TECHNIQUES by S. Bhalla, S. Tuli, and R.
Arora
DEFECT DETECTION IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES USING
THERMAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES
rom the non-destructive evaluation (NDE) point
F of view, concrete technologists are interested in
determining concrete strength as well as in locating
defects/damages in the structures. There are several
well-established techniques for strength estimation of
concrete structures, such as the surface hardness technique,
the penetration technique, the pull out technique; and more
recently, the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique
based on piezo-transducers1 has also been shown to be
promising. Defect/damage detection, on the other hand,
represents a more challenging aspect of NDE for concrete,
especially in the existing structures. The conventionally used
techniques in this field include the ultrasonic, the impact echo
and the acoustic emission techniques. The main drawback
of these techniques is that they are all non-remote, contact
based and require experienced professionals for application
and interpretation of the data. In addition, they need to
be applied upon a large number of points on the structure,
which not only demands prolonged inspection time but often
renders the structure out of service.
This article explores the use of a thermal imaging technique
as an alternative approach for NDE of concrete for detecting
defects as small as 50 mm in width. In thermal imaging
technique, part of the structure under investigation is heated
up (either naturally or artificially) and the transient heat
flux is observed by recording the surface temperature as
a function of time using an infrared camera.2 The regions
of defects, which have the densities, the heat capacities
and the heat conductivities different as compared to the
surroundings get differentiated out (and hence identified),
as they act as heat sinks or reflectors, thereby altering the
temperature on the nearer free surface. The technique is
noninvasive, remote and the output is amenable to direct
‘‘visual’’ interpretation. The most competitive feature of
the thermal imaging technique in contrast to other NDE
techniques is that it facilitates evaluating a large part of the
structure in a single go. Titman3 covered several applications
of the thermal imaging technique in civil structures, such
as ascertaining the degree of thermal insulation, detecting
entrapped moisture and locating buried pipelines, using solar
heat as the natural source. Sakagami and Kubo4 introduced
lock-in thermography to detect delaminations in concrete
and could successfully detect defects in the order of 100 mm
in width. Maierhofer et al.5 also succeeded in locating defects
100 mm in width using impulse thermography and presented
numerical studies to determine the depth of the defects based
on the time of occurrence of the maximum temperature
difference. Wiggenhauser6 used cooling down thermography
to identify subsurface structural deficiencies. Cheng et al.7
S. Bhalla (sbhalla@civil.iitd.ac.in) is an assistant professor in the Department of
Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi
110 016, India. S. Tuli is a professor affiliated with Centre for Applied Research
in Electronics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110
016, India, and R. Arora is a graduate student affiliated with Department of Civil
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110
016, India.
doi: 10.1111/j.1747-1567.2010.00658.x
© 2010, Society for Experimental Mechanics
used the fusion of information gathered from active infrared
thermography (IRT) and elastic waves for the inspection
of building exteriors. Several other works related to the
application of the thermal imaging techniques can be found
in the literature.8,9
This article investigates the possibility of detecting much
smaller defects in concrete as compared to the above-
described studies, representing disbands, voids and inho-
mogeneities, using the thermal imaging technique. Results
are compared with pulse travel times measured using the
ultrasonic pulse velocity (USPV) technique.
SPECIMEN PREPARATION
Two types of specimens were prepared, beams and slabs,
using grade 43 cement, Zone II sand as per IS 38310 and
10-mm crushed coarse aggregate. Mix design procedure as
per SP 2311 was followed so as to obtain a characteristic
strength of 25 MPa. Three concrete beams of size 100 × 100
× 500 mm were cast. The first beam was kept defect free so
that it may be considered as a reference specimen. Defects
in the form of 90 × 50 × 0.5 mm thick glossy printing paper
sheets were embedded in the other two specimens, at a depth
of 50 mm from the surface. The sheet was embedded at the
centre point in one beam and at the edge in the other, as
shown in Fig. 1a and b.
Figure 1c shows a slab panel measuring 300 × 300 × 75 mm
in size, cast in the same manner. Defects were introduced
by embedding five wooden blocks of size 50 × 50 × 10 mm
at locations indicated in the figure at depths ranging from
10 to 50 mm from the top surface. These artificial defects
aimed to represent common defects associated with concrete
such as honeycombs, voids and disbands. All the four speci-
mens (three beams and one slab) were suitably vibrated on
vibrating table at the time of casting to eliminate any other
voids and discontinuities. To ensure a smooth surface (for
better thermal imaging), admixture was added in addition
to applying oil on the inner surfaces of the mould. All the
specimens were cured for a period of 10 days before the NDE
using the USPV and the thermal imaging technique. After
removing the moulds, the outer surfaces of the specimens
were cleaned of oil remnants and painted in black, so that
their thermal emissivity gets maximized.
SPECIMEN TESTING AND RESULTS
The USPV and the thermal imaging techniques were applied
on the four specimens (three beams and one slab) to study the
variations introduced by the experimental defects. Figure 2
shows the pulse velocity test being conducted across the
longitudinal edges of the beam, using portable ultrasonic
non-destructive digital indicating tester (PUNDIT), manu-
factured by Germann Instruments Inc.,12 with two 54 kHz
transducers; one acting as the transmitter and the other
as the receiver. The transducers were held against the two
July/August 2011 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES 39
DEFECT DETECTION IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES
Fig. 1: Details of specimens and location of defects:
(a) beam with defect at mid-span; (b) beam with defect
at edge; (c) slab with distributed defects
Fig. 2: Measurement of travel time of ultrasonic
waves across concrete beam
40 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES July/August 2011
(a)
(b)
Time (microseconds) 23.5
23
22.5
22
21.5
21
20.5
20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Length along the Specimen (cm)
(c)
Fig. 3: Variation of travel time of ultrasonic waves
across specimen thickness for beams: (a) reference
beam; (b) beam with defect at mid-span; (c) beam with
defect at edge
opposite surfaces of the specimen with silicon grease packing
for proper transmission and reception of the acoustic waves.
Figure 3 shows the variation of the travel time of the acoustic
waves normal to the plane of the defect measured at 10 points
uniformly spaced along the length of the specimen. From
Fig. 3a, which shows the results for the reference beam, it is
apparent that the travel time is more or less constant along
the length of the beam, ranging between 19.8 and 21.2 μs.
The small variation can be attributed to the variation in the
properties of the constituent materials of concrete, which is
very normal. Figure 3b shows the results for the beam with
a defect at the mid-span (see Fig. 1a). It is observed that the
travel time distinctly goes up in the region of the defect by
more than 25% as compared to other points. From Fig. 3c,
similar results can be observed for the third beam, which
had the defect near the edge (see Fig. 1b). Figure 4 shows the
variation of the travel times measured across nine points of
the concrete slab (see Fig. 1c), marked 1 through 9. Points 1,
3, 5, 7, and 9 are situated in the defect region (embedded
wooden blocks) whereas the rest are in defect free region. It
is clear that the travel time is substantially higher in the
DEFECT DETECTION IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Fig. 5: Experimental set-up for thermal imaging

technique

(a)
Fig. 4: Variation of travel time of ultrasonic waves
across specimen thickness for slab: (a) slab with defects
at locations 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9; (b) histogram plot of travel
time at locations 1 through 9

region encompassing the defect. The only exception is point 1,

where the travel time is only marginally higher than points 2
and 8. From these results, it is observed that ultrasonic
test can determine the location and crudely the size of the
defects.

The same specimens were also tested using the thermal

imaging technique. Each specimen was first heated using
four 1 kW halogen lamps for about 30 min using the
arrangement shown in Fig. 5. As mentioned earlier, to (b)
maximize thermal emissivity and to minimize reflection,
the surface of specimens was blackened with paint. The four
heat sources (halogen lamps) were appropriately spaced and Fig. 6: (a) Thermal image of beam with defect at
positioned at 1 m distance from the specimen so as to ensure mid-span: (b) thermal image of beam with defect at
uniform exposure. Thereafter, thermal images were captured edge
at a frequency of 20 Hz during the cooling cycle, with a total of
10,000 frames during 500 s of the cooling cycle using CEDIP
Jade infrared camera.13 Mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) experiments. Infrared thermal camera resolution is decided
type camera, having waveband in the range of 3.6–5.0 μm similar to that for visible light camera. It is mainly based
and equipped with charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor of on the number of pixels in the CCD detector as well as on
320 × 256 pixels, with pitch of 30 μm, was used in the the focusing optics (the lens). All the images were recorded

July/August 2011 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES 41

DEFECT DETECTION IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES
just after switching off the heat source. Figure 6a shows the
thermal image of the beam with paper sheet embedded in
the middle portion (see Fig. 1a). The surface temperature
around the defect location is certainly higher than the
surrounding regions. This is due to the fact that the thermal
waves get reflected back at the defect leading to increased
temperature on the surface. At other points, the thermal
waves have uninterrupted escape path, hence lesser surface
temperature. The defect is very clearly identified in terms of
location and size. The USPV technique, as was mentioned
before, could only provide a very crude idea of defect size.
Figure 6b similarly shows the thermal image of the beam
with the paper embedded near the edge (Fig. 1b). Here also,
the embedded defect can be easily identified as a region of
higher temperature as compared to the surrounding areas.
Figure 7 shows a thermal image of the slab which had
wooden blocks embedded at different depths (see Fig. 1c).
Here, it is observed that the thermal image can easily iden-
tify the region of discontinuity (the embedded wooden block)
at depths of 10, 20, 30 and 40 mm, as indicated in the figure.
The quality of image can be observed to improve as the
defect approaches the surface of the specimen. However, the
technique fails to identify the defect at 50 mm depth. This
is because the defect is situated at a depth comparable to
its size, allowing dispersion of the thermal waves, both the
incident as well as the reflected ones, causing very negligi-
ble change in the surface temperature. This phenomenon is
known as lateral diffusion. Hence, in general, small defects
situated deep inside a specimen (deeper than the lateral
dimension) are difficult to detect by the thermal imaging
technique. Under such situations, the ultrasonic technique
may be of greater aid. This is an advantage of the combined
use of the ultrasonic technique with the thermal imaging.
In general, compared to the ultrasonic technique, the out-
put of the thermal imaging technique is much easier to
interpret and somewhat visual in nature. Additionally, the
technique requires negligible time and labour as compared
to the ultrasonic technique.
Fig. 7: Thermal image of slab with defects at varying
depths
42 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES July/August 2011
In the case of ultrasonic energy propagation, the velocity of
propagation is dependent on the mechanical parameters of
the material/defect, namely the Young’s modulus (E), the
density (ρ), and the Poisson’s ratio (ϑ), which is clearly
reflected in the following expression for velocity (v)

E(1 − ϑ)
v= (1)
ρ(1 + ϑ)(1 − 2ϑ)
A variation of either of these parameters alters the
velocity and hence the travel time of the acoustic waves
through the medium. On the other hand, in the thermal
imaging technique,8 the relevant parameters are thermal
conductivity (k), thermal diffusivity (α = k/ρc), specific heat
(c), and density (ρ). A measure of depth9 (μ) probed by
thermal waves of frequency (f ) within the sample is given by

α
μ= (2)
πf
√
A corresponding thermal wave velocity8 V th = (4πf α) can
be described for its propagation. The deeper is the defect from
the observed surface, more the time it will take to be detected
(by creating maximum contrast in the cooling curve).
CONCLUSIONS
This article has successfully detected embedded defects
in concrete of size 50 mm representing voids, disbands
and material inhomogeneities using the thermal imaging
technique, and the results have been compared with
ultrasonic technique. It is found that as compared to the
conventional techniques, the thermal imaging provides an
easy to interpret ‘‘visual’’ picture, in a single scan of
the specimen in question. However, the main limitation
associated with the thermal imaging technique is its inability
to identify small defects located deeper than the lateral
dimension due to the lateral diffusion of heat and the
low temperature contrast it creates. Nevertheless, thermal
imaging provides an efficient defect detection technique to
identify near-surface defects in concrete. In this article, only
plain concrete structures have been considered. Further
studies are underway to detect defects in the presence of
reinforcement.
References
1. Soh, C.K., and Bhalla, S., ‘‘Calibration of Piezo-Transducers
for Strength Prediction and Damage Assessment of Concrete,’’
Smart Materials and Structures 14(4):671–684 (2005).
2. Audenino, A.L., Crupi, V., and Zanetti, E.M., ‘‘Thermoelastic
and Elastoplastic Effects Measured by Means of a Standard
Thermocamera,’’ Experimental Techniques 28(2):23–28 (2004).
3. Titman, D.J., ‘‘Applications of Thermography in Non-
destructive Testing of Structures,’’ NDT & E International 34(2):
149–154 (2001).
4. Sakagami, T., and Kubo, S., ‘‘Development of a New Non-
destructive Testing Technique for Quantitative Evaluations of
Delamination Defects in Concrete Structures Based on Phase Delay
Measurement Using Lock-in Thermography,’’ Infrared Physics and
Technology 43:311–316 (2002).
DEFECT DETECTION IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES
5. Maierhofer, C., Brink, A., Rollig, H., and Wiggenhauser, H.,
‘‘Quantitative Impulse-Thermography as Non-destructive Testing
Method in Civil Engineering- Experimental Results and Numerical
Simulations,’’ Construction and Building Materials 19:731–737
(2005).
6. Wiggenhauser, H., ‘‘Active IR-Applications in Civil Engineer-
ing,’’ Infrared Physics and Technology 43:233–238 (2002).
7. Cheng, C.C., Cheng, T.M., and Chiang, C.H., ‘‘Defect Detec-
tion of Concrete Structures Using Both Infrared Thermography and
Elastic Waves,’’ Automation in Construction 18:87–92 (2008).
8. Mulaveesala, R., and Tuli, S., ‘‘Theory of Frequency Mod-
ulated Thermal Wave Imaging for Non-destructive Sub Surface
Defect Detection,’’ Applied Physics Letters 89(19):(2006); article
no. 191913.
9. Tuli, S., and Mulaveesala, R.,‘‘NDE for Metals, Composites
and Semiconductors by Frequency Modulated Thermography,’’
Proceedings of the National Seminar on Non-destructive Evaluation,
Hyderabad, December 7–9, 2006.
10. IS 383., Specification for Coarse and Fine Aggregates from
Natural Sources for Concrete, Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi (1970).
11. SP 23., Handbook on Concrete Mixes (based on Indian
standards), Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi (1983).
12. Germann Instruments, Inc., http://www.germann.org (2009).
13. FLIR System Inc., http://www.flir.com (2010). 
July/August 2011 EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES 43