Virtual wave concept for thermographic thickness estimation in carbon fiber reinforced plastics

The intention of the virtual wave concept (VWC) is to convert temporal temperature data, e.g. measured by an IR-camera, into a virtual wave field. Due to the focal plane array of the IR detector extensive and complex structures can be tested rapidly with the advantage that no coupling medium is necessary. Using VWC, e.g. internal heat sources can be detected by reconstruction algorithms of ultrasonic testing. In this work VWC is applied to carry out thermographic parameter estimation to derive the thickness of the specimen.