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High-end Thermography Meeting the Highest Demands ImageIR® provides the perfect solution for users who need extremely flexible camera technology with maximum sensitivity and accuracy. Due to the modular basic concept, an individual system configuration and adaptation of the performance data to the respective task – even after several years of use – is possible without any problems. The option of combining different functions and the optional upgradeability ensure that customer requirements are met in line with their budget. Our ImageIR® equipment packages are rounded off by a wide range of accessories.

Numerous of these manufacturing processes are based on laser technologies such as laser melting, sintering or build-up welding. Other processes, such as binder jetting, are completed by a sintering pass to fully cure the material. In order to localise and detail thermal conspicuities in these processes, InfraTec infrared cameras support the determination and subsequent adherence to thermal process parameters by in-line monitoring. Infrared cameras can be integrated directly into the process control system to enable a non-contact and non-invasive temperature measurement. Here, the detection of the temperature distribution of the powder bed surface and the measurement of melting temperatures are relevant in most cases. Both can be realised for temperature ranges higher than 2,000 °C and while the laser is working (insitu measurement). Close monitoring of machines, processing plants, materials and temperatures during the production and processing of additive parts is of fundamental importance both in industry and in research. The mapping of heat flows in components is necessary for a complete understanding of the process and allows precise control of the temperature development in the parts and materials to be processed as well as exact thermal control of the process. An early detection of errors in production is therefore possible, rejects are actively avoided and returns are minimised. Furthermore, process and cycle times can be significantly optimised and correlations between process parameters and (melting) temperatures can be derived.

Additive manufacturing – also known as 3D printing – is becoming increasingly popular in the industry. It refers to manufacturing processes in which material is applied layer by layer to create three-dimensional objects. Thereby chemical and physical hardening and melting processes take place, in which temperature plays a decisive role. Infrared cameras support the systematic monitoring of the entire manufacturing and machining process and record temperature developments and deviations in real time, for temperature is one of the factors on which the quality of the final product depends.

Thermographic analyses of electronic components and assemblies are already important during the development of the first prototypes. During every step of the development, they provide important conclusions for the optimisation of thermal management and the design of complex electronic assemblies. In electronics production, thermographic temperature measurement is used for quality assurance, among other methods. Thermography offers decisive advantages both in the setting of critical technological parameters and their permanent monitoring, as well as in the inline testing of products against a golden board and the final functional test. InfraTec`s automated inspection system E-LIT can detect even the smallest thermal defects on semiconductor materials. A special lock-in procedure and a powerful infrared camera ensure shortest inspection times. By means of lock-in analysis procedure of InfraTec`s IRBIS®

FIRE-SCAN monitoring system in pellet production InfraTec Wood pellets as an alternative and high-quality fuel have become increasingly important in recent years. Their local origin from sustainable cultivation in the region has given WUN Bioenergie GmbH the opportunity to respond to market demand as an environmentally friendly supplier of raw materials. However, like other fuels, stored wood pellets need to be secured and monitored around the clock to prevent causes of devastating damage in the event of a fire, for example. Robust and reliable thermography solutions are a suitable tool for plant protection here. At its Wunsiedel site, WUN Bioenergie GmbH has more than one string to its bow. Among other things, it operates a biomass cogeneration plant there. Treetop wood with a high proportion of conifer needles and twig residues are used as heating fuel, as these are cheap and environmentally friendly to procure. The water content amounts to about 30 – 60 percent, which does not pose any problems for the operation of a highly efficient ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) plant. The production of regrown heating fuel In addition to the CHP (combined heat and power) plant, there is a pellet production facility on site. Annually supplied with about 16,000 truckloads of wood chips and residues, it produces a total of 180,000 tons of pellets. This amount of pellets can be used to provide about 36,000 households with heat. One part of the produced pellets is packed on site and delivered to end customers. The other part is used to supply satellite power plants, which ensures local heating and electricity supply. When the pellets leave the production facility, they have a temperature of more than 100 °C and are transported to a 4,180 m² storage building for cooling, which is designed as an area storage facility to ensure better cooling and fast outgassing after the production is completed.

Modern high-end infrared cameras have a high number of pixels, which is crucial for the recognition of the smallest details. The analysis of complex assemblies and individual components requires a technology with high geometric and thermographic resolution, which allows an exact, non-invasive measurement of temperatures, temperature distributions and their temporal progressions, even on the smallest structures. To meet these special requirements InfraTec offers thermography systems of different performance classes and spectral ranges with detector formats up to (1,920 × 1,536) IR pixels. These can be equipped with a variety of lenses. This way, several microscope lenses can be selected in combination with Solid Immersion Lenses (SIL). If required, the ImageIR ® and VarioCAM® High Definition series models can be combined with a motorised focus unit, which enables precise and stable focusing. The analysis and evaluation of the measurement results is similarly conveniently carried out by using the thermography software IRBIS® 3. All InfraTec systems are offered with this software. InfraTec has developed the IRBIS® 3 active thermography software especially for active thermography. This software detects temperature differences down to the microkelvin microkelvin range and helps to reliably distinguish defective structures from intact ones. Its complex evaluation algorithms offer an excellent basis for the determination of reliable results. Depending on the respective task, InfraTec specifically assembles the appropriate equipment for the user.

Complex electronic assemblies combine a multitude of different components in a very small space. Miniaturisation, despite the tendency to reduce power dissipation, increases the demands for thermal management, error-free operation and compliance with process parameters in production. Infrared thermography is used for the efficient recording of temperature distribution and time sequences. The optical method is used for non-contact measurement of surface temperatures and does not influence the RF impedance of the measured object or the heat dissipation from it.

High-End-Thermography with ImageIR® 8300 hp Lasers are extremely versatile tools in industry and manufacturing technology. Due to their flexibility, they serve as a key technology for implementing the goals of industry 4.0. Although laser cutting and welding are nowadays regarded as turnkey technologies, the majority of laser applications, for example joining of hybrid materials, 3D printing or ultra-short pulse processing, still require considerable research and development. The LaserApplicationCenter (LAC) of Aalen University intensively researches and develops new methods of laser material processing. Thus, innovative materials for Additive Manufacturing are developed and investigated within public R&D projects, including magnetic materials or electrical energy storage materials for electromobility. Another focus is lightweight construction. Here, among other things, mixed metallic compounds and hybrid lightweight structures made of aluminium and CFRP for CO2-efficient mobility concepts are investigated. The newly developed processes aluminium laser polishing and high-temperature capillary gap brazing are already being used in industrial projects.