentally conscious resource procurement and the requirement that increases in module performance must go hand in hand with lower energy consumption.

Contactless measurement of temperature distributions and profiles with industrial thermographic cameras permits efficient monitoring and control of temperature-dependent processes and procedures within a system-integrated quality assurance programme in industry.

Check the microstructures of sheet metal parts during the stamping process and establish a uniform high strength and quality of all produced stampings safely and with a contact-free method.

Using pulse thermography, WELD-CHECK enables you a quantitative assessment of the inspected welds.

Check for long-life fatigue strength of mechanical components in load tests, using high-end infrared cameras.

Detect inhomogeneous temperature distribution and local power loss during the production using the Lock-in Thermography.

Get advantages in costing and quality by non-contact thermographic testing of your solar cells and PV-modules.

Faster Measurement with a Constant Field of View

Due to binning technology, infrared cameras have an additional high-speed mode in which the frame rate increases to more than three times and the thermal resolution can be doubled.

Guaranteed Flexibility and Measurement Accuracy

Due to this innovative feature, the cameras' measurement accuracy remains unchanged even when integration times or measurement ranges are altered. This will save users both time and money.

The Auto Calibration option expands the HighSense function to include automatic, dynamic adaptation of the integration time. This ensures the utmost temperature measuring accuracy and an optimised signal-to-noise ratio throughout the process. The wellfill of a detector is usually optimal in certain areas of the dynamic range. If the measured object signal is outside theses or user-specified limits, the integration time is readjusted.

Interface for Incoming and Outgoing Control Signals
Trigger signals to or from the camera can be used to control and synchronise image data acquisition. Thermographic measurements can also be used to control processes.

Ultra-fast Data Transfer
High-resolution detectors and high frame rates generate large amounts of data. With the 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface, this data can be transferred quickly, reliably and without loss.

Measurement of High Temperatures & Spectral Ranges

Up to two individually combinable wheels equipped with filters and apertures allow the camera sensitivity to be adjusted to the specific requirements of demanding measurement tasks.

The multispectral feature makes it possible to record sequences with constantly changing spectral filters. Images are recorded synchronously with a rapidly rotating filter wheel equipped with the filters. It may be possible to switch between up to seven filters, depending on the version. Due to this the multispectral measurement can be optimised to suit the measuring task if the preset ranges are unsuitable. The integration times can be adapted within the limits calibrated for this filter.

Fast Measurements in Defined Subsections

Capture very fast temperature and motion sequences in full, half, quarter and sub modes, as well as in sub image formats defined by click-and-drag, using high frame rates.

For detection of small temperature changes InfraTec's infrared cameras offer thermal resolutions up to < 15 mK in real-time operation. By using the Lock-in Thermography method it is possible to further increase this resolution significantly. For this purpose test objects are periodically excited and non-destructively examined for defects and irregularities.