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

Typically for the thermal inspection of reflective surfaces, paint or other emissivity enhancing coatings are applied before inspection. A pulsed light emitting diodes (PLED) heat source is used. The PLED heat source is spectrally narrow, contained within the visible band, and therefore not detectable by the infrared camera. The PLED heat source is configured to reduce any transient cool down components that could produce false defect indications. The PLED thermal inspections are compared to commercially available flash thermography inspections on unpainted aluminum samples with simulated corrosion and additively manufactured Ti-6AL-4V metal specimens.