Automated Defect Detection Using Threshold Value Classification Based on Thermographic Inspection

Active infrared thermography is an attractive and reliable technique used for the non-destructive evaluation of various materials and structures, because it enables non-contact, large area, high-speed, quantitative, and qualitative inspection. However, the defect detectability is significantly deter...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Seungju Lee, Yoonjae Chung, Ranjit Shrestha, Wontae Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/17/7870
Description
Summary:Active infrared thermography is an attractive and reliable technique used for the non-destructive evaluation of various materials and structures, because it enables non-contact, large area, high-speed, quantitative, and qualitative inspection. However, the defect detectability is significantly deteriorated due to the excitation of a non-uniform heat source and surrounding environmental noise, requiring additional signal processing and image characterization. The lock-in infrared thermography technique has been proven to be an effective method for quantitative evaluation by extracting amplitude and phase images from a 2D thermal sequence, but it still involves a lot of noise, providing difficulties in detection. Therefore, this study explored the possibility of improving the signal-to-noise ratio by applying filtering to a stainless-steel plate with circular defects. Thereafter, automated defect detection was performed based on the threshold value through the binary images. In addition, a comparative analysis was performed to evaluate the detectability according to the presence or absence of a filtering application.
ISSN:2076-3417