Can thermal imaging of tank floors find thin areas.

[Paulx1]

Can thermal imaging of tank floors find thin areas, due to under side corrosion.
Has it been done successfully, and what is the technique is used.

 

[creg41]

Need more information. If this were a steel floor set directly on the ground i would say yes. the decay of the steel would show lighter and darker images due to the delamination and thickness of the steel. The ground temperature would transfer through the steel differently. For example an interior tank temperature of 70 deg and a ground temperature of 56 deg transfered to the surface would show the thinner areas to be cooler with less material to slow down the transfer of cold. Steel is an excellent conductor of thermal energy.

 

[JKEngineer]

Transient IR with forced heating or cooling would be a good way to approach this I think. Estimates of the conditions needed and the detectable thinning or corrosion conditions could be generated with heat transfer analysis, using for example FEA. See my post in response to Marine Inspections on this forum. Samples of the type of calculation that I am talking about are on my website. Jack M. Kleinfeld, P.E. Kleinfeld Technical Services, Inc.
Infrared Thermography, Finite Element Analysis, Process Engineering

http://www.KleinfeldTechnical.com