|
|
|
|
|
30/03/2012
 Email to a friend
 Comment on this article
|
A UK-based stress analysis consultancy firm is using thermal imaging cameras from Micro-Epsilon to monitor energy flow processes in a wide range of components and materials. The cameras have been used on almost a daily basis since mid-2009 and have proved to be reliable pieces of equipment.
Chesterfield-based firm Strain Solutions Ltd is using Micro-Epsilon's thermoIMAGER TIM160 inline radiometric thermal imaging camera to conduct thermal non-destructive evaluation (NDE) projects for clients in the UK, Continental Europe and North America. This work includes strain and fatigue performance tests, where the camera is used to detect very small changes in the temperature of materials or components as they are bent, fabricated or work-hardened.
Powered and operated via a USB 2.0 interface, the thermoIMAGER TIM160 is a low-cost inline radiometric thermal imaging camera that provides temperature images and profiles of a target area. This plug-and-play unit is supplied with a full software package, TIM Connect, that enables the user to configure all device parameters, as well as enabling the real time capture (at 120Hz full frame rate) and storage of images or video of an event for slow motion play back or snapshots at a later date – an important feature in R&D and failure diagnostics work.
As Dr Richard John Greene, managing director at Strain Solutions comments: "The thermoIMAGER TIM160 is a superb little device with a high frame rate and unusually high thermal sensitivity and response rate for a camera of this price level [less than £3,000]. The camera housing and lens combination is also unusually compact, which has allowed us to use the system for internal inspection of structural components."
Dr Greene, who has experience working with nitrogen-cooled thermal imaging cameras for the military, initially discovered Micro-Epsilon's thermoIMAGER TIM160 at a trade exhibition in the UK back in 2009. "I was looking for a camera which would enable us to do comparable non-destructive test work I had already performed with high-specification, cooled infrared detector systems but at a price that was affordable for a small firm such as Strain Solutions. The technical specification for the thermoIMAGER TIM160 was unique, offering remarkable technical specification for the price. The two critical factors for me in selecting the TIM160 were the camera's fast response rate and excellent thermal resolution per pixel for a micro-bolometer array."
|
|
| |
Author
John Challen
|
| |
| |
Copyright AD Media Europe.
See Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
For multiple copies contact the sales team.
|
| |
|
|
| |
To access the whitepaper section you need to complete our 60 second registration process. Once completed this then allows you to download any and all white papers, register for e-zines and access our detailed supplier directory for FREE.
If you are all ready a registered user then enter your e-mail address and login.
You will need to have logged in prior to entering your comments in the boxes provided.
|