About this Research Topic
The structural integrity of mechanical components represents an important challenge for extending the service life of load-carrying members in several industrial contexts. In recent years, the study of thermal phenomena associated with the presence of defects and the damage induced by static and fatigue loads has been addressed in several research studies and industrial applications. Thermal methods include all experimental and numerical techniques that potentially exploit the thermodynamic effects of material structural modification. For instance, applications of thermal methods include the identification of defects immediately after the production phase or during maintenance, the identification and quantification of failure mechanisms induced by load application, and the evaluation of fatigue damage during the service life of a component. Due to technical improvements in infrared cameras and recent developments in our ability to process large amounts of data with limited difficulty, new techniques and approaches are continuously being proposed in the technical literature.
This Research Topic will collect recent advances in the field of thermal methods for the structural evaluation of mechanical components, including the use of thermal methods as a non-destructive technique for defect evaluation, or to monitor the fatigue process and the modifications that it induces in materials and structures. Contributions related to the development of new techniques, innovative experimental set-ups, and presentations of new algorithms for data elaboration are suitable for publication in this Research Topic. In addition, the presentation of industrial case-studies that use thermal parameters as indicators of the structural integrity of materials and components would be acceptable.
The scope of this Research Topic is to present state-of-the-art studies on the use of thermal methods for the mechanical characterization of structural components. Examples of possible subjects that are of interest for this Research Topic are the following:
• Active and Passive thermography
• Thermal effects of mechanical load
• Fatigue prediction based on thermal methods
• Thermal behaviour of materials
• Evaluation of damage processes using thermal data
• Numerical simulation of thermal behaviour induced by loads
Keywords: Thermography, Non-Destructive Testing, Thermoelasticity, Heat Sources, Fatigue
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
