Diagnosis of the leakage point on a structure surface using infrared thermography in near ambient conditions

It is important to check for leakage points of fluids on a surface to maintain and manage various structures satisfactorily. In particular, it is necessary that the leaking walls of a bank, dam, tunnel, pipeline and so on are diagnosed appropriately using some remote sensing technique and that they should be repaired immediately. Recently, infrared thermography for measuring temperature has become attractive in a wide variety of engineering applications. Infrared thermography in near ambient conditions is introduced to check the leakage point and its applicability is estimated by visualizing the temperature field generated around the point. The generated temperature around the leakage point is not usually consistent with the surrounding temperature. When using infrared thermography, we can detect the leakage point at the location where a marked temperature difference occurs. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.