INVITED REVIEW ARTICLE doi: 10.1111/ffe.

12302

Remote nondestructive evaluation technique using infrared

thermography for fatigue cracks in steel bridges

T. SAKAGAMI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
Received Date: 15 December 2014; Accepted Date: 27 February 2015; Published Online: 13 April 2015

A B S T R A C T Long-standing infrastructure is subject to structural deterioration. In this respect, steel

bridges suffer fatigue cracks, which necessitate immediate inspection, structural integrity
evaluation or repair. However, the inaccessibility of such structures makes inspection
time consuming and labour intensive. Therefore, there is an urgent need for developing
high-performance nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to assist in effective main-
tenance of such structures. Recently, use of infrared cameras in nondestructive testing
has been attracting increasing interest, as they provide highly efficient remote and wide
area measurements. This paper first reviews the current situation of nondestructive in-
spection techniques used for fatigue crack detection in steel bridges, and then presents
remote NDE techniques using infrared thermography developed by the author for fa-
tigue crack detection and structural integrity assessments. Furthermore, results of apply-
ing fatigue crack evaluation to a steel bridge using the newly developed NDE techniques
are presented.

Keywords fatigue cracks; infrared thermography; nondestructive testing; self-reference

lock-in thermography; steel bridge; thermoelasticity.

NOMENCLATURE a = half crack length

A = offset value
B = intensity of thermoelastic temperature change relative to that in reference
region
Cp = specific heat at constant pressure
D = crack depth
fn = waveform
K0 = fundamental value of stress intensity factor
KI = mode I stress intensity factor
KII = mode II stress intensity factor
n = frame number
N = total frame number
r = polar coordinate with origin at crack tip
T = absolute temperature
yn = measured infrared signal
Yn = approximated infrared signal
α = coefficient of thermal expansion
ΔT = temperature change
Δσ = sum of changes in principal stresses
θ = polar coordinate with origin at crack tip
ρ = density
σ x, σ y, τ xy = Cartesian components of stress

Correspondence to: T. Sakagami. E-mail: sakagami@mech.kobe-u.ac.jp

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779 755
756 T. SAKAGAMI
INTRODUCTION
Infrastructure built in Japan throughout the period of
high economic growth in the 1960s–1970s is now
experiencing problems related to deterioration such as
corrosion and fatigue, and studies relating to such prob-
lems are being conducted. For example, Hanai et al.1 con-
ducted field studies to investigate the extent of the
deterioration of decommissioned bridges, and Uomoto
et al.2 reviewed the current situation of civil structures
and issues associated with their maintenance, focusing
on the importance of employing nondestructive inspec-
tion in relation to highway bridges.
However, the problem of fatigue cracks propagating
from welded joints in steel bridges is one of the most
Fig. 1 Illustration of an orthotropic steel deck used in road bridges.
Fig. 2 Types of fatigue cracks found in orthotropic steel decks (courtesy of Dr. Murakoshi, Public Works Research Institute).
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
serious problems associated with deterioration in relation
to ageing; such problems require immediate solutions.
The welded steel structure that supports the vehicle load
on a bridge is known as the orthotropic steel deck (Fig. 1).
It has been adapted because of its faster fabrication and
light-weight, and to create long span bridges.3 As such,
orthotropic steel decks are used in urban elevated high-
way systems. However, the structure is welded using
many components, resulting in stress distribution in the
structure under the moving wheel complex, and thus en-
abling the development of a variety of fatigue crack pat-
terns such as those shown in Fig. 2. Yamada and Ya3
reviewed the appearance of fatigue cracks observed in
orthotropic steel decks. Additionally, Yuge et al.4 and
de Jong5 clarified fatigue crack patterns to estimate the fa-
tigue crack initiation point related to structural details and
based on road traffic data.
Inspection of deterioration or damage is necessary to
ensure safety and estimate the remaining strength of the
steel structures. In this respect, nondestructive testing
(NDT) techniques play an important role. Conventional
NDT techniques for orthotropic steel decks include vi-
sual testing, eddy current testing, dye penetrant testing,
magnetic particle testing (MT) and ultrasonic testing
(UT).6 Regarding serious ageing problems of civil struc-
tures,7 the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism (MLIT), Japan, decreed in 2014 that bridges
with a length of over 2 m must be inspected every 5 years
and that such an inspection should use short range visual

observations. However, there are a reported number of
over 0.7 million bridges that fit this criteria, and the con-
ventional NDT techniques described earlier are time-
intensive and labour-intensive techniques that require
special equipment for inspection, such as scaffolding or
vehicles to conduct work at heights. It is not realistically
possible for municipalities that harbour numerous struc-
tures to rely upon the use of conventional NDT tech-
niques because of the expense involved with regard to
time and labour. Therefore, immediate development of
a high-performance NDT method is essential for the ef-
fective maintenance of ageing infrastructures.
A structural integrity evaluation based on fracture
mechanics is considered essential for the fitness for ser-
vice evaluation of ageing orthotropic steel decks. Nu-
merous studies have been conducted to investigate the
stress distribution in steel structures using various ap-
proaches such as computational structure analyses, labo-
ratory element specimen tests, laboratory moving wheel
load tests and load tests using actual bridges.8–11 How-
ever, a structural integrity evaluation based on fracture
mechanics should be conducted on the basis of actually
measured stress distribution in the orthotropic steel
deck, including the effects of wheel loading conditions,
rigidity changes due to atmospheric temperature, resid-
ual stress and crack closure. In this respect, the conven-
tional NDT techniques described earlier are only
applicable to crack detection and cannot be used to di-
rectly evaluate the remaining strength of structures. Fur-
thermore, a structural integrity evaluation based on
fracture mechanics is only possible when actual applied
stress distribution around a fatigue crack and its history
due to the moving wheel load by vehicles on the bridge
are obtained. Conventional stress and strain measure-
ment techniques cannot fulfil these requirements
because of a lack of adaptability in obtaining field
measurements, remote and noncontact measurements
and full-field stress distribution measurements. There-
fore, a new stress measurement technique that enables
remote, noncontact and full-field measurements of the
stress distribution around fatigue cracks should be
developed for the structural integrity evaluation of
orthotropic steel decks.
Fig. 3 Types of fatigue cracks that propagate from the weld root at the trough rib to the deck plate connection.
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 757
This paper presents a review of the current situation of
NDT techniques employed for detecting fatigue cracks in
steel bridges and discusses the progress made in thermal
NDT and thermoelastic stress evaluation techniques
using infrared thermography. Additionally, remote
NDT and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques
using infrared thermography, as developed by the present
author, are introduced. In this respect, first, a relatively
simple but useful NDT technique for fatigue crack
detection is shown. This technique is based on the tem-
perature gap that appears on the surface of structural
members because of the thermal insulation effect of the
crack; the results of applying this technique to orthotropic
steel decks of a highway are presented herein. Second, this
paper presents both NDT and NDE techniques for use in
crack detection and structural integrity assessments based
on thermoelastic stress measurements and relates the
results of the application of remote NDE to fatigue cracks
in orthotropic steel decks. Finally, the applicability of the
developed technique to stress intensity factor evaluation is
discussed; this evaluation is based on the actual stress
distribution under vehicle wheel loading obtained by
thermoelastic stress measurements.
REVIEW OF NDT TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED FOR
DETECTING FATIGUE CRACKS IN ORTHOTROPIC
STEEL DECKS
Fatigue cracks in the trough rib to deck plate
connection
A cross-sectional view of a part of the trough rib to deck
plate connection in an orthotropic steel deck (SD1 and
SD2 in Fig. 2) is shown in Fig. 3. Two types of fatigue
cracks initiate at the trough rib to deck plate joints – types
A and B. The type A crack initiates at the weld root, and
then propagates through the weld throat. This type of
fatigue crack is known as a ‘through-weld crack’ or a
‘root-weld crack’ and can be observed on the surface of
the weld bead to be inspected. The type B crack initiates
at the weld root, and then propagates through the deck
plate. It is known as a ‘through-deck crack’ or a ‘root-
758 T. SAKAGAMI
deck crack’; this type of crack is not visible on the inspec-
tion surface and is hidden by the asphalt pavement. The
through-deck crack is very dangerous because it directly
leads to accidents due to cave-in of the road. Therefore,
several studies have been conducted to investigate the
mechanism involved in fatigue crack initiation and prop-
agation.11–13
NDT techniques for detecting fatigue cracks open to
the inspection surface
The inspection process used for fatigue cracks open to
the inspection surface, including through-weld fatigue
cracks, is shown in Fig. 4. For cracks open to the inspec-
tion surface, it is possible to use the visual inspection
technique. The surface of steel decks is coated with cor-
rosion protection paint; therefore, fatigue cracks in steel
members are located under the paint coating. Ample
crack propagation is usually accompanied by the cracking
of paint and leakage of rust leachate, and can therefore be
observed on visual inspection in practical cases. The vi-
sual inspection includes a distant view visual observation
and a short range visual observation. The former is usu-
ally conducted as a screening test for the detection of ap-
parent state changes in orthotropic steel decks and does
not require any specialised equipment such as scaffolding
or vehicles to conduct work at heights. However, the re-
liability of such an examination is questionable, particu-
larly when paint cracking is not always accompanied by
leakage of rust leachate. Consequently, a short range vi-
sual observation is usually conducted as a detailed inspec-
tion to ensure that all paint cracks are detected. As
described in the previous section, the decree by MLIT,
Japan, states that ageing bridges should be essentially
inspected using short range visual observations. When
Fig. 4 Inspection process for detecting through-weld cracks in orthotropic steel decks.
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
paint cracks or stains of rust leachate are detected during
visual inspection, the corrosion protection paint is then
removed, and MT is used to obtain detailed measure-
ments of the fatigue cracks. However, using this type of
conventional NDT process for through-weld cracks is
problematic, as applying MT to all areas of cracking paint
is extremely labour intensive, and it is impossible to de-
tect relatively short cracks that do not accompany paint
cracking. Additionally, cracking paint does not necessar-
ily indicate a fatigue crack, and therefore removal of the
corrosion protection paint could result in a waste of time,
energy and money.
NDT techniques for detecting through-deck fatigue
cracks not open to the inspection surface
For through-deck cracks that are not open to the inspec-
tion surface, neither visual inspection nor MT can be ap-
plied. Only UT, which is also applicable to internal
cracks, can be applied to detect and measure through-
deck cracks. According to technical recommendations
issued by the National Institute for Land and Infrastruc-
ture Management, MLIT, Japan,14 a pulse-echo UT
technique with an angle probe is recommended for the
detection of through-deck cracks. In this method, crack
detection is conducted using a longitudinal wave angle
probe with a refraction angle of 90°, followed by a rough
estimation of the crack depth, which is conducted using a
probe with a refraction angle of 70°. Kimura et al.15 de-
veloped a UT method using a near critical angle probe
for the detection of relatively shallow cracks.
In addition to the conventional pulse-echo UT tech-
nique with an angle probe, application of the phased array
UT technique to the evaluation of fatigue cracks in weld
 REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 759

joints has been investigated.6 This technique uses a num-

ber of transducer elements in coordination to generate a
variety of ultrasonic waves that focus on a particular part
or a scanning angle beam on the test material. In recent
years, a portable phased array UT system has been devel-
oped and applied to the inspection of bridge weld joints.16
Kamibayashi et al.17 demonstrated the efficiency of the
phased array UT method with high-speed electrical scan-
ning for weld joints against that of the conventional UT
technique with a mechanical scanning probe. Further-
more, they developed a method for judging weld defects
and evaluated the detectability of phased array UT for weld
defects in weld joints.18 Wilkinson19 reported that the
phased array technique is applicable to the inspection of a
bridge weld during the construction of a steel bridge, in-
stead of radiographic testing. The accuracy improvement
of the phased array technique has also been investigated.
Hirabayashi et al.20 developed a UT technique using a
plural number of phased array transducers that enabled
the detection and sizing of incomplete penetration defects Fig. 5 Schematics of hierarchical investigation used in through-deck
in steel structural members having complicated shapes. fatigue crack monitoring.
However, even with the improvements in applicability
and accuracy of UT techniques, there are still implicit Step 2 involves a rough estimation, in which bridges with
problems with regard to the use of UT. For example, UT a higher possibility of suffering from through-deck crack
is a point contact measurement technique that requires initiation are chosen from the screening result of step 1.
the operator to have close contact with the point being An estimation of the possibility of through-deck crack ex-
investigated; undertaking such an operation is very time istence is then conducted on the basis of visual inspection
consuming. Solutions to improve the efficiency of UT of the damage and changes in the condition of the road
techniques have been discussed by researchers and bridge paving, as deterioration in structural rigidity due to
engineers. One such solution is the development of an au- through-deck fatigue cracks causes cracking of the road
tomatic UT (AUT) technique, which became available in pavement. Next, a simple investigation is conducted in
the 1980s, and has been effectively applied to the inspec- step 3 to narrow down the locations requiring detailed in-
tion of pipeline weld as well as bridge members. Miki and spections from the screening results of step 2 based on a
Shirahata21 investigated the applicability of AUT to bridge comprehensive investigation of the traffic severity condi-
weld joints through round robin tests. In recent years, tions and bridge specifications and a visual inspection of
numerous through-deck cracks have been observed in the the road pavement. Finally, in step 4, a detailed inspec-
orthotropic steel decks of urban highways. An on-site tion is conducted using NDT techniques, such as the
semi-automatic UT (SAUT) system has been developed UT technique. This type of hierarchical scheme enables
for the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo to detect the effective maintenance of through-deck cracks. In
through-deck fatigue cracks.22 Furthermore, the efficiency the hierarchical inspection process, infrared thermogra-
and applicability of the SAUT system have been improved phy is used to determine temperature measurements of
by employing a magnet attracting robotic crawler. the trough ribs, because as water ingresses into trough
A hierarchical approach has also been used to improve ribs from the through-deck cracks, it causes a tempera-
the efficiency of through-deck crack inspection in the ture change in contrast with the temperature of the
form of a hierarchical stepwise investigation programme. sound trough ribs. Several different NDT techniques,
This approach was used in relation to the technical rec- including thermography measurements, have been
ommendation issued by the National Institute for Land employed comprehensively or complementally to achieve
and Infrastructure Management, MLIT, Japan14 (a flow effective and reliable inspection results.23
chart of the hierarchical stepwise investigation is shown
in Fig. 5). The procedure used in the investigation
Remote monitoring or constant monitoring of
consists of four steps. A desktop study is conducted in
fatigue cracks
step 1, in which the possibility of through-deck crack ini-
tiation is roughly estimated from the data on bridge spec- Other approaches for remote monitoring or constant mon-
ifications, repair history and traffic severity conditions. itoring of fatigue cracks are described below. A fatigue

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
760 T. SAKAGAMI

Weight

5050
4950
3000
4950
4950
1500
1700
1300
800
880
damage sensor based on the method of the sacrificial test

(g)
piece was developed and applied to fatigue life diagnosis
of welded structures.24 Additionally, a structural health
monitoring (SHM) method was introduced for use in civil

Framing rate
structures. Applications of various types of sensors and in-

(Frames/s)
strumentation techniques such as acoustic emission (AE),

100
100
48
380
250
30
30
60
60
30
digital image correlation and strain gauges were tested by
the National Physical Laboratory, UK, for their ability to
monitor the deterioration of a removed concrete foot-
bridge.25 AE monitoring, which was applied to concrete

Temperature resolution

temperature difference)
bridges as an effective on-site damage monitoring

(in noise equivalent

technique,26 was applied to SHM to gain a fatigue life
prediction of orthotropic steel decks. Pijpers et al.27 dem-

0.045 K
0.02 K
0.02 K
0.02 K
0.02 K
0.02 K
0.06 K

0.05 K
0.06 K
0.05 K
onstrated the effectiveness of using AE sensing in the de-
tection of early stage fatigue crack growth compared with
the use of strain gauges. SHM based on electric potential
measurements was also developed by a number of
researchers. The author of the current paper28,29 devel-
oped active and passive electric potential computed
tomography methods for detecting and sizing cracks.

Not required
Not required
Not required
Not required
Not required
Detector
Kim et al.30 developed a field signature method (FSM) for

cooling
Required
Required
Required
Required
Required
fatigue crack monitoring in steel bridges, and Kawakami
et al.31 applied the FSM technique to fatigue crack
monitoring in the steel bridges of the Hanshin Expressway.

wavelength
1.5–5.1 μm
2.5–5.1 μm
2–5 μm
2.5–5.1μm
7.7–9.3μm
8–13μm
7.5–13μm
8–14μm
8–14μm
8–14μm
REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS MADE IN THERMAL Detectable
NDT AND THERMOELASTIC STRESS EVALUA-
TION TECHNIQUES USING INFRARED
THERMOGRAPHY
1280 × 1024
Number of

640 × 512
640 × 512
320 × 256
320 × 256
640 × 480
640 × 480
320 × 240
320 × 240
320 × 240
detectors
Table 1 Current specifications of commercially available infrared thermography

Innovation in infrared thermography

Recent improvements in infrared detectors have brought
remarkable progress to NDT techniques using infrared
thermography. Table 1 shows the current specifications
of commercially available infrared thermography equip-
MCT (Mercury Cadmium Telluride)

ment. It can be seen from the table that high-

performance infrared thermography systems in category
(A) enable the measurement of temperature distribution
InSb (Indium antimonide)
InSb (Indium antimonide)
InSb (Indium antimonide)
InSb (Indium antimonide)

using a resolution of 20 mK with a very high framing rate.

detector
Infrared

This allows the acquisition of time-series sequential data

on transient temperature distributions that are utilised
Micro-Bolometer
Micro-Bolometer
Micro-Bolometer
Micro-Bolometer
Micro-Bolometer

for thermoelastic temperature measurements, which

are described in the following section. Furthermore, in-
novation in micro-machining technology has enabled
the production of micro-bolometer array detectors that
contribute to the production of light-weight infrared
thermography equipment, as listed in category (B).
Category (A)

Category (B)

NDT techniques employing infrared thermography

Nondestructive testing techniques based on temperature
distribution data measured by infrared thermography are

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779

known as thermal NDT or thermographic NDT tech-
niques and have been developed as powerful remote
and noncontact NDT techniques.32–35 Thermal NDT
can be classified into three different methods, as shown
in Fig. 6. Methods (A) and (B) are based on temperature
changes due to the thermal insulation effect at defects.
Method (A) is the most commonly used thermal NDT
and has been effectively applied to the detection of near
surface delamination defects in building surface finishing
materials, concrete structures and fibre reinforced plas-
tics structures.36–40 Method (B) is based on the detection
of a sharp drop in the temperature distribution that ap-
pears where a crack breaks the surface. As an active ther-
mal method based on method (B) for crack detection,
Lesniak and Bazile41 proposed forced diffusion thermog-
raphy using a moving line heat source. Washer42 then
demonstrated the feasibility of this technique using labo-
ratory specimens. Furthermore, the author of this paper
developed a temperature gap detection technique as a
passive thermal NDT technique for fatigue crack detec-
tion in orthotropic steel decks.43 The basic principle of
the NDT technique based on temperature gap detection
for through-weld fatigue cracks is shown and described
briefly in Fig. 7. The asphalt pavement on the steel
bridge is heated by the sun, and heat conduction occurs
from the pavement to the trough rib through the deck
plate, causing a temperature gradient in the trough rib
(U-rib), as shown in the figure. When there is no crack
in the weld bead, the temperature change is continuous.
However, when a crack is present, a temperature gap is
observed between the deck plate and the trough rib be-
cause of the thermal insulation effect of the crack in the
weld bead. This temperature gap can be detected by con-
tinuous temperature monitoring along the weld bead
using infrared thermography equipment. The equipment
is shown in category (B) of Table 1; it can be used for the
Fig. 6 Illustrations of thermal nondestructive testing classification.
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 761
detection of temperature gaps, as the temperature differ-
ence is sufficiently large to be measured using micro-
bolometer infrared detectors.
Method (C) in Fig. 6 is based on the appearance of a
temperature change on the surface of an object when a
defect acts as a heat source or heat sink, or when localised
heat generation or a temperature rise occurs in a defec-
tive portion. The identification of defects based on
thermoelasticity, as described in the following paragraph,
belongs to method (C).
Advances made in thermoelastic stress evaluation
techniques
Dynamic stress change causes a very small temperature
change under adiabatic conditions in a solid. This phe-
nomenon is known as the thermoelastic effect and is de-
scribed by Lord Kelvin’s equation. which relates the
temperature change (ΔT) to the sum of the changes in
the principal stresses (Δσ) under cyclic variable loading
as follows.
α
ΔT ¼  TΔσ (1)
ρC p
α: coefficient of thermal expansion
ρ: mass density
Cp: specific heat at constant pressure
T: absolute temperature.
The sum of the changes in the principal stresses (Δσ) is
obtained by measuring the temperature change (ΔT)
using high-performance infrared thermography.
Thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA) using infrared
thermography has come into widespread use as an
effective, experimental and full-field stress measurement
technique;44–46 such a development has been driven by
drastic improvements in the performance of infrared
762 T. SAKAGAMI
Fig. 7 Schematic illustration of the principle of the nondestructive testing technique based on temperature gap detection for detecting
through-weld fatigue cracks in orthotropic steel decks.43
thermography, as shown in category (A) of Table 1.
Although it was widely used in the industry, there were
limitations to TSA in relation to stress separation and
achieving adiabatic conditions. A breakthrough in the
former problem was made by innovative research related
to the development of stress separation methods. As shown
in Eq. (1), a physical quantity measured by TSA is the sum
of the changes in the principal stresses, that is, the changes
in the first stress invariant. One of the disadvantages in-
volved in progressing TSA techniques has been related to
the difficulties involved in stress separation. Therefore to
overcome this disadvantage, many researchers have
endeavoured to develop stress separation techniques using
various approaches.47–49 In recent years, remarkable prog-
ress has been made in the development of stress separation
methods based on inverse analyses. Murakami and
Yoshimura50 developed the inverse analysis scheme, in
which unknown boundary values are estimated by inverse
analysis using values of the sum of the changes in the
principal stresses measured by the TSA technique. This
is followed by direct problem calculations to solve individ-
ual stress components using the boundary values deter-
mined by the inverse analysis. Kishimoto et al.51
developed computational techniques to regularise ill-posed
inverse problems, and thus improved the accuracy of in-
verse analyses. Additionally, Hayabusa et al.52 proposed
an improved stress separation technique based on the
inverse problem using supplemental strain data obtained
from strain gauges. Inoue et al.53 proposed a new stress
separation technique based on fundamental equations
considering temperature dependence on the elastic
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
modulus. Combined use of thermoelasticity and photoe-
lasticity has enabled the development of an experimental
stress separation technique. Barone and Patterson54 exam-
ined the practicability of the hybrid use of thermoelasticity
and photoelasticity to obtain maximum and minimum
principal stresses. The author of this paper developed a
full-field stress separation technique55 by the concomitant
use of thermoelasticity and photoelasticity to determine
fracture mechanics parameters. In relation to the latter
problem mentioned earlier, that is, the achievement of
adiabatic conditions, Offermann et al.56 developed error
restoration schemes for TSA under nonadiabatic condi-
tions, and Byrd and Haney57 investigated the effect of heat
transfer from the object surface on the accuracy of TSA.
Additionally, Inoue et al.58 developed an inverse heat
conduction analysis scheme based on the mollification
method to compensate for errors in TSA.
Innovative research related to thermoelastic stress anal-
yses is also observed in fracture mechanics applications. An
attractive advantage of the TSA technique is that the
fracture mechanics parameters can be determined from
the directly measured stress distribution around crack tips
in objective structures. Evaluation schemes for fracture
mechanics parameters based on the TSA results have been
investigated by many researchers.59 In early experimental
research, the stress intensity factor was evaluated from
TSA results, which were obtained by the first commer-
cially available thermoelastic stress measurement system,
SPATE.60,61 Shiratori et al.62 proposed an estimation
method of J-integral from the distribution of the temper-
ature rise due to plastic deformation measured using

infrared thermography. Ju et al.63 determined stress inten-
sity factors under mixed mode (mode I and mode II) load-
ing and showed that stress extrapolation using higher
order terms was effective for accurate determination. Diaz
et al.64 evaluated the stress intensity factors of growing
fatigue cracks using TSA data. The author of this paper
applied the developed full-field stress separation method
to the evaluation of the stress intensity factor and the
J-integral.55 In addition to the conventional calculation
method, a near-tip exclusive domain integral method was
proposed to avoid experimental error in the region very
close to the crack tip. In this method, the J-integral was
evaluated without using degraded experimental stress dis-
tribution data in the vicinity of the crack tip. He and
Rowlands65 also examined stress intensity factor evalua-
tion on the basis of far-field measured temperatures.
Development of self-reference lock-in thermography
and its application to steel bridges
As described earlier, obtaining thermoelastic stress mea-
surements using infrared thermography has been widely
employed as an effective full-field experimental stress
measurement technique, gaining increasing attention as
the NDE tool for identifying fatigue cracks propagating
from welded joints in steel bridges. Steel bridges that
are susceptible to fatigue crack propagation are generally
subjected to frequent and heavy wheel loading from traf-
fic on the bridge. Therefore, if infrared thermography is
employed for continuous temperature monitoring
around fatigue cracks, the cracks can be identified from
localised thermoelastic temperature changes due to stress
singularities at crack tips under variable wheel loading.
Figure 8 shows the stress distribution around a centre
crack obtained from the thermoelastic temperature
change, where significant localised temperature changes
Fig. 8 Stress distribution around a centre crack obtained from
thermoelastic temperature change.67
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 763
are detected at both crack tips, indicating the existence
of a crack in the objective steel plate. Thus, the
thermoelastic stress measurement technique can be
employed for the detection and evaluation of fatigue
cracks propagating from weld joints in steel bridges. As
thermoelastic temperature changes are very small and
sometimes hidden by the thermal noise of the infrared
camera, lock-in infrared thermography using reference
signals synchronised with stress changes is commonly
employed to improve the accuracy of stress measurements.
The conventional thermoelastic stress measurement
technique requires the lock-in algorithm with the refer-
ence loading signal extracted from the load cell, strain
gauge or displacement gauge for signal to noise ratio im-
provement. However, it is difficult to obtain a reference
signal from steel bridges that are actively in service. Fur-
thermore, the observed load signal does not have a clear
cyclic waveform like a sinusoidal wave as it contains ir-
regular waveform components because of moving wheel
loading by vehicles on the bridge. These problems cause
difficulties for the use of conventional lock-in infrared
thermography in the on-site thermoelastic stress mea-
surement of steel bridges, and applications of the tech-
nique have thus been limited to laboratory tests.
The author of this paper has developed a self-
reference lock-in thermography technique that does not
require any external reference signals and can be
employed even under irregular waveform loading.66,67
In self-reference lock-in thermography, a reference sig-
nal is constructed from a reference region that is arbi-
trarily set on the same sequential infrared images as
those showing the thermoelastic temperature change.
The distribution of the relative intensity of the
thermoelastic temperature change against that in the ref-
erence region can then be obtained using the following
least-squares approach,68 even under irregular waveform
loading, provided that the temperature change in the ref-
erence region has a similar and in-phase waveform to that
in the objective area under measurement. Assume that a
body is subjected to irregular waveform loading and the
waveform is expressed as fn, the infrared signal in the ob-
jective region can then be approximated as follows:
Y n ¼ A þ Bf n ; (2)
where A is an offset value, B is the influence coefficient
of the reference and n is the frame number. To calcu-
late B, the sum of the squares of the deviations between
Yn and the infrared signal yn obtained from the region,
defined as follows, is minimised:
X
N  
Δ2 ¼ yn  Y n 2 : (3)
n¼1
Here, N is the total frame number. Then, B is obtained
764 T. SAKAGAMI
from the following equation:
 
 N ∑ yn 
 
∑f ∑ yn f n  N ∑ yn f n  ∑ yn ∑ f n
B ¼  n ¼     :
 N ∑ f n  N ∑ f 2  ∑ f 2
  2  n n
∑f ∑ fn 
n reinforcement to prolong their life.
When this calculation is performed on all pixel data
obtained by infrared thermography, it is possible to obtain
the correlation between the infrared signal in the reference
region and that in any region. The value of B indicates the
intensity of the thermoelastic temperature change relative
to that in the reference region. The distribution of the
obtained values of B is effectively employed for the
detection of areas of stress concentration around notches
or cracks. This self-reference lock-in thermography
method enables a fully remote and noncontact stress distri-
bution measurement under irregular wheel loading, and as
such can be considered as a new remote NDE technique
using infrared thermography for orthotropic steel decks.
DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE CYCLE NDT AND NDE
USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY
Figure 9 shows the development of life cycle NDT and
NDE for steel bridges. The first signs of deterioration
in ageing steel bridges are the initiation of fatigue cracks.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to preempt this phase
by predicting the occurrence and location of fatigue crack
initiation. After fatigue crack initiation, detection of fa-
tigue cracks is required for maintenance of steel bridges.
Fig. 9 Development of life cycle nondestructive testing (NDT) and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques using infrared thermography
for fatigue cracks in orthotropic steel decks.
Additionally, once a fatigue crack initiates, it is necessary
to gain an accurate evaluation of its size and propagation
rate, and fracture mechanics analysis then needs to be
conducted accurately to evaluate the remaining strength
(4)
and life prediction of the bridge. Furthermore, after am-
ple crack propagation, steel bridges then require repair or
The author of this paper thus proposes NDT and
NDE methods employing infrared thermography at cer-
tain stages in the life cycle of a steel bridge. If a dissipated
energy evaluation using infrared thermography is
employed before fatigue crack initiation, it would be pos-
sible to predict the location of fatigue crack initiation. In
this respect, the author of this paper observed that mea-
surements of dissipated energy emission caused by the
generation and motion of slip bands were effective for
the prediction of fatigue crack initiation.69,70 For crack
detection, both a temperature gap detection technique
and a thermoelastic stress evaluation technique can be
employed.43,71–73 For the evaluation of fatigue crack prop-
agation after crack initiation, a thermoelastic stress mea-
surement technique can then be effectively applied for
the full-field stress distribution measurement around crack
tips, followed by a fracture mechanics evaluation.74,75 Fi-
nally, after the repair or reinforcement of a steel bridge,
it is essential to confirm the reduction in the severity of
the stress distribution around the defect portion.
Consequently, life cycle NDT and NDE techniques
for steel bridge maintenance can be developed by
employing infrared thermography. The results of the ap-
plication of NDT and NDE techniques using infrared
thermography to several cases are presented in the subse-
quent sections within this paper.
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779

DETECTION OF THROUGH-WELD FATIGUE
CRACKS IN ORTHOTROPIC STEEL DECKS BASED
ON TEMPERATURE GAP DETECTION USING IN-
FRARED THERMOGRAPHY
Test object and experimental procedure
The object of this experimental study was a steel contin-
uous box-girder bridge in a part of the Honshu–Shikoku
Expressway in Japan. A photograph and cross-sectional
view of the bridge is shown in Fig. 10. A maintenance ve-
hicle, situated under the over-hanging part of the bridge,
moves in the direction of the bridge axis and is used for
the inspection and maintenance of the outside girder.
Three infrared cameras were installed on the mainte-
nance vehicle so that each infrared camera could take
continuous thermal images along one weld line. Infrared
cameras with micro-bolometer infrared array sensors
(320 × 240 pixels, temperature resolution: 30 mK and
framing rate: 60 frames/s) were employed. Weld lines lo-
cated under areas where wheel loading was directly ap-
plied were chosen for inspection. Each infrared camera
continuously measured the temperature distribution on
the deck plate, the weld bead and the trough rib in the in-
spection area along the bridge in an axial direction. Infra-
red measurements were conducted under the conditions
of ‘no flat black paint application’ and ‘no anti-corrosion
paint removal’.
Fundamental experiments for investigating crack
detectability
Fundamental experiments were conducted to investigate
the size of detectable cracks and the influence of the mea-
surement conditions, such as season, time and spatial res-
olution, on the crack detection ability of the newly
developed NDT technique based on temperature gap de-
tection. Table 2 lists the fatigue cracks that were detected
by visual testing followed by the use of MT within the
Fig. 10 Cross-sectional view and photograph of the bridge used in the experiment.43
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 765
Table 2 Surface lengths of detected through-weld fatigue cracks
Crack No. No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5
Crack length 42 mm 160 mm 60 mm 60 mm 60 mm
maintenance works. Infrared temperature measurements
were conducted several times a day in different seasons
(summer: 11 September 2013, autumn: 6 November
2013 and winter: 4 February 2014). The spatial resolution
of the infrared cameras was adjusted in relation to the lens
and the distance between the object and the cameras; it
was 1 mm/pixel for crack Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and
2 mm/pixel for crack Nos. 4 and 5. The framing rate of
the infrared cameras was set to 15 frames/s.
The experimental result for crack No. 2, obtained at
12:00 in summer, is shown in Fig. 11. The infrared image
shown in the figure was captured from sequential infra-
red images taken by the infrared camera travelling along
the bridge in an axial direction. It can be seen from the
infrared image that the temperature gap appears in a weld
bead, indicating a thermal insulation effect by the fatigue
crack. Line profiles of the temperature along the red
line A (at the cracked portion) and along the blue line
B (at the sound portion) are also shown in the figure.
The temperature gap can be clearly identified from a
comparison between the line profiles of the cracked
and sound portions.
The influence of the measurement conditions, such as
season, time and spatial resolution, on crack detectability
was investigated from the obtained experimental results.
The obtained results for crack detectability are shown in
Fig. 12. The abscissa in the figures indicates the tempera-
ture gap between the deck plate and the trough rib.
Measurement points were set on the deck plate and
trough rib 25 mm away from the weld bead centre. It
can be seen in the figure that a larger temperature gap is
observed in summer, and therefore this season enables
766 T. SAKAGAMI

Fig. 11 Experimental result obtained for crack No.2 (at 12:00 local time, in summer).43

Fig. 12 Influence of measurement conditions on crack detectability.43

superior crack detectability. In contrast, crack detectabil-
ity is inferior in winter. Furthermore, it can be found from
the figure that the temperature difference changes ac-
cording to the time of day during which the measurement
was performed. Moreover, it is noted that the spatial
resolution of the infrared camera significantly influences
crack detectability, and a spatial resolution of 1 mm/pixel
is required to accurately detect a 40 mm fatigue crack.
Practicability investigation of crack detection using
the temperature gap technique in uninspected areas
The practicability of the NDT technique based on tem-
perature gap detection was investigated by through-weld
fatigue crack detection in uninspected areas in the bridge,
where NDT had not yet been conducted. Infrared mea-
surements were conducted in early November, when the

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779

difference between the temperature of the asphalt
pavement and atmospheric temperature was 10 °C. Three
infrared cameras installed on the travelling maintenance
vehicle were used to take continuous temperature
measurements. The time taken to inspect a total weld
line length of 10 km was approximately 9 h. The spatial
resolution of the infrared cameras was set at 1 mm/pixel
using the telescopic optional converter lens according
to the results of the fundamental experiment described
in the previous paragraph. After data acquisition, se-
quential infrared images were analysed to identify any
temperature gaps.
As a result of the infrared image analysis, several parts
of the bridge were exposed as having temperature gaps
that indicated the possibility of fatigue crack propagation;
therefore, detailed inspections of these areas were subse-
quently conducted on another day. These detailed in-
spections were performed using visual testing of the
surface condition, followed by MT after the removal of
anti-corrosion paint. Results of the detailed inspections
showed the existence of fatigue cracks measuring be-
tween 40 and 120 mm. Figure 13 shows the infrared im-
age, line profile of temperature and MT result used to
identify a fatigue crack measuring 80 mm. A localised
low temperature region due to the temperature gap can
be clearly identified in the infrared image.
Fig. 13 Result of the detection of an 80 mm through-weld fatigue crack using the temperature gap technique.43
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 767
The detailed inspections showed that paint cracking
could be detected by visual inspection at a very short dis-
tance of approximately 50 cm. However, it was difficult to
detect paint cracking at a distance of 1 m from the surface,
as there was no associated leakage of rust leachate in these
detected areas. Additionally, it was found that the crack
length, as estimated from the temperature gap, coincided
very well with that measured using MT. From these re-
sults, the practicability of using the NDT technique based
on temperature gap detection was demonstrated.
RESULTS OF FATIGUE CRACK DETECTION IN AN
ORTHOTROPIC STEEL DECK USING
SELF-REFERENCE LOCK-IN THERMOGRAPHY
Detection of fatigue cracks open to the inspection
surface in an orthotropic steel deck
Detection of through-thickness fatigue crack in trough rib
Detection of a through-thickness fatigue crack in a trough
rib (SD1 in Fig. 2) of an in-service orthotropic steel deck
was conducted under a national highway bridge, as shown
in Fig. 14 (an illustration of the detected fatigue crack and
the MT result are also shown in the figure). The through-
768 T. SAKAGAMI
Fig. 14 Steel deck used in this study and an illustration of the fatigue crack for measurements using self-reference lock-in thermography.75
weld crack initiated at the intersection of the deck plate,
trough rib and cross rib, and propagated in a weld line be-
tween the deck plate and the trough rib. After ample
propagation, the crack deflected into the trough rib.
The temperature change under moving wheel loading
by vehicles on the bridge was measured by the infrared
camera with a mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) array
detector (temperature resolution: 25 mK, infrared spectral
range: 7.7–9.3 μm). The infrared measurement frequency
was set to 113 Hz, and the obtained sequential infrared data
were processed using the self-reference lock-in technique.
Figure 15 shows infrared images captured from sequential
images at maximum loading (the time at which a vehicle
wheel passes a point), and waveforms of the infrared inten-
sity values measured at points A, B and C in the infrared
image. A significant change in the infrared intensity was
observed at the crack tip because of the stress concentra-
tion, and a clear signal was obtained at point A, which
was located near the crack tip. Sequential infrared data
were processed using the self-reference lock-in technique
that employed reference signals obtained at points A, B
and C. The results of the self-reference lock-in data pro-
cessing are shown in Fig. 16, where a significant contrast
change can be observed at the crack tip because of the sin-
gular stress field in the vicinity of the crack tip; the location
of the fatigue crack tip is clearly detected using the present
Fig. 15 Obtained infrared image of thermoelasticity around a fatigue crack tip.75
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
technique. This shows that an improved contrast image can
be obtained when a clear reference signal is employed in
self-reference lock-in processing.
Remote detection of through-weld fatigue crack
Remote detection of a through-weld fatigue crack in an in-
service orthotropic steel deck was conducted using self-
reference lock-in thermography with a telescopic lens, as
shown in Fig. 17. Infrared measurements were conducted
from distances of 8 and 12 m. The thermoelastic tempera-
ture change near the crack tip under variable wheel loading
by traffic on the bridge was measured using the MCT in-
frared camera, as described earlier, and the experimental
results obtained using self-reference lock-in thermography
are shown in Fig. 18. The region used to generate the ref-
erence signal for lock-in processing is indicated by the term
‘Ref.’ in the figure, and the location of the fatigue crack tip
is indicated by arrows. A significant contrast change was
observed at the crack tip because of the singular stress field
in the vicinity of the crack tip, which verifies that the loca-
tion of a fatigue crack tip is clearly detected from a remote
place using the present technique. This experiment also
shows that it is possible to detect the crack tip despite deg-
radation due to infrared attenuation by the optical system
of the telescopic lens.

Fig. 16 Experimental results of self-reference lock-in processing for detecting through-thickness cracks.75
Fig. 17 Remote fatigue crack detection with telescopic lens.75
Results of through-deck fatigue crack detection in
orthotropic steel decks
Laboratory test
An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of
through-deck fatigue crack detection in a steel deck spec-
imen using self-reference lock-in thermography. The
steel deck sample, which simulated a part of the actual
steel deck of the bridge, is shown in Fig. 19. The thickness
Fig. 18 Results of self-reference lock-in processing for detecting a through-weld crack from a distance.75
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 769
of the deck plate was 19 mm, and the dimensions of the
cross section of the trough rib were indicated as
U320 × 240 × 6; therefore, the top width, height and thick-
ness were 320, 240 and 6 mm, respectively. To initiate and
propagate a fatigue crack, a cyclic load was applied to the
specimen using a servo-hydraulic testing machine. The
cyclic load was applied at two points through solid rubber
measuring 200 mm × 200 mm × 15 mm, as shown in
Fig. 19, which simulated the loading of a single vehicle
tyre. The loading positions were set at the centre of the
trough ribs on the deck plate, the loading frequency was
9 Hz, and the minimum and maximum loads were 10
and 110 kN, respectively.
A photograph of the infrared measurement area and a
schematic illustration of the through-deck crack in the
specimen are shown in Figs. 20 and 21, respectively. The
thermoelastic stress measurement area was set near the in-
tersection of the deck plate, trough rib and cross rib, where
fatigue crack initiation and propagation were expected, and
is indicated by the rectangle in Fig. 20. Results show the
initiation of a fatigue crack from the back surface of the
weld bead, as shown in Fig. 21(a), and the subsequent for-
mation of a semi-elliptical crack towards the deck plate, as
indicated in Fig. 21. Infrared measurements were con-
ducted at regular intervals during the fatigue crack propa-
gation test, and the changes in the stress distribution by
the fatigue crack initiation and propagation were observed.
770 T. SAKAGAMI

Fig. 19 Configuration of the steel deck sample used in the experiments.73

Fig. 20 Infrared measurement area for through-deck fatigue crack.73

Fig. 21 Illustration of the cross section of a test specimen with a through-deck fatigue crack.73

The temperature change under cyclic loading was mea-
sured using the infrared camera with the MCT array
detector, as described in the preceding paragraph. The
infrared measurement frequency was set to 113 Hz, and
the obtained sequential infrared data were then processed
using the self-reference lock-in technique.
Experimental results of the crack propagation process,
as obtained using self-reference lock-in thermography,
are shown in Fig. 22. The colour bar shows the relative
intensity values of thermoelastic temperature change
against that of the reference region, labelled ‘Ref’ in the
figure. Characteristic stress concentration in the deck-
to-rib weld bead was not evident in the early stage of
fatigue testing, as shown in Fig. 22(a). On the other hand,
significant stress concentration was observed in the weld
bead at a location away from the intersection of the cross
rib, as shown in Fig. 22(b), (c) and (d). Furthermore, it
was observed that these stress concentration zones moved
away from the cross rib with increasing loading cycles. It
appears, therefore, that the stress concentration was

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
 REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 771

Fig. 22 Results of detection of through-deck fatigue cracks using self-reference lock-in thermography.73

caused by stress singularity at the crack front of the semi-
elliptical through-deck crack. Experimental results of the
crack measurement using self-reference lock-in thermog-
raphy and ultrasonic inspection are compared in Table 3.
It was found that the distance between the centre of the
stress concentration zone and the cross rib corresponded
to the half crack length obtained using ultrasonic inspec-
tion. Moreover, it was confirmed that the significant
stress concentration zone that appeared on the deck-to-
rib weld line indicates a possibility for the estimation of
the location of the crack front and the half crack length
of the semi-elliptical crack.
Another experiment76 was conducted to test the effec-
tiveness of through-deck fatigue crack detection in a steel
deck specimen subjected to a travelling wheel load, as
shown in Fig. 23. The thickness of the deck plate was

Table 3 Comparison of crack measurements determined using lock-in thermography and ultrasonic inspection73

Number of Distance from cross rib to stress concentration Half crack length obtained
load cycles obtained using self-reference lock-in thermography by ultrasonic inspection
5.0 × 105 (Difficult to determine) 17 mm
1.0 × 106 35 mm 34 mm
2.0 × 106 40 mm 40 mm

Fig. 23 Illustration of the travelling wheel load test and the configurations of employed specimen.76

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
772 T. SAKAGAMI

12 mm. The dimensions of the trough rib cross sections

were indicated as U320 × 240 × 6; that is, the top width,
height and thickness were 320, 240 and 6 mm, respec-
tively. The measurement area was set near the point of
intersection of the deck plate, trough rib and cross rib.
The experimental results of the crack propagation pro-
cess obtained by self-reference lock-in thermography
are shown in Fig. 24. From the figures, it can be seen that
no evident stress concentration was detected in the early
stage of fatigue testing (Fig. 24(a)); however, significant
stress concentration was detected in the weld bead
(Fig. 24(b) and (c)).

Experimental investigation of through-deck crack detection

in a steel highway bridge

Detection of through-deck type fatigue cracks in an in-

service steel deck of the Metropolitan Expressway (Bay
Shore Route in Yokohama) was conducted using self-
reference lock-in thermography, as shown in Fig. 25.
Measurements were conducted for through-deck fatigue
cracks in the intersection part (intersection of deck plate,
trough rib and cross rib), as shown in Fig. 26(a), as well as
in the intermediate part shown in Fig. 26(b). The thick-
ness of the deck plate of this orthotropic steel deck was
12 mm. The field measurements were conducted on 4
October 2011. The average ambient temperature in
Yokohama was around 18.3 °C. Sequential infrared data
Fig. 25 Orthotropic steel deck for through-deck crack detection and
set-up of infrared camera.73
were captured over a period of 30 s while waiting for
heavy weight vehicles, which caused sufficient
thermoelastic temperature changes to detect stress con-
centrations. The thermoelastic temperature change was
measured using the infrared camera with the MCT array
detector, and the framing rate of infrared measurements

Fig. 24 Results of detection of through-deck fatigue cracks using self-reference lock-in thermography in travelling wheel load test.76

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
 REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 773

Fig. 26 Measurement areas for through-deck fatigue crack detection.73

was set to 157 Hz. The obtained sequential infrared data
were then processed using the self-reference lock-in
technique.
Experimental results of self-reference lock-in ther-
mography obtained for a sound portion and a cracked
portion of the intersection parts are shown in Fig. 27(a)
and (b), respectively. Waveforms of the infrared intensity
employed as reference signals for self-reference lock-in
processing and processed images are also shown in the
figure; the square marks in the self-reference lock-in im-
ages indicate the locations from which the reference sig-
nals were generated. The contrast in the self-reference
lock-in image shows the intensity of the thermoelastic
temperature change compared with that in the reference
region. The figure also shows that a significant stress
concentration was detected on the deck-to-rib weld line
in each of the cases. In the sound portion, the location
of the stress concentration was observed behind the scal-
lop at the intersection point of the deck plate, trough rib
and cross rib. On the other hand, in the cracked portion,
the location of stress concentration was observed away
from the intersection point of the deck plate, trough rib
and cross rib, as indicated by the arrow. This shows the
same tendency as observed in the experimental labora-
tory results, as discussed in the preceding paragraph.
The result indicates that a through-deck fatigue crack ex-
ists behind the weld bead. Furthermore, the half crack
length of the through-deck fatigue crack was estimated

Fig. 27 Experimental results using self-reference lock-in thermography obtained for the sound portion and the cracked portion of the inter-
section parts.73

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
774 T. SAKAGAMI

as 48 mm on the basis of the distance between the stress Stress intensity factor evaluation based on on-site
concentration point and the intersection point. This area thermoelastic stress measurements
was inspected using SAUT (as mentioned in Section 2), Stress intensity factor evaluation based on thermoelastic
which measured the half crack length to be 43 mm. stress measurements
Self-reference lock-in thermography was then applied,
As shown in the preceding section, evaluation schemes
and the results were shown to be in good agreement with
those obtained by SAUT. for fracture mechanics parameters based on the TSA re-
sults have been investigated by many researchers.
The experimental result obtained for the intermediate
Tomlinson et al.77 developed a scheme to determine
part using self-reference lock-in thermography is shown
stress intensity factors for mixed mode cracks based on
in Fig. 28. The waveform of the infrared intensity
TSA data measured using the SPATE system. In this
employed as the reference signal for the self-reference
lock-in processing and processed images are also shown experimental study, changes in the stress intensities
ΔKI and ΔKII were determined from the change in the
in the figure. Two stress concentration points were ob-
sum of the principal stresses for two different values of
served in the self- reference lock-in image, indicating
θ in the coordinate system shown in Fig. 29 using the
both fronts of a semi-elliptical, through-deck fatigue
stress extrapolation method given by the following
crack in the longitudinal direction. The crack length in
the longitudinal direction was estimated to be 64 mm equations:
on the basis of the distance between the two stress con-
centration points. The size of the crack length obtained rffiffiffiffiffi   
πr  θ1 θ1
using SAUT was 70 mm. In this case, estimated crack lim Δσ θ¼θ ¼ ΔK cos  ΔK sin ; (5)
2  1
I II
r→0 2 2
length obtained using self-reference lock-in thermogra-
phy again shows good agreement with that obtained
using SAUT. rffiffiffiffiffi   
πr  θ2 θ2
lim Δσ θ¼θ2 ¼ ΔK I cos  ΔK II sin : (6)
r→0 2 2 2

STRESS EVALUATION OF AN ORTHOTROPIC

STEEL DECK BASED ON THERMOELASTICITY

The NDE technique based on thermoelastic stress mea-

surements is extremely beneficial not only for crack de-
tection but also for on-site evaluation of stress
distributions around crack tips, which is important for
the estimation of future crack growth. This NDE tech-
nique is also beneficial for confirming the severity reduc-
tion in the stress distribution around the defective
portion after repair or reinforcements. This section
shows examples of a stress intensity factor evaluation
based on the results of thermoelastic stress distribution
measurements, followed by a stress evaluation before
and after bridge reinforcements using steel fibre rein-
forced concrete (SFRC) paving on the bridge. Fig. 29 Coordinate system near crack tip.

Fig. 28 Experimental results obtained for the intermediate part using self-reference lock-in thermography.73

© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779

Stress intensity factor evaluation for a through-weld crack
in an orthotropic steel deck
Stress intensity factor evaluation based on thermoelastic
stress distribution measurements was performed for a
through-weld fatigue crack in an orthotropic steel deck. Dis-
tribution of the thermoelastic temperature change near the
fatigue crack tip under wheel loading by traffic on the bridge
was continuously measured using infrared thermography.
The temperature values were obtained from a calibration re-
lation between infrared values and temperatures obtained
using a blackbody furnace. Stress values were calculated
from the thermoelastic coefficient, which can be calculated
using handbook values for physical quantities of mild steel.
Vibration of the bridge due to vehicle loading causes
displacements in the field of view in sequential infrared im-
ages. These displacements cause an error in thermoelastic
stress measurements, which is known as the edge effect,
when time-series processing is conducted for sequential in-
frared images. Therefore, the author of this paper devel-
oped a new motion compensation technique based on a
simplified pattern matching technique combined with the
Fig. 30 Waveform of change in the sum of the principal stresses.67
Fig. 31 Distributions of change in the sum of the principal stresses.67
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 775
square sum of differences (SSD) parabola fitting method,78
which enabled motion compensation with sub-pixel preci-
sion. Changes in stress distribution were thus evaluated
from sequential infrared data processed using the SSD pa-
rabola fitting motion compensation technique.
Figure 30 shows the waveform of change in the sum of
the principal stresses during the passing of a vehicle,
which was obtained near the crack tip. It was thus ob-
served that a significant stress change appeared near the
crack tip under wheel loading by the vehicle on the
bridge. The distributions of the change in the sum of
the principal stresses in the inspection area at 0.44 and
0.65 s (in Fig. 30) are shown in Fig. 31. It can be observed
from the figures that a singular stress field in the vicinity
of the crack tip was clearly obtained. From these stress
distributions, the values of KI and KII were determined
using the stress extrapolation technique, as shown in the
foregoing paragraph. The time-series variation in the
K-value was then calculated from the measured stress dis-
tribution during the passage of a vehicle, and the obtained
results are shown in Fig. 32. In the thermoelastic stress
measurement, the measured stress values indicate the dif-
ference from the fundamental stress values, including the
mean stress or residual stress. Therefore, the K-value is
given by the difference from the fundamental value, K0. It
was found that the time-series variation in the K-value can
be obtained using the proposed technique. Furthermore,
it was found from Fig. 32 that changes in the mode II stress
intensity factor, KII, were dominant for the through-weld
crack in this study. A stress intensity factor evaluation was
then conducted for the through-thickness fatigue crack in
the trough rib shown in Fig. 14, and the obtained time-
series variation in the K-value is shown in Fig. 33. In con-
trast, in this case, it was found that changes in the mode I
stress intensity factor, KI, were dominant. This crack was
deflected into the trough rib from the deck-to-trough rib
weld line. It is well known from field observations of fatigue
failures in orthotropic steel decks that fatigue cracks are
deflected into the trough rib after ample propagation in
776 T. SAKAGAMI
Fig. 32 Time-series variation in K-value evaluated for a through-
weld fatigue crack based on thermoelastic stress measurements.67
Fig. 33 Time-series variation in K-value evaluated for the through-
thickness fatigue crack shown in Fig. 14 based on thermoelastic
stress measurements.
Fig. 34 Stress distribution around through-weld fatigue crack obtained by self-reference lock-in thermography. SFRC, steel fibre reinforced
concrete.84
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38 755–779
the deck-to-trough rib weld line. Numerous studies can
be found with regard to crack path prediction under
mixed mode loading.79–81 Additionally, Yates et al.82 inves-
tigated crack paths under mixed mode loading based on
the crack tip stress field using TSA, and Beretta et al.83
conducted experimental and computational studies for fa-
tigue crack paths in butt-welded rails subjected to wheel
loading. The obtained results in the present study corre-
spond with the well-known fact that fatigue cracks propa-
gated in the direction of mode I are dominant. These
experimental results of stress intensity factor determina-
tion based on the near-tip stress intensity provide direct
information on the driving force of fatigue crack propaga-
tion. This information can be used for assessing the ur-
gency of repair or evaluation of the remaining life of a
structure based on the crack propagation rate.
Stress evaluation before and after bridge reinforcement
Construction of SFRC paving is effective for
prolonging the life of orthotropic steel decks and has
the effect of preventing crack initiation or retarding
crack propagation. To confirm the severity reduction
after the application of SFRC paving, the stress distri-
bution near the crack tip was measured before and after
the construction of SFRC for the national highway
bridge, and the results were compared.84 In the experi-
ments conducted both before and after the application
of SFRC paving, infrared measurements were con-
ducted using the same loading conditions by applying
the same weight vehicle on the same wheel driving path.
The obtained self-reference lock-in images and time-
series variation in infrared intensity values measured
using infrared thermography are shown in Figs. 34
and 35, respectively. A drastic reduction in the stress
level can be observed after application of SFRC, indi-
cating the positive effect of bridge reinforcements.

Fig. 35 Stress reduction effect after application of steel fibre rein-
forced concrete (SFRC).
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, the author reviewed the current situation of
NDT techniques employed for the detection of fatigue
cracks in steel bridges, followed by a review of the ad-
vances made in thermal NDT and thermoelastic stress
evaluation techniques that use infrared thermography.
The author then introduced remote NDT and NDE
techniques using infrared thermography that can be
employed for structural integrity evaluation throughout
the life cycle of a structure. The author initially presented
a simple NDT technique based on the appearance of a
temperature gap on the surface of structural members
due to the thermal insulation effect, with some results
from applying the technique to orthotropic steel decks
on a highway. Secondly, the author presented NDT
and NDE techniques based on thermoelastic stress mea-
surements for use in crack detection and structural integ-
rity assessments. The practicability of this proposed
technique was then demonstrated by the results of the ap-
plication of remote NDE of fatigue cracks to orthotropic
steel decks. Finally, the author presented the applicability
of this developed technique to stress intensity factor eval-
uation based on the actual stress distribution under vehi-
cle wheel loading, as obtained by thermoelastic stress
measurements.
Acknowledgements
The author would particularly like to acknowledge Prof.
Murakami for his valuable advice. Furthermore, the au-
thor would like to acknowledge all the co-authors of the
papers referenced in this study. The research works
© 2015 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct, 2015, 38, 755–779
REMOTE NDE USING INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY 777
shown in this paper were supported by a Grant-in-Aid
for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the
Promotion of Science (A: 19206015, B: 23366057), and
grants from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism and Casio Science Foundation.
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