Use of IR Temperature Measurement and Thermography for Control and Monitoring of Fatigue Tests

A case study is presented on the practical application of infrared thermography during fatigue testing in the measurement of specimen temperature fluctuations during fatigue of polymer matrix composites. It is demonstrated that such measurements can also be integrated with an outer loop test control, modulating frequency to maintain more consistent specimen conditions throughout the test, and to optimise test speed. Due to the high temperature sensitivity and high specimen variability of structural composites, this approach can simultaneously improve both consistency and time-efficiency in the generation of fatigue-life data for this commercially important family of materials.