High Speed Mobile Thermal Scanning for Qualitative Defect Detection on Underside of a Flat Plate

Abstract

A thermal line scanning method is applied to inspect defects at varying depths on the underside of a steel plate. Through the use of computational simulations, the transient temperature response of the plate surface for high speed mobile heating is shown to be similar to that produced by stationary heating. High speed line scan thermography could potentially provide a basis for the rapid in situ detection of underside material-loss defects in steel rail.