Advanced Thermal Inspection with Pulsed Light Emitting Diodes (PLED) Technology

Thermal nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is a widely used method for detecting defects such as cracks, corrosion, and dis-bond layers in metallic and composite structures. Traditional thermal inspection methods rely on a high-intensity, broadband light heat source (e.g., flash lamp, quartz lamp) that generates heat that is absorbed by the material, and an infrared camera captures the transient thermal response to generate inspection data. However, inspecting low emissivity surfaces (such as unpainted aluminum and titanium alloys) poses challenges including high reflection of the heat source light that can cause inaccurate measurement of the surface temperature response, produce false defect indications, and potential sensor damage due to high-intensity reflections.