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General
The Building Division of Stockton
Infrared Thermographic Services, Inc.
(BuildSCANIR™) has performed qualitative infrared thermographic surveys
of CMU walls on thousands of buildings. We bring to our clients
experience, state-of-the-art high-resolution infrared imagers, digital
recording equipment, techniques that have
been refined over many years and the attitude that we are going to
obtain the best imagery possible and produce a professional report in a
timely manner. Our deliverable product is the best in the field of
infrared thermography on the market today.
Understanding CMU Infrared Imagery
Infrared imagery is often a grayscale
picture whose scales (or shades of gray) represent the differences in
temperature and emissivity (opposite of reflectivity) of objects in the
image. As a general rule, objects in the image that are lighter in color
are warmer, and darker objects are cooler. No object in the images is
detected via visible light wavelengths (400-700 nanometers) rather, only
from infrared wavelengths in the 3000-5000 nanometers or 3-5 micrometers
(microns) range. Lights and other relatively hot objects are very
evident, but as a result of their heat---not light emissions.
When an image is taken with
an infrared camera, it is often recorded onto videotape and digitally
saved to an onboard PCMCIA card. The image may be then modified in a
number of ways to enhance its value to the end user. In the case of the
printout that will be enclosed with this package, the building images
will be digitized, saved and converted to TIFF images through the use of
FLIR Systems Thermotechnix Thermonitor Pro and Researcher software. The
images will then adjusted for color, contrast and brightness before
being scaled and placed in a PowerPoint file. The file is then printed
on photographic paper by using a photo quality printer. Images are
recorded onto a digital videotape via S-Video direct cabling, then
recorded onto any format that is desired by the client, for example VHS,
8mm, DVD, mini-DV or CD-ROM.
Infrared Testing
Methodology
To find out what is inside a wall, we
scan them looking for surface temperature differences. These differences
in temperature indicate a difference in mass, since heat energy is
gained and released at different rates from objects of different
densities. Since we scan the walls with extremely sensitive infrared
cameras, we can see the patterns as a ‘picture’ of the different
densities. Wall areas that contain grout, insulation or are empty are
displayed as a different color (or shade of gray). Since we can “see”
all areas of different mass, we can immediately determine if there is a
component misplaced, incomplete or missing. When deficiencies are found,
we make a matching visual image with a high resolution digital photo
camera for reference. The orientation of the building to the Sun, the
weather - as much as 3 days prior to the survey, the type of surface,
status of the HVAC systems and many other factors make the ‘window’ of
uneven heat dissipation different for each building and building
component. For this reason, surveying must be done day and night, under
varying conditions.
Old-fashioned methods of
testing (on-site testing companies, installing Inspection ports,
performing destructive testing and X-raying) are generally ineffective
and expensive. An experienced BuildSCANIR™ infrared thermographer can
successfully survey just about any building, given proper thermal
transient conditions.
Infrared thermography can be used on the job site as an effective way to
improve the quality of construction and the accountability of the
contractors. This brings benefits to the building owner, general
contractor, structural and thermal engineer and to the building industry
in general.
Advantages of
BuildSCANIR™ Infrared Testing
- The building owner gets
a permanent record of the building, documenting that it is safe,
code-compliant and built to the architect’s specifications.
- Confident that what he
puts in the specifications will be built and verified, there is no
need to ‘over-design’ the building to compensate for inevitable,
previously unseen faults. This will save the owner time, money and
simplify the construction process.
- General contractors can
reduce the costs of inspections, since the building can be verified to
specifications at any time during the construction. If faults are
discovered, high quality reports can be generated and presented to the
responsible party quickly, so that repairs can be carried out in a
timely manner.
For more information on
this testing method and to download a white paper on the subject...
HTTP:
http://stocktoninfrared.com/thermppr.html
Acrobat: http://www.stocktoninfrared.com/PDF/SPIE1999.pdf
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