THERMAL WAVE IMAGING FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF SUBSURFACE CRACKS IN OPAQUE MATERIALS (SCANNING PHOTOACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY, MIRAGE)

The technique of thermal wave imaging has been applied using two approaches to detect subsurface cracks in opaque materials. These two approaches are (1) the scanning photoacoustic microscopy (SPAM) and (2) the optical deflection of laser probes (MIRAGE). These two approaches have been examined and compared in terms of signal magnitude and phase both theoretically and experimentally. The effects of sample crack size, orientation and closure on the thermal wave signal has been considered and discussed. Cracks as small as 40 (mu)m in length have been detected. Also nearly vertical closed cracks have been detected using the MIRAGE technique.;As a more difficult test of the thermal wave technique, we examined the feasibility of detecting a fatigue crack on the inner surface of a bolt hole. This experiment represents the first time that a crack on the interior wall of a bolt hole has been detected using thermal wave imaging. These results emphatically demonstrate the versatility of the SPAM approach when applied to complex geometries. Thermal wave imaging has been shown to have considerable potential for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of solids for science and industry.