First experiments for the diagnosis and thermophysical sampling using pulsed IR thermography from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Résumé
Infrared (IR) thermography is a control method widely used for building diagnosis to investigate structural blemishes and thermal heat losses. Usually, collecting the thermal heat flux naturally emitted by a studied surface via an IR camera, we obtain critical information regarding its structure through passive infrared thermography. The thermogram can then reveal an abnormal variation of the heat flux and highlight a defection. However, on building applications in the case of Non Destructive Testing and Energy Consumption Investigation, spare control often only emits no significant heat due to the high thermal inertia materials that are often used. To overcome such problem, active impulse infrared thermography is an interesting alternative method, since we can access to information not provided spontaneously by analyzing the passive thermal emission of the surface. Hence, in this work, the front face flash method is proposed in order to analyse the subsurface thermal properties. Furthermore, it is proposed to couple impulse IR thermography with a stable Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAV) to record and analyse the transient temperature response during convenient time duration. Preliminary results and several practical problems for the implementation of such experimental device are given and discussed here.