Temper­ature Meas­ure­ment with Ther­mo­graphy

Thermal imaging helps to make defects visible without damaging the device under test on its testing. Therefore, functions of catalysts as well as electric systems of cars and motor assemblies can also be tested. Today, the bonding of car components by means of weld seams can be efficiently examined by methods of active heat flow thermography. If in doubt, the parts simply can be re-weld to achieve the required quality.

Moreover, defects and deficiencies of multiple products for the automotive industry are only to be detected through temperature changes. Thus, heated seats and window heating can be tried and tested for their functionality by applying infrared camera systems.

The use of infrared thermography in electronics and electrical industry allows contactless measurement of surface temperatures with an infrared camera without contacting temperature sensors. It is an elegant, non-invasive optical temperature measurement method for simultaneous and temporally high-resolution detection of a number of measurement points.

The thermographic inspection of electronic components and assemblies is an established test procedure for failure detection and quality management – from the development of first prototypes to serial production.

Infrared cameras enable non-contact temperature measurement in chemical processes, as these run endogenously or exogenously and therefore lead to a heat flow. The pictorial representation of the temperature distribution by means of thermography makes it possible to not only measure this heat flow selectively, but to analyse temperatures of entire process chains.

Furthermore, thermography is used to check the insulation of reactors, as it reliably detects weak points.

In additive manufacturing, temperature is one of the factors on which the quality of the final product depends. Thermal imaging cameras record temperature developments and deviations in real time and enable rapid intervention in the ongoing process.

Additive manufacturing – also known as 3D printing – refers to manufacturing processes in which material is applied layer by layer to create three-dimensional objects. Thereby chemical and physical hardening and melting processes take place, in which temperature plays a decisive role. Infrared cameras support the systematic monitoring of the entire manufacturing and machining process. Here, the detection of the temperature distribution of the powder bed surface and the measurement of melting temperatures are relevant in most cases. Both can be realised for temperature ranges higher than 2,000 °C and while the laser is working (in-situ measurement).

Non-contact temperature measurement is also used for research purposes . One example is the inspection of CFRP compounds and components. Fibre-reinforced plastics, such as CFRP and GRP, offer numerous advantages for lightweight design of aircraft and automobiles. But the economic, flexible and automated production of these materials in large volumes has been delayed by the lack of suitable processing, inspection and measurement procedures. Laser technology promises help here. InfraTec worked together with Audi and six additional partners from science and industry to optimise the possibilities to use local laser energy application, customised for the respective production requirements, for processing temperature-sensitive materials.

Infrared cameras are also used in the agricultural sector. Among other things, they are used in plant phenotyping to detect plant diseases and to generate data for digital system solutions in plant production and breeding.