Quantitative Thermal Diffusivity Imaging of Disbonds in Thermal Protective Coatings Using Inductive Heating

Problems of adherence of thermal protective coatings to aerospace structures have become important with their use on vehicles such as the space shuttle and for jet engine turbine blades. In these structures a dielectric coating which acts as a thermal barrier, is bonded to a conductive substrate. Failure of these coatings to adhere to the substrate can result in catastrophic failure of the vehicle. Thermal diffusivity is a parameter that can be used to assess the degree of adherence of coatings to a substrate