DEFECT DETECTION WITHIN A PIPE USING ULTRASOUND EXCITED THERMOGRAPHY

An UET (ultrasound excited thermography) has been used for several years for a remote non-destructive testing in the automotive and aircraft industry. It provides a thermo sonic image for a defect detection. A thermograhy is based on a propagation and a reflection of a thermal wave, which is launched from the surface into the inspected sample by an absorption of a modulated radiation. For an energy deposition to a sample, the UET uses an ultrasound excited vibration energy as an internal heat source. In this paper the applicability of the UET for a realtime defect detection is described. Measurements were performed on two kinds of pipes made from a copper and a CFRP material. In the interior of the CFRP pipe (70mm diameter), a groove (width - 6mm, depth - 2.7mm, and length - 70mm) was engraved by a milling. In the case of the copper pipe, a defect was made with a groove (width -2mm, depth - 1 mm, and length - 110 mm) by the same method. An ultrasonic vibration energy of a pulsed type is injected into the exterior side of the pipe. A hot spot, which is a small area around the defect was considerably heated up when compared to the other intact areas, was observed. A test on a damaged copper pipe produced a thermo sonic image, which was an excellent image contrast when compared to a CFRP pipe. Test on a CFRP pipe with a subsurface defect revealed a thermo sonic image at the groove position which was a relatively weak contrast.