The development of applied thermographic methods

Thermography is a contactless method for the measurement of temperature and its distribution on the surfaces of objects. It is based upon rite registration of infrared (IR) radiation from the object. Modern thermographic devices give the real-time surface temperature distribution, which combined with the absense of any contact is the basic advantage of the method. This makes thermography a very useful tool which has applications in all technical areas including medicine, biology etc. The following review provides the basics of thermography and a couple of examples from qualitative and quantitative thermography indicating the wide spectrum of possible applications of this measuring technique ill the field of surveillance, product development and scientific. research. (C) 2000 Journal of Mechanical Engineering. All rights reserved.