Inspection of rivets and cracks in metal using thermography methods

Though modern non-metals attract a lot of interest there are still many applications where metallic structures are being used and where safety depends on the integrity of structures, especially if they suffer from aging.Two topics of relevance for aging aircraft are fatigue cracks and rivets.The reliability of inspection relates also to the safe operation of vehicles and trains.We will discuss the application of thermography with optical or ultrasonic excitation to detect such defects.