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Infrared thermography for civil structural assessment: demonstrations with laboratory and field studies

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Abstract

A detailed investigation of infrared thermography (IRT) for civil structures is presented by considering different technologies, data analysis methods and experimental conditions in the laboratory and also in the field. Three different types of infrared (IR) camera were compared under active IRT conditions in the laboratory to examine the effect of photography angle on IRT along with the specifications of cameras. It is found that when IR images are taken from a certain angle, each camera shows different temperature readings. However, since each IR camera can capture temperature differences between sound and delaminated areas, they have a potential to detect delaminated area under a given condition in spite of camera specifications even when they are utilized from a certain angle. Furthermore, a more objective data analysis method than just comparing IR images was explored to assess IR data, and it is much easier to detect delamination than raw IR images. Specially designed laboratory and field studies show the capabilities, opportunities and challenges of implementing IRT for civil structures.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Dr. Koji Mitani, Mr. Masato Matsumoto, Mr. Shinji Nagayasu and Mr. Kyle Ruske of NEXCO-West USA for their feedback and support throughout the studies presented in this manuscript. Without their contributions, this project would not have been realized. The authors also wish to acknowledge the financial support of Tübitak (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for supporting the 2nd author while he was a visiting scholar at UCF.

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Author notes

  1. Recep Birgul

    Present address: Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Muğla, Turkey

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Drive, Suite 211, Orlando, FL, USA

    Shuhei Hiasa & F. Necati Catbas

  2. West Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO-West), Dojima Avanza 19F, 1-6-20 Dojima, Kita-ku, Osaka, 530-0003, Japan

    Shuhei Hiasa

  3. Formerly, Visiting Scholar at the University of Central Florida, 12800 Pegasus Drive, Suite 211, Orlando, FL, USA

    Recep Birgul

Authors
  1. Shuhei Hiasa
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  2. Recep Birgul
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  3. F. Necati Catbas
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Correspondence to F. Necati Catbas.

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Hiasa, S., Birgul, R. & Catbas, F.N. Infrared thermography for civil structural assessment: demonstrations with laboratory and field studies. J Civil Struct Health Monit 6, 619–636 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-016-0180-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-016-0180-9

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