Patent ID: 7064331
Filing Date: 2006-06-20
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of acoustic thermography for enhancing detection of a flaw in a specimen, said flaw of a type characterized by a void defined by mutually opposite, spaced apart surface edges, said method comprising: applying a material to a specimen to be tested, the material being thermally responsive to acoustic energy transmitted to the specimen by an acoustic thermography system due to vibratory movement imparted to said material when engaged by the spaced apart surface edges that define the void in the specimen; and processing a thermal response of the material when acoustic energy is applied to the specimen by the acoustic thermographic system, wherein the movement imparted to said material by said spaced apart surface edges enables to generate a sufficiently intense thermal response notwithstanding that the flaw is of a type characterized by a void with spaced apart surface edges.