Passive Thermographic Identification of Materials and Pathologies in Facades

Infrared thermography (IRT) is a versatile, non-destructive inspection technique that detects surface thermal radiance, enabling real-time identification of subsurface pathologies, material variations, and thermal performance anomalies in buildings. This study explores the practical application of passive IRT, focusing on two distinct areas: material identification in controlled laboratory settings and the comprehensive inspection of ceramic-coated facades in real-world conditions. In the laboratory study, experiments were conducted to assess IRT's ability to differentiate materials based on their thermal properties. Specifically, mortars with a 20 % substitution of Portland cement for amber-colored glass, were compared to standard cement mortars and those incorporating non-colored glass. The results demonstrated that the amber glass mortars exhibited lower surface temperatures, indicating a measurable difference in thermal behavior. The field study involved the inspection of ceramic-coated building facades. IRT reliably detected thermal irregularities, including temperature variations influenced by ceramic tile colour, the thermal insulation effectiveness of underlying polystyrene layers, ceramic tile detachment, and water infiltration. These findings underscore IRT sensitivity to subtle temperature differences, enabling the diagnosis of material composition variations and pathology of buildings. These findings highlight IRT potential for material characterization and pathology diagnosis in construction.