Dynamic Inspection of Surface-Breaking Defects using Induction Thermography

In comparison to other active thermography techniques, induction thermography can provide instantaneous results, is not affected by material emissivity/reflectivity and is indifferent to surface geometry. These advantages make it a promising technique to be applied for in-line/dynamic inspections. In this work, the thermal signatures from a titanium sample under different excitation parameters and moving speeds will be studied. To simulate surface-breaking cracks, electrical discharge machining (EDM) notches of varying lengths, widths and depths were made on the titanium sample. As with most applications, only a single side is accessible for inspection. Therefore, induction thermography in the reflection mode will be utilized in this work. After evaluating the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) under various conditions and inspection speeds, the optimized configuration will be presented. The findings will be beneficial to researchers interested in implementing induction thermography in an in-line/dynamic inspection setting.