Paper
17 March 2008 Certification of thermographers
John Snell Jr., Robert Spring
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Issues concerning the certification of thermographers continue to command a great deal of interest within our profession and among the customers we serve. A recent literature search suggests the topic is as poorly understood as ever. In the United States the only viable means of establishing certification is through compliance, to one degree or another, with the standards and guidelines of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). These means, which, interestingly, also serve well the needs of ten additional NDT methods, are widely recognized throughout much of the rest of the world. Unfortunately for thermographers and their customers, ASNT-compliant certification for our NDT method has failed to gain significant "traction" over the years despite being used by a number of large companies and for many critical applications. The reasons are numerous and diverse. However, the gap has also not been filled by any other viable means of certification. One of the consequences of our failure to embrace uniform, meaningful certification is that our impact has been inconsistent and falls far short of the optimum possible. The framework for qualifying and certifying thermographers still exists, ready, as it has been since 1992, to be filled and used effectively in all applications.
© (2008) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
John Snell Jr. and Robert Spring "Certification of thermographers", Proc. SPIE 6939, Thermosense XXX, 69390A (17 March 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.780382
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Nondestructive evaluation

Standards development

Infrared radiation

Thermography

Inspection

Infrared cameras

Thermal modeling

Back to Top