The Enhancement of Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation Through the Use of Active Infrared Thermography to Identify Internal Pipe Wall Thinning and Corrosion Under Paint”

The objective of this research is to study the potential of infrared thermography as early identification method and as complement to Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) to identify piping wall thinning and corrosion under paint. Three (3) steel plates (IRT-S1, IRT-S2, and IRT-S3) are fabricated to simulate mass loss. While one (1) corroded steel plate (IRT-S4) is modified and painted to simulate corrosion hidden under paint. Active infrared thermography is applied to those plates to detect the defects which are not visible via normal visual inspection. The experiments are assisted by heat stimulation device and an infrared camera. The mass loss on the three (3) plates are successfully identified through thermal images captured by infrared camera. The temperature difference between defect and non-defect body are high enough to give an interpretable thermal image profile. Other than that, the hidden corrosion on IRT-S4 plate surface is able to be detected by the same setup. Corroded area hidden under the paint is successfully be detected and captured in thermal images. The positive results gives a verification that there is a potential for infrared thermography to be used to detect pipe thinning and corrosion under paint.