MOISTURE EVALUATION BY DYNAMIC THERMOGRAPHY DATA MODELING

This paper discusses the design of a nondestructive method for in situ detection of moistened areas in buildings and the evaluation of the water content in porous materials by thermographic analysis. The use of heat transfer model to interpret data allows to improve the measurement accuracy taking into account the actual boundary conditions. The relative increase of computation time is balanced by the additional advantage to optimize the testing procedure of different objects simulating the heat transfer. Experimental results on bricks used in building for restoration activities, are discussed. The water content measured in different hygrometric conditions is compared with known values. A correction on the absorptivity coefficient dependent on water content is introduced.