Characterization of Automotive Aluminum AA356 by Photo Thermal Radiometric Spectroscopy

Abstract

Photothermal radiometric spectroscopy was employed for characterizing an aluminum automotive piston with a steel insert. Amplitude and phase thermal property differences allowed the mapping of both metals. Thermal images were generated by using table stages x-y movement. The thermal wave penetrated more deeply in aluminum than in steel. Results demonstrated that this relatively unknown, non-intrusively, non-contact, and non-destructive technique can be used for characterizing a wide variety of metals and other materials.