Active thermography is a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method. Active thermography's main advantage is its ease of use. While the technical aspect has evolved with time, it has never become a primary NDE tool; interpretation is lagging. We introduce a new approach based directly on the governing differential equation. By using relationships between wave propagation and thermal excitation's diffusive propagation, one can transform from diffusive propagation to wave propagation. Having wave-like behavior produces simple-to-interpret images and allows to use advance techniques developed for wave propagation. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of active thermography to detect defects in carbon composite, flaws in welding, and breast vascular imaging.
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