The infrared thermography (IRT) technique has shown great potential with many applications in a variety of fields, such as aerospace, petroleum, civil engineering, and so forth. This chapter is designed to provide an overview of the method of IRT in non-destructive material evaluation. It begins with the general introduction and development of the IRT. It follows the basic principles of the electromagnetic spectrum and radiative energy concepts. Following the introduction of different types of thermography, applications in the non-destructive testing fields are provided. The next section focuses on recent trends and developments, in particular the integration of IRT with other technologies namely ultrasonic, acoustic emission, and so on. By assigning a data analysis section, data processing techniques are described by dividing them into two conventional and advanced categories. The numerical modeling and simulation of the IRT inspection process are then presented as beneficial applications. In addition, the relevant standards have been specified in a short separate section. To testify to the effectiveness of the IRT, a case study of a steel sample inspection is provided at the end of the chapter itself.@en

Under in-plane compressive load conditions, the growth of a delamination initially induced by an impact can be followed by a fast growth after a threshold level, which leads to a catastrophic failure in composite structures. To avoid reaching this critical level, it is essential to uncover the delamination size and growth pattern in real time. Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGW) have a strong capability to interrogate and monitor the structure in real-time and thus track the growth of damage, which may occur during the flight cycles. Although various types of damage affect the monitored UGW signals, it is challenging to determine from the UGW signals what types of damage and at what rate of growth are occurring within the structure. UGW signals can be acquired at defined intervals and then analysed to possibly detect different types of damages, such as delamination, and to quantify the rate of damage growth over fatigue cycles. However, correlating the UGW-based Damage Indicators (DIs) with the specific type of damage, such as delamination, and damage growth is a challenging task as the relation between these DIs and the actual damage state is very complex. Therefore, in this study, a supervised Deep Neural Network-based (DNN) prediction model is proposed aiming to diagnose the delamination size of the composite structure by correlating the UGW-based DIs with the quantified time-varying delamination size. UGW data is collected through a network of permanently installed piezoelectric transducers (PZTs). The delamination size is obtained through ultrasonic C-Scan technique at defined cycles. DIs are extracted in time, frequency, and time-frequency domains and used as the input for the DNN-based regression model. Each sensor-actuator path is considered as an independent set of indicators, which are separated for training, validation, and testing purposes. The effect of the different paths on the delamination size prediction is presented along with the model performance on measured delamination growth in woven type composite sample. @en

A health indicator (HI) serves as an intermediary link between structural health monitoring (SHM) data and prognostic models, and an efficient HI should meet prognostic criteria, i.e., monotonicity, trendability, and prognosability. However, designing a proper HI for composite structures is a challenging task due to the complex damage accumulation process during operational conditions. Additionally, designing a HI that is independent of historical SHM data (i.e., from the healthy state until the current state) is even more challenging as HI and remaining useful life prediction are time-dependent phenomena. A reliable SHM technique is required to extract informative time-independent data, and a powerful model is necessary to construct a proper HI from that data. The lamb wave (LW) technique is a useful SHM method that can extract such time-independent data. However, translating the LW data at each time step to the appropriate HI value is a challenge. AI—deep learning in this case—offers significant mathematical potential to meet this difficulty. A semi-supervised learning approach is developed to train the model using the simulated ideal HIs as the targets. The model uses the current LW data, without prior or subsequent data, to output the current HI value. Prognostic criteria are then calculated using the entire HI trajectory until the end-of-life. To validate the proposed approach, aging experiments from NASA’s prognostics data repository are used, which include composite specimens subjected to a tension-tension fatigue loading and monitored using the LW technique. The LW data is first processed using the Hilbert transform, and then, upper and lower signal envelopes in two states – baseline and current time – are used to feed the deep learning model. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach according to the prognostic criteria. The effect of different triggering frequencies of the LW system on the results is also discussed in terms of the prognostic criteria. @en

Recently, companies all over the world have been focusing on the improvement of autonomous health management systems in order to enhance performance and reduce downtime costs. To achieve this, the remaining useful life predictions have been given remarkable attention. These predictions depend on the proper designing process and the quality of health indicators (HI) generated from structural health monitoring sensors based on prior established multiple prognostic evaluation criteria. Constructing such HIs from noisy sensory data demands powerful models that enable the automatic selection and fusion of features taken from those relevant measurements. Deep learning models are promising to autonomously extract features in scenarios with a huge volume of data without requiring considerable domain expertise. Nonetheless, the features established by artificial neural networks are complicated to comprehend and cannot be regarded as physical system characteristics. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to extend a new model; an interpretable artificial neural network that enables the automatic selection and fusion of features to construct the most appropriate HIs with remarkably fewer parameters. This model consists of additive and multiplicative layers that provide a feature fusion that better reflects the system’s physical properties. Additionally, the weights are discretized in two ways: a) using a ternary form with values {-1, 0, 1}, and b) relaxing the aforementioned ternary form by rounding the weights at the first decimal point in the range of [-1, 1]. Both discretization techniques have the ability to softly control the number of parameters that should be ignored. This trick guarantees interpretability for the neural network by extracting simple yet powerful equations representing the constructed HIs. Finally, the model’s performance is evaluated and compared with other approaches using a practical case study. The results show that the proposed approach's designed HIs are both interpretable and of high quality according to the criteria of the HI's evaluation.@en

Health indicators are indices that act as intermediary links between raw SHM data and prognostic models. An efficient HI should satisfy prognostic requirements such as monotonicity, trendability, and prognosability in such a way that it can be effectively used as an input in a prognostic model for remaining useful life estimation. However, discovering or designing a suitable HI for composite structures is a challenging task due to the inherent complexity of the evolution of damage events in such materials. Previous research has shown that data-driven models are efficient for accomplishing this goal. Large labeled datasets, however, are normally required, and the SHM data can only be labeled, respecting prognostic requirements, after a series of nominally identical structures are tested to failure. In this paper, a semi-supervised learning approach based on implicitly imposing prognostic criteria is adopted to design a novel HI suitable. To this end, single-stiffener composite panels were subjected to compression-compression fatigue loading and monitored using acoustic emission (AE). The AE data after signal processing and feature extraction were fused using a multi-layer LSTM neural network with criteria-based hypothetical targets to generate an intelligent HI. The results confirm the performance of the proposed scenario according to the prognostic criteria.@en

Developing comprehensive health indicators (HIs) for composite structures encompassing various damage types is challenging due to the stochastic nature of damage accumulation and uncertain events (like impact) during operation. This complexity is amplified when striving for HIs independent of historical data. This paper introduces an AI-driven approach, the Hilbert transform-convolutional neural network under a semi-supervised learning paradigm, to designing reliable HIs (fulfilling requirements, referred to as 'fitness'). It exclusively utilizes current guided wave data, eliminating the need for historical information. Ensemble learning techniques were also used to enhance HI quality while reducing deep learning randomness. The fitness equation is refined for dependable comparisons and practicality. The methodology is validated through investigations on T-single stiffener CFRP panels under compression-fatigue and dogbone CFRP specimens under tension-fatigue loadings, showing high performance of up to 93% and 81%, respectively, in prognostic criteria.@en

Assessment of cultural heritage assets is now extremely important all around the world. Non-destructive inspection is essential for preserving the integrity of artworks while avoiding the loss of any precious materials that make them up. The use of Infrared Thermography is an interesting concept since surface and subsurface faults can be discovered by utilizing the 3D diffusion inside the object caused by external heat. The primary goal of this research is to detect defects in artworks, which is one of the most important tasks in the restoration of mural paintings. To this end, machine learning and deep learning techniques are effective tools that should be employed properly in accordance with the experiment’s nature and the collected data. Considering both the temporal and spatial perspectives of step-heating thermography, a spatiotemporal deep neural network is developed for defect identification in a mock-up reproducing an artwork. The results are then compared with those of other conventional algorithms, demonstrating that the proposed approach outperforms the others.@en

A health indicator (HI) is a valuable index demonstrating the health level of an engineering system or structure, which is a direct intermediate connection between raw signals collected by structural health monitoring (SHM) methods and prognostic models for remaining useful life estimation. An appropriate HI should conform to prognostic criteria, i.e., monotonicity, trendability, and prognosability, that are commonly utilized to measure the HI's quality. However, constructing such a HI is challenging, particularly for composite structures due to their vulnerability to complex damage scenarios. Data-driven models and deep learning are powerful mathematical tools that can be employed to achieve this purpose. Yet the availability of a large dataset with labels plays a crucial role in these fields, and the data collected by SHM methods can only be labeled after the structure fails. In this respect, semi-supervised learning can incorporate unlabeled data monitored from structures that have not yet failed. In the present work, a semi-supervised deep neural network is proposed to construct HI by SHM data fusion. For the first time, the prognostic criteria are used as targets of the network rather than employing them only as a measurement tool of HI's quality. In this regard, the acoustic emission method was used to monitor composite panels during fatigue loading, and extracted features were used to construct an intelligent HI. Finally, the proposed roadmap is evaluated by the holdout method, which shows a 77.3% improvement in the HI's quality, and the leave-one-out cross-validation method, which indicates the generalized model has at least an 81.77% score on the prognostic criteria. This study demonstrates that even when the true HI labels are unknown but the qualified HI pattern (according to the prognostic criteria) can be recognized, a model can still be built that provides HIs aligning with the desired degradation behavior.@en

Assessment of cultural heritage assets is now extremely important all around the world. Non-destructive inspection is essential for preserving the integrity of the artworks while avoiding the loss of any precious materials that make it up. The use of Infrared Thermography (IRT) is an interesting concept since surface and subsurface faults can be discovered by utilizing the 3D diffusion inside the object caused by external heat. The primary goal of this research is to detect defects in artworks, which is one of the most important tasks in the restoration of mural paintings. To this end, a spatiotemporal deep neural network (STDNN) is utilized for defect identification in a mock-up reproducing an artwork, taking into account both the temporal and spatial perspectives of step-heating (SH) thermography. Finally, the outcomes are compared to those of other conventional algorithms.@en

Composite structures are highly valued for their strength-to-weight ratio, durability, and versatility, making them ideal for a variety of applications, including aerospace, automotive, and infrastructure. However, potential damage scenarios like impact, fatigue, and corrosion can lead to premature failure and pose a threat to safety. This highlights the importance of monitoring composite structures through structural health monitoring (SHM) and prognostics and health management (PHM) to ensure their safe and reliable operation. SHM provides information on the current state of the structure, while PHM predicts its future behavior and determines necessary maintenance. Health indicators (HIs) play a crucial role in both SHM and PHM, providing information on structural health and behavior, but accurate determination of these indicators can be challenging due to the complexity of material behavior and multiple sources of damage in composite structures. In the present work, a model containing a developed adaptive standardization, a dimension reduction sub-model, a time-independent sub-model, and a time-dependent sub-model is introduced to address this challenge. First, the raw data collected by the acoustic emission technique monitoring composite structures under fatigue loading is processed to provide plenty of statistical features. The extracted features are adaptively standardized according to the available data until the current time. Then, the principal component analysis algorithm is employed to reconstruct a few yet highly informative features out of those statistical features. An artificial neural network is used to regress the principal components to the HI that meets the prognostic criteria. Finally, the last sub-model takes into account the time dependency of HI values during fatigue loading. In comparison to other models, the results show superior performance.@en