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Detection of damage and cracks in existing 20th century concrete structures using the non-destructive method of infrared thermography

Ntountoulakis Nikolaos

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Summary

Subject of the thesis is the application of infrared thermography, a non-destructive technique, to identify damages and cracks in existing structures. Infrared thermography is a technique that is constantly being developed and applied in the engineering sector and can potentially be used in historic and newly constructed buildings to check for structural integrity/failures. Specifically, the first goal of the thesis was the bibliographic research and presentation of all the major nondestructive techniques, the historical background of the basic methodology that accompanies the technique of infrared thermography, its separation into active and passive method but also the understanding and presentation of the various methods-techniques that are related to the active method. Following, the experimental laboratory tests were described, where two concrete specimens and a marble specimen were examined. The specimens, which had obvious discontinuities, were heated for a certain period and photographs were taken by a thermal imager/thermal camera, in order to draw conclusions about how the faults in the thermographs are depicted. The final stage which was also the basic objective of the thesis was the attempt to create a non-destructive control system, more practical and economical which after necessary improvements can be used in larger scale existing constructions. The system consisted of piezoelectric actuators as an external source of heating and new experiments were performed on concrete specimens to demonstrate the usefulness of piezoelectric actuators in non-destructive testing with the help of infrared thermography.

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