A joint thermal and electromagnetic diagnostics approach for the inspection of thick walls

In this study, we present a numerical inversion approach to detect and localize inclusions in thick walls under natural solicitations. The approach is based on a preliminary analysis of the surface temperature field evolution with time (for instance acquired by infrared thermography); after, this analysis is improved by taking advantage of a priori information provided by ground penetrating radar reconstructions of the structure under investigation. In this way, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the images achievable with the stand-alone thermal reconstruction method in the case of quasi-periodic natural excitation.