Defect measurement limits using flash thermography with application to additive manufacturing

This paper assesses the possibility of measuring small, shallow defects in low thermal diffusivity materials with existing pulse thermography techniques. Defects like these are commonly introduced in additive manufacturing (AM), and their presence can cause inconsistencies in the mechanical properties of the final part. An axisymmetric, numerical model was created to simulate the heat transfer within these low thermal diffusivity structures during flash thermography. Deviations from the ideal conditions commonly used in flash thermography models such as conduction across the flaw and in-depth absorption of the incident pulse were included in the model and their effects on defect measurability were investigated. These nonideal conditions (in addition to free convection) introduce depth measurement errors of >10% even for large aspect ratio defects (such as delaminations). The figures provided quantify the amount of error associated with these individual parameters and can be used to determine if a given thermography system is ideal. The simulation results also demonstrate that traditional 1D thermography models may be used to approximate the depth of a defect with negligible error if the defect has an aspect ratio greater than 6. Smaller defects may also be measured with minimal error. If flash thermography were performed during AM to identify the layers where defects most likely reside, the measurement limits would be even less restrictive.