Development of a Configurable Thermal Imaging System for Nondestructive Evaluation of Materials

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The objective of this project is to develop a thermal imaging system, including both hardware and software, to detect mechanical damage in gas pipelines. The sensors will be in the form of a configurable array of infrared CCD cameras, which will permit the complete imaging of the pipeline as the inspection instrument travels its length. The goal is to arrive at a minimal modification of the current inspection tool design, making the system attractive to pipeline-inspection vendors. The addition of a thermal-imaging sensor to the existing magnetic sensor offers the opportunity for fusing the two data sets in order to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of the inspection tool. Results obtained from this initial study will be disseminated to the gas pipeline-inspection industry and research community.The proposed project addresses a critical problem in the inspection of gas pipelines - faults caused by mechanical damage. The instrument system being developed has the potential for application as a general nondestructive evaluation tool that can be used with any material in which a defect or damage introduces a variation in thermal diffusivity from the bulk material. This method may be applicable to detect, for example, delamination in sandwiched composite materials.