A Feasibility Study on Using Infrared- transmitting Fiber-optics for Thermal Imaging

Manning, Bryan James

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A Feasibility Study on Using Infrared- transmitting Fiber-optics for Thermal Imaging

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The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the feasibility of three approaches to thermal imaging that used fiber-optics to decouple the imaging optic from a detector in order to form images without a direct line of sight. All images were formed using 2 m-long fibers, at a working distance of 19 cm, and the ability to detect temperatures between 100 Â°C to 200 Â°C. The three approaches were designated active, hybrid, and passive. The active approach involved scanning a single fiber in the image plane to formulate thermal images. Although images had sufficient field of view and spatial resolution, they were not formulated at a frequency of at least 1 Hz using either linear stages or a piezoelectric actuator for scanning. The hybrid approach involved scanning a bundle of fibers in the image plane to formulate a thermal image. Although it was possible to form individual images from fibers within a simple bundle and a seven-fiber bundle with sufficient field of view and spatial resolution, an image formulation frequency of at least 1 Hz was not achieved. While considered feasible, future work is required to identify a suitable motion platform, design a new bundle, and develop a method for stitching images from individual fibers into a single spatially-coherent image in order to achieve an image formulation frequency of at least 1 Hz. Lastly, the passive approach was evaluated in which images were formed using a fixed seven-fiber bundle for direct thermal imaging. The seven-fiber bundle produced images with sufficient field of view and an image formulation frequency on the order of kHz, but without sufficient spatial resolution. Additional work is required to determine the feasibility of designing a passive bundle for a specific spatial resolution, as well as, if overall costs are prohibitive. While no approach satisfied all functional requirements specified herein, evaluation of each approach and a potential solution are provided.

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