Debonding detection in asphalt pavements using infrared thermography

Abstract For sustainable growth of road networks in a country, their effective maintenance is an essential element of pavement evaluation and management strategies. Destructive testing practices are slow, labor-intensive and do not represent the entire pavement area. Advances in non-destructive testing technologies offer a convenient and reliable means of quickly scanning large areas. Infrared thermography based on capturing the thermal signature of any structure is found to be very useful for detecting pavement subsurface flaws. This study aims at exploring the potential of infrared thermography to detect subsurface interlayer debonding in asphalt pavements. An in-situ asphalt pavement test section has been constructed with different bonding conditions, and infrared thermography has been performed. A novel approach for quantitative and qualitative analyses of these thermal images has been carried out using MATLAB. Suitable time durations to perform thermographic inspections based on interchange time duration have been suggested.