Laser Heating and Infrared Thermography of Building Materials

Abstract

In this work, a 532 nm diode CW laser is used to heat samples used as building materials at a 1 meter standoff distance while using an FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) thermal camera to monitor and record the heating and then cooling of each sample after lasers are switched off. The data is then analyzed using FLIR proprietary software. Since the absorption spectra of materials are unique, using multiple lasers of different wavelengths to simultaneously shine onto the sample at different locations would give enough thermal data to successfully characterize the samples within a reasonable amount of time. The results are very promising for applications involving non-destructive detection and classification of materials.