Applications of pulse phase thermography

Recently, a novel approach was proposed which combines advantages of both pulse (PT) and modulated (MT) thermography. In a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) perspective, the specimen is pulse-heated as in PT and the mix of frequencies of the thermal waves launched into the specimen are unscrambled by performing the Fourier transform of the temperature time evolution over the field of view. Of interest is the maximum phase image with many attractive features: deeper probing, less influence to surface infrared and optical characteristics, rapid image recording (pulse heating, surface-wide inspection), possibility to inspect high thermal conductivity specimens. The proof-of-concept of this new approach called pulse phase thermography (PPT) was demonstrated earlier.