Thermography application for fibre reinforced polymer structures under influence of simultaneous temperature and humidity action

Fibre reinforced polymers are commonly used in many industrial branches. The continuous technical progress in the applied science and technology requires more and more advanced materials. The desire to reduce the weight of structure and reduce their manufacturing costs may affect the safety and reliability of designed structure. The structural damage can occur due to many factors which are difficult to predict in advance. The possible hidden damage can be the source of a further mechanical deterioration of the composite structural element. Damage detection in structures is an active research area since decades. Number of studies is carried out in order to meet this objective, particularly, the identification of the damage size and location. Safety and reliability requirements results in development of a variety of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. One of the non-destructive testing techniques that can be applied for evaluation of internal structure of composite materials is infrared thermography (e.g. vibrothermography). The method can be used for identification of material structural disintegrations that results in changes of temperature field distribution. The goal of the paper is to study the sensitivity and applicability limitations of infrared thermography method used for evaluation and observation of internal structures of the composite element with reference to influence of simultaneous temperature and moisture.