Imaging of Temperature Fields of Solids Infrared thermal imaging of temperature fields has become an extremely versatile and popular method of real time temperature measurement and thermal condition monitoring in all industrial and research applications. In the near future, the rapid further development of the method is more than guaranteed, as it will replace many existing temperature measuring methods, offering exciting new opportunities with the added most important benefit of a two-dimensional look at problems. The first marketed infrared imagers were based on the use of an opto-mechanical scanning system to sequentially scan the target surface | Temperature Measurement Second Edition L. Michalski K. Eckersdorf J. Kucharski J. McGhee Copyright 2001 John Wiley Sons Ltd ISBNs 0-471-86779-9 Hardback 0-470-84613-5 Electronic 14 Imaging of Temperature Fields of Solids Introduction Infrared thermal imaging of temperature fields has become an extremely versatile and popular method of real time temperature measurement and thermal condition monitoring in all industrial and research applications. In the near future the rapid further development of the method is more than guaranteed as it will replace many existing temperature measuring methods offering exciting new opportunities with the added most important benefit of a two-dimensional look at problems. The first marketed infrared imagers were based on the use of an opto-mechanical scanning system to sequentially scan the target surface. The resulting series of radiated image signals is transformed into a series of electrical signals in an appropriate detector. In the subsequent step in their development the opto-mechanical scanning system was replaced by a matrix of mainly photoelectric detectors. However since the detectors had to be cooled the device was big and heavy. The majority of contemporary imagers is based on an array of un-cooled micro-bolometers which can operate at ambient room temperature. Infrared thermal imaging systems can be divided into two main groups. In surfacial systems two-dimensional imaging of temperature fields is produced using scanning and matrix systems. In the second group which may be referred to as linear systems the aim is to produce a temperature field image of continuously cooled or heated moving targets. These linear systems present a certain simplification of two-dimensional systems. Surfacial Systems Opto-mechanical scanning infrared systems. Among the first commercially available infrared systems were the two-dimensional opto-mechanical scanning systems produced since 1965 by AGEMA Infrared Systems. As shown in .
