The infrared thermography and the finite element method applied to the characterization of a weld quality

In this paper, we investigate numerically the effect of the thermophysical nature of solder, used to connect two pipe elements, on the distribution of the surface temperature of this structure. The analysis of the obtained thermograms can reveal the thermophysical quality of the used solder. The finite element method is used to calculate the temperature distribution on the specimen including the welded region. The thermal response of the structure, which is previously subjected to a thermal flux step, is presented and analyzed. The simulations results are presented in the form of surfaces of thermographic images, to show the contrast in temperature due to the presence of the weld zone. To better quantify the contrast induced by the presence of welding on temperature distribution, we present the spatial variation of the temperature along a surface axis of the pipe.