Following the developments in pulse compression techniques for increased range resolution and higher signal to noise ratio of radio wave radar systems, the concept of thermal wave radar (TWR) was introduced for enhanced depth resolvability in optical infrared thermography. However, considering the highly dispersive and overly damped behavior of heat wave, it is essential to systematically address both the opportunities and the limitations of the approach. In this regard, this paper is dedicated to a detailed analysis of the performance of TWR in inspection of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) through frequency and/or phase modulation of the excitation waveform. In addition to analogue frequency modulated (sweep) and discrete phase modulated (Barker binary coded) waveforms, a new discrete frequency-phase modulated (FPM) excitation waveform is introduced. All waveforms are formulated based on a central frequency so that their performance can be fairly compared to each other and to lock-in thermography at the same frequency. Depth resolvability of the waveforms, in terms of phase and lag of TWR, is firstly analyzed by an analytical solution to the 1D heat wave problem, and further by 3D finite element analysis which takes into account the anisotropic heat diffusivity of CFRPs, the non-uniform heating induced by the optical source and the measurement noise. The spectrum of the defectinduced phase contrast is calculated and, in view of that, the critical influence of the chosen central frequency and the laminate's thickness on the performance of TWR is discussed. Various central frequencies are examined and the outstanding performance of TWR at relatively high excitation frequencies is highlighted, particularly when approaching the so-called blind frequency of a defect.

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It is well known that the efficiency of the vibrothermographic non-destructive testing (NDT) technique can be enhanced by taking advantage of local defect resonance (LDR) frequencies. Recently, the classical out-of-plane local defect resonance was extended towards in-plane LDR for enhanced efficiency of vibrometric NDT. This paper further couples the concept of this in-plane LDR to vibrothermography, on the basis of the promising potential of in-plane LDRs to enhance the rubbing (tangential) interaction and viscoelastic damping of defects. Carbon fiber-reinforced composites (CFRPs) with barely visible impact damage (BVID) are inspected and the significant contribution of in-plane LDRs in vibrational heating is demonstrated. Moreover, it is shown that the defect thermal contrast induced by in-plane LDRs is so high that it allows for easy detection of BVID by live monitoring of infrared thermal images during a single broadband sweep excitation. Thermal and vibrational spectra of the inspected surface are studied and the dominant contribution of in-plane LDR in vibration-induced heating is demonstrated.

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In this study, both linear and nonlinear vibrational defect imaging is performed for a cross-ply carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate with artificial delaminations and for a quasi-isotropic CFRP with delaminations at the edge. The measured broadband chirp vibrational response is decomposed into different components: the linear response and the nonlinear response in terms of the higher harmonics. This decomposition is performed using the short-time Fourier transformation combined with bandpass filtering in the time-frequency domain. The linear and nonlinear vibrational response of the defect is analyzed by calculation of the defect-to-background ratio. Damage maps are created using band power calculation, which does not require any user-input nor prior information about the inspected sample. It is shown that the damage map resulting from the linear band power shows high sensitivity to shallow defects, while the damage map associated to the nonlinear band power shows a high sensitivity to both shallow and deep defects. Finally, a baseline-free framework is proposed for the detection and localization of out-of-sight damage. The damage is localized by source localization of the observed nonlinear wave components in the wavenumber domain.

Thermal wave radar (TWR) is a state-of-the-art non-destructive testing method, inspired by radio wave radar systems, in order to increase depth resolution and signal to noise ratio of optical infrared thermography through pulse compression. Analogue frequency modulation (i.e. frequency sweep) and Barker binary phase modulation are the two popular and widely researched pulse compression techniques in TWR among which Barker coding has shown the highest performance. This paper introduces a novel modulated waveform with variable discrete frequencyphase modulation (FPM) which distinctively enhances the depth resolvability of TWR compared to the existing techniques. The pulse compression quality and depth resolvability of the novel FPM waveform is initially evaluated through a 1D analytical solution. The analogue frequency modulated and discrete phase modulated waveforms as well as mono-frequency excitation (i.e. lock-in thermography) are also evaluated at the same central frequency as the reference. Objective functions are defined and a large search space is explored for optimal modulation codes. Two FPM waveforms are selected based on their maximized depth resolvability through resultant lag and phase in the output channel of TWR. Furthermore, the excellent performance of the selected FPM waveforms is validated by 3D finite element simulation. A delaminated glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminate is simulated in order to evaluate the impact of a dominant lateral heat diffusion on the performance of the novel FPM waveforms. The superior depth resolvability of the introduced FPM waveforms is confirmed and their robustness at various noise levels is demonstrated.

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.