Characterization of back surface morphology for corrosion detection using patterned heat sources

Characterization of back surface roughness is investigated for specimens exhibiting corrosion and for prepared samples with milled channels of varying geometry. An area heating source is used initially to provide one-dimensional heating of the specimen which allows plate thinning, disbonding, or presence of corrosion to be rapidly detected. A focused heating source is then used to characterize the suspect regions through the interaction of lateral heat flow with back surface roughness.