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Building Thermography: Detection of Delamination of Adhered Ceramic Claddings Using the Passive Approach

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Abstract

Tile detachment is a common durability problem of adhered ceramic claddings causing safety risks. Passive infrared thermography using solar heat gain can be used to detect delamination leading to detachment, and is advantageous especially in the inspection of middle to high-rise buildings envelope although it is qualitative by nature. In this paper, findings of in situ thermographic inspections are comparatively analysed with findings of tapping control and surface moisture measurement, and with findings of thermal simulations to evaluate their efficiency. Comparative analyses showed that passive thermography can be used as a preliminary inspection technique to detect delamination and decide whether further inspection with advanced methods is required to implement maintenance operations.

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Abbreviations

\(\rho \) :

Density (kg/m\(^{3})\)

\(\lambda \) :

Thermal conductivity (W/mK)

\(h\) :

Sensible enthalpy (J/kg)

\(v\) :

Velocity (m/s)

T:

Temperature (\(^{\circ }\)C)

S\(_\mathrm{h}\) :

Volumetric heat source (W/m\(^{3})\)

d:

Thickness (cm)

c:

Specific heat capacity (J/kg K)

I\(_\mathrm{dv}\) :

Diffuse solar load on vertical surface (W/m\(^{2})\)

\(\Delta \)t\(_{[x-y]}\) :

Temperature difference between \(x\) and \(y\) (\(^{\circ }\)C)

\(_\mathrm{ext}\) :

External air

\(_\mathrm{int}\) :

Interior air

\(_\mathrm{ed}\) :

Projection of a defective area on the exterior surface

\(_\mathrm{es}\) :

Sound area on the exterior surface

\(_\mathrm{id}\) :

Projection of a defective area on the interior surface

\(_\mathrm{is}\) :

Sound area on the interior surface

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Building Physics group of DECivil-IST for the technical support and for allowing the use of IR equipment. The first author thanks DECivil-IST, ICIST Research Institute, ITU, and TUBITAK for the support provided for the research visit. The other authors thank the support of the ICIST Research Institute, IST, Technical University of Lisbon and FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Taskisla Caddesi, Taksim, 34437, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ecem Edis

  2. ICIST, DECivil, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Inês Flores-Colen & Jorge De Brito

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  1. Ecem Edis
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  2. Inês Flores-Colen
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  3. Jorge De Brito
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Correspondence to Ecem Edis.

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Edis, E., Flores-Colen, I. & De Brito, J. Building Thermography: Detection of Delamination of Adhered Ceramic Claddings Using the Passive Approach. J Nondestruct Eval 34, 268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-014-0268-2

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