Guidelines for successful implementation of infrared thermography for repairing electronic circuit cards

While the Air Force has not accepted infrared (IR) thermography as a universal diagnostic tool for repairing circuit cards, the personnel at Hill AFB have found IR thermography to be an effective diagnostic tool to an increasing variety of applications, particularly in the current environment of downsizing, where even the maintenance of the traditional automatic Testing Equipment (ATE) has become prohibitive. Using only the thermal imager and a functional tester, successful production has been achieved at the F-16 Avionics Intermediate Shop (AIS) and the Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) repair depot. Much of the success is keyed on the good design and software of the box-level testers, and a spirit of cooperation from shop personnel. Unfortunately a substantial percentage of Air Force ATE is unsuitable for use of IR thermography without reengineering of ATE software, hardware, and shop procedures, which should not be viewed as a deficiency of thermography because often a "hot mockup" or box-level tester is all that is required. This paper makes qualitative comparisons of these applications to other applications where success of IR thermography was not achieved. On the FLCP A2 card, for example, a repair accuracy of 11 out of 12 was achieved during the first repair attempt. In applications, such as the FLCP, where the card-level tester has been dysfunctional for more than 18 months. IR thermography at intermediate-level testers offers a viable alternative to traditional testing.