Comparative study between linear and non-linear frequency-modulated pulse-compression thermography

IR Reflectography, Pulse-Compression Thermography, MA-XRF, and Radiography: A Full-Thickness Study of a 16th-Century Panel Painting Copy of Raphael

The potential of any multi-analytical and non-invasive approach to the study of cultural heritage, both for conservation and scientific investigation purposes, is gaining increasing interest, and it was tested in this paper, focusing on the panel painting Madonna della Tenda (Musei Reali, Turin), identified as a 16th-century copy of the painting by Raffaello Sanzio. As a part of a broader diagnostic campaign carried out at the Centro Conservazione e Restauro, La Venaria Reale in Turin, Italy, the potential of the combination of X-ray radiography, pulse-compression thermography, macro X-ray fluorescence, and IR reflectography was tested to investigate the wooden support and all the preparatory phases for the realization of the painting. The results of the optical microscopy and SEM/EDS analyses on a multi-layered micro-sample were used for a precise comparison, integration, and/or confirmation of what was suggested by the non-invasive techniques. Particularly, the radiographic and thermographic techniques allowed for an in-depth study of a hole, interestingly present on the panel’s back surface, detecting the trajectory of the wood grain and confirming the presence of an old wood knot, as well as of a tau-shaped element—potentially a cracked and unfilled area of the wooden support—near the hollow. The combination of radiography, macro X-ray fluorescence, Near Infrared (NIR), and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) reflectography allowed for an inspection of the ground layer, imprimitura, engravings, and underdrawing, not only revealing interesting technical-executive aspects of the artwork realization, but also highlighting the advantages of an integrated reading of data obtained from the different analytical techniques.

Vibro-Thermal Wave Radar: Application of Barker Coded Amplitude Modulation for Enhanced Low-Power Vibrothermographic Inspection of Composites

This paper proposes an efficient non-destructive testing technique for composite materials. The proposed vibro-thermal wave radar (VTWR) technique couples the thermal wave radar imaging approach to low-power vibrothermography. The VTWR is implemented by means of a binary phase modulation of the vibrational excitation, using a 5 bit Barker coded waveform, followed by matched filtering of the thermal response. A 1D analytical formulation framework demonstrates the high depth resolvability and increased sensitivity of the VTWR. The obtained results reveal that the proposed VTWR technique outperforms the widely used classical lock-in vibrothermography. Furthermore, the VTWR technique is experimentally demonstrated on a 5.5 mm thick carbon fiber reinforced polymer coupon with barely visible impact damage. A local defect resonance frequency of a backside delamination is selected as the vibrational carrier frequency. This allows for implementing VTWR in the low-power regime (input power < 1 W). It is experimentally shown that the Barker coded amplitude modulation and the resultant pulse compression efficiency lead to an increased probing depth, and can fully resolve the deep backside delamination.

Inspection of disbonds in titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich structures with different skin thicknesses using linear frequency-modulated thermography

This paper reports the linear frequency-modulated thermography inspection of disbonds in titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich structures with different skin thicknesses. A three-dimensional finite element model of a titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich structure is built. The maximum value of the phase difference between the disbond defect region and the nondefective region is used to optimize the heating duration and frequency bandwidth. Three titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich structure specimens, with a skin thickness of 0.6 mm, 0.85 mm, and 1.2 mm, respectively, are manufactured, in which skin-to-core disbond defects are prepared. The linear frequency-modulated thermography experiments are carried out on the specimens. The correlation algorithm is used to process the infrared image sequences. The experimental results show that linear frequency-modulated thermography can realize the fast and efficient inspection of the disbonds in titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich structures with different skin thicknesses. For skin thickness ranges from 0.6 mm to 1.2 mm, a heating duration of 22 s and a frequency range of 0.01 Hz-0.21 Hz are recommended.

Low Thermal Conductivity Materials and Very Low Heat Power: A Demanding Challenge in the Detection of Flaws in Multi-Layer Wooden Cultural Heritage Objects Solved by Pulse-Compression Thermography Technique

An inlay sample with artificial defects was inspected via the pulse-compression thermography (PuCT) technique. The sample belongs to the cultural heritage field, and it was realized by a professional restorer based on his long-time experience, imitating historical art crafting styles. The tesserae composing the inlay were not treated by any protective paints, so that external thermal stimuli may cause physical/mechanical alterations of the cell walls, with consequent colour changes, cracks, and eventually damage to its surface. To avoid any alteration of the sample, the PuCT technique was used for inspecting the inlay sample as it allows the heating power to be very low, while assuring enough thermal contrast for the defects to be detected after the exploitation of the pulse-compression algorithm. Even if a maximum ΔT slightly exceeding 1 °C was detected during the PuCT test of the inlay sample, it is shown that this is enough for detecting several defects. Further, image processing based on the Hilbert transform increases defect detection and characterization. In addition, a novel normalization technique, i.e., a pixel-by-pixel data normalization with respect to the absorbance estimated by considering a characteristic value of the compression peak, is introduced here for the first time. The proposed normalization enhances the defect detection capability with respect to the standard pixel-by-pixel amplitude visualization. This has been demonstrated for two experimental setups, both exploiting the same LED chips system as heating source but different thermal camera sensors, i.e., one in the mid-infrared spectrum, the other in the far infrared one. Thus, the present work is also the first small-scale test of a future portable system that will include low-power LED chip feed in DC by metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices, and a handy far-infrared camera.

Looking Through Paintings by Combining Hyper-Spectral Imaging and Pulse-Compression Thermography

The use of different spectral bands in the inspection of artworks is highly recommended to identify the maximum number of defects/anomalies (i.e., the targets), whose presence ought to be known before any possible restoration action. Although an artwork cannot be considered as a composite material in which the zero-defect theory is usually followed by scientists, it is possible to state that the preservation of a multi-layered structure fabricated by the artist’s hands is based on a methodological analysis, where the use of non-destructive testing methods is highly desirable. In this paper, the infrared thermography and hyperspectral imaging methods were applied to identify both fabricated and non-fabricated targets in a canvas painting mocking up the famous character “Venus” by Botticelli. The pulse-compression thermography technique was used to retrieve info about the inner structure of the sample and low power light-emitting diode (LED) chips, whose emission was modulated via a pseudo-noise sequence, were exploited as the heat source for minimizing the heat radiated on the sample surface. Hyper-spectral imaging was employed to detect surface and subsurface features such as pentimenti and facial contours. The results demonstrate how the application of statistical algorithms (i.e., principal component and independent component analyses) maximized the number of targets retrieved during the post-acquisition steps for both the employed techniques. Finally, the best results obtained by both techniques and post-processing methods were fused together, resulting in a clear targets map, in which both the surface, subsurface and deeper information are all shown at a glance.

A Combined Non-Invasive Approach to the Study of A Mosaic Model: First Laboratory Experimental Results

This paper presents first laboratory results of a combined approach carried out by the use of three different portable non-invasive electromagnetic methods: Digital holographic speckle pattern interferometry (DHSPI), stimulated infrared thermography (SIRT) and holographic subsurface radar (HSR), proposed for the analysis of a custom-built wall mosaic model. The model reproduces a series of defects (e.g., cracks, voids, detachments), simulating common deteriorated, restored or reshuffled areas in wall mosaics. DHSPI and SIRT, already well known in the field of non-destructive (NDT) methods, are full-field contactless techniques, providing complementary information on the subsurface hidden discontinuities. The use of DHSPI, based on optical imaging and interferometry, provides remote control and visualization of surface micro-deformation after induced thermal stress, while the use of SIRT allows visualization of thermal energy diffusion in the surface upon the induced thermal stress. DHSPI and SIRT data are complemented by the use of HSR, a contact method that provides localized information about the distribution of contrasts in dielectric permittivity and related possible anomalies. The experimental results, made by the combined use of these methods to the identification of the known anomalies in the mosaic model, are presented and discussed here as a contribution in the development of an efficient non-invasive approach to the in-situ subsurface analysis of ancient wall mosaics.

Delamination Detection in Polymeric Ablative Materials Using Pulse-Compression Thermography and Air-Coupled Ultrasound

Ablative materials are used extensively in the aerospace industry for protection against high thermal stresses and temperatures, an example being glass/silicone composites. The extreme conditions faced and the cost-risk related to the production/operating stage of such high-tech materials indicate the importance of detecting any anomaly or defect arising from the manufacturing process. In this paper, two different non-destructive testing techniques, namely active thermography and ultrasonic testing, have been used to detect a delamination in a glass/silicone composite. It is shown that a frequency modulated chirp signal and pulse-compression can successfully be used in active thermography for detecting such a delamination. Moreover, the same type of input signal and post-processing can be used to generate an image using air-coupled ultrasound, and an interesting comparison between the two can be made to further characterise the defect.

Locating Hidden Elements in Walls of Cultural Heritage Buildings by Using Infrared Thermography

The structure of Tvrđa and its buildings date back to the Middle Ages. Tvrđa represents the Old Town of the city of Osijek and the best-preserved and largest ensemble of Baroque buildings in Croatia. After the withdrawal of the Ottomans in 1687, during the 18th century, the Austro-Hungarian administration systematically formed a new fortification system, regulated streets and squares and built a large number of military objects. Tvrđa took its present form in the 19th century and has kept it since then. Investigating the historical development of individual buildings, in addition to archival sources and existing architectural documentation, the obvious source of information are the buildings themselves. The aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities of using infrared thermography to find structural elements and hidden openings in historic buildings in Osijek’s Tvrđa. This paper describes the exploration of the 18th century openings on the facades of the former Kostić houses. The facades were bricked into the walls in the 19th century because houses were reused and their purposes changed from commercial to residential. Infrared thermography is often a starting, nondestructive testing method (NDT) for building analyses. This paper presents thermographic analyses of two buildings. The analyses were carried out in December 2017 and January 2018. Using a steady-state thermographic analysis of a building envelope as the first step, the audit was continued with step heating (SH) of an interest point where changes in a thermal pattern were expected due to additional bricking. Heat flux was generated by the usage of a heat gun for paint removal.

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Detection Method for Delamination Damage of Lined Anti-Corrosion Pipes Using PZT Transducers

Lined anti-corrosion pipes are widely used in oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical industries. However, defects, especially delamination, may occur in the production and service of pipes which result in safety accidents. Based on nonlinear ultrasonic theory, this paper studied the delamination detection method using the nonlinear harmonics for lined anti-corrosion pipes. The response characteristics of the anti-corrosion pipe were obtained through a sweep sine response experiment and the preferred excitation frequency was determined. The Wavelet Packet transform and Hilbert–Huang transform is applied for signal process and feature extraction. Then, a series of experiments were carried out and the results were analyzed and discussed. The results showed that a second-order and third-order nonlinear coefficient increased with the delamination damage. The amplitude of second-harmonic is much stronger than the third-order one. The mean squared error of the nonlinear coefficient, which was processed by Wavelet Packet transform and Hilbert–Huang transform, is smaller than wavelet packet transform and Discrete Fourier transform or processed only Hilbert–Huang transform. The higher harmonics can describe the change of delamination damage, which means that the nonlinear ultrasonic detection method could use for damage detection of anti-corrosion pipe. The nonlinear higher-harmonic is sensitive to delamination damage. The nonlinear ultrasonic method has the potential for damage detection for lined anti-corrosion pipes.