Asphalt Crack Detection Using Thermography

Tarek A. Monem, Amr A. Oloufa, and Hesham Mahgoub

University of Central Florida – Center for Advanced Transportation Systems Simulation (CATSS)

ABSTRACT
This paper reports on research used to evaluate the application of infrared thermography for the detection
of asphalt cracking, which in the past, has generally relied on images produced by analog and digital
cameras operating in the visual range of light. Presence of shadows, poor light conditions, white cracks,
and a variety of other problems have presented serious challenges to automated crack identification and
detection in this frequency region. The goal here is to test the hypothesis that asphalt cracks cause
changes to surface conditions and emissivity leading to perceived temperature differentials that can be
exploited by infrared camera detection. The research involved the production of images from both
conventional and infrared cameras. Several parameters have been evaluated including: choice of
infrared detection range, various lenses, exposure during both day and night hours, and other parameters
for both flexible and rigid pavements. Results show that under the right conditions, infrared thermography
can yield more superior results and allow the identification of very small cracks, about 1-2 mm in width,
which are virtually impossible to detect using conventional cameras.

INTRODUCTION
The U.S. spends $25 billion per year on pavement maintenance and traffic services (1). Asphalt condition
assessment is a vital area for identifying distressed locations, and for planning and allocating
maintenance budgets.
Materials experience cracks when subjected to stresses exceeding their capacity. Vehicular traffic
aggravates cracks and leads to further deterioration of both the surface and underlying layers, allowing
water to seep in which accelerates deterioration due to freeze-thaw effects, washing of fines, settlement,
and other disrupting mechanisms. For this reason, early identification of weak zones and cracks allows
Departments of Transportation to develop remedies to mitigate negative impacts and lengthen pavement
life.
The ideal scenario in condition assessment relies on non-intrusive (non-destructive) approaches to
prevent impacting traffic. Due to the sheer length of roadway infrastructure, it is extremely cumbersome
and time consuming to perform large-scale condition monitoring and assessment of asphalt conditions.
Current “state-of-the-art” practices involve storing then post processing roadway images acquired using
analog or digital cameras.
Modern asphalt crack detection systems involving imaging hardware, some using line scan cameras, and
software can reliably detect cracks around 2 mm. These systems rely on both dedicated and ambient
light for imaging the asphalt surface, however, they generally suffer from the following conditions:

1. Existence of white cracks that do not give sufficient contrast thereby preventing accurate crack
detection.
2. Cracks in previously sealed and repaired surfaces where sealants affect image contrast.
3. Cracks perpendicular to the roadway.
4. Meandering cracks are often identified as several cracks.
5. Cracks appearing in asphalt surfaces experiencing high wear. In this case, poor contrast is the
major problem impacting identification.

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 6. Smaller width cracks (< 2mm) cannot be reliably detected as identification is impacted by factors
such as irregularities along the crack edges, differing lighting conditions (i.e. angles of
sun/ambient light and/or artificial strobe light with respect to the crack orientation), and the depth
of the crack.

ASPHALT CRACK TYPES

There are seven types of cracks that occur in asphalt, namely reflective, block, edge, joint, slippage,
thermal, and fatigue or alligator cracks. Reflective cracks occur when an existing crack in the underlying
pavement “reflects” upward through the new asphalt surface. Block cracking appears as a rectangular
pattern with cracks intersecting each other at nearly 90 degrees. Edge cracks appear parallel to the
roadway and within a foot (30 cm) of the edge of the pavement. Joint cracks appear at edges of individual
paving passes (during construction). Slippage cracks are semi-circular in shape, and are caused by
incidence of heavy traffic changing direction of elevation rapidly, and also in areas with large slopes.
Thermal cracks occur due to thermal changes in the constituents of the asphalt mix. And finally, fatigue or
alligator cracking occurs primarily in flexible asphalts that become more rigid with time and are subjected
to large vertical and horizontal displacements.

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Figure 1: Types of Asphalt Cracking

WORK TO DATE:
Infrared thermography applications in infrastructure assessment, primarily for bridge decks, have been
reported in literature (6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) and for roofing applications (11,12). In fact, the American Society
for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has developed several standards for testing using infrared cameras
(13,14, and 15).
In asphalt applications, researchers have mainly emphasized segregation, paver operations, and
delaminations (16, 17, and 18) rather than surface cracking. To the best of our knowledge, the research
report in this manuscript is the first to emphasize the application of infrared thermography specifically for
the evaluation of surface cracking.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY PROGRAM:

To fully explore infrared thermography for evaluating asphalt cracking, the researchers developed a
testing program to incorporate most relevant parameters in the evaluation. The following is a summary of
the program’s parameters that will be used in the imaging phases of this investigation:

1. Long versus near-infrared imaging

2. Visual versus infrared imaging under sun and shade
3. Infrared imaging during day and night
4. Wide versus Narrow field-of-view
5. Infrared imaging during wet and dry conditions
6. Imaging of asphalt joints
7. Imaging of Rigid versus Flexible pavements
8. Imaging of clean versus “filled” cracks
9. Automated crack detection
10. Imaging during highway speeds

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1) Long versus near-infrared imaging:
It is well known that near-infrared cameras are more superior when imaging hot objects. This is because
the sensors are extremely efficient in picking up the relatively high thermal energy emitted from those
surfaces.
The researchers started by using an infrared FLIR cooled camera working in the 3-5 um range. It was
quickly demonstrated that asphalt surfaces, heated by the sun in late spring in Florida, were not
sufficiently hot to achieve higher quality images. Better images of cracks were obtained using far-infrared
cameras operating in the 7.5-12 um range as shown in Figure 2. For this reason, researchers
standardized on these cameras for the remainder of this research.
In both cases, cracked asphalt specimens were imaged in the lab, and no external heating source was
used. When the sun or an external heat source is not present, the asphalt surface did not emit enough
energy to be sensed in all infrared regions. The same problem occurred under very cloudy days with
strong winds. The researchers concluded that the asphalt surface has to be heated by the sun or other
heating source to obtain the best imaging results.

Figure 2: Image obtained by far-infrared camera

2) Visual versus infrared imaging under sun and shade:

Several images were taken of the same location using a digital camera, followed by an infrared camera.
The objective of this evaluation is to study the quality and fidelity of the images. The tests used a FLIR
far-infrared camera shown in Figure 3. The quality of infrared images is dependent on both the sensor
resolution (320 x 240), and the sensor’s temperature resolution (0.05o C).
Both under sun or shade conditions, infrared cameras yielded pictures with excellent fidelity, even though
their resolution is only 320 x 240 in contrast to the 2056 x 1536 of the conventional digital camera.

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Figure 3: FLIR Guardian Camera

3) Infrared imaging during day and night:

To assess the impact of daytime heating on image quality of infrared images, several images were taken
during different times of the day and night. It was observed that changes in shading during daylight cause
cooling in some image regions that may affect the quality of crack detection. Ambient temperature during
testing varied between 65 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit (18 - 37 degrees Celsius). Temperatures of asphalt
cracks were lower by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) than asphalt surface
temperatures.
Images taken at night, even just before sunrise, yielded excellent results as shown in Figure 4. If imaging
is to be done during daylight (i.e. sunny) hours, the researchers recommend the creation of a “shaded”
region prior to imaging of the asphalt to avoid blooming and other problems related to the infrared
detector adjusting to differing light conditions when moving from sun to shade and vice versa. In both
cases of day and night, enough sun or heat has to have impacted the asphalt surface to achieve good
imaging results.

Figure 4: Infrared Images During Night

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4) Wide versus Narrow field-of-view:
The field-of-view of a lens is defined as the area visible through that lens system. Wider field of views
enable capture of an entire lane. When the field of view is smaller than the width of an entire lane, two or
more images have to be combined to form a composite picture of a lane’s width.
One of two approaches (or a combination thereof) may be used to increase the area imaged by the
camera. The first involves placing the camera at a higher elevation. This leads to an increase in the
smallest object that can be detected (pixel projection on surface). Also, the height needed may be
impractical. In the case of infrared cameras, the “spot” size, the smallest object that can be detected
becomes larger.
The second approach involves using a “wide-angle” lens (Figure 5) that leads to a larger field of view.
However, in this case, the optics needed to perform this reduces the optical efficiency of the lens system
thereby requiring extra lighting in traditional cameras, and extra energy (heat) in the case of infrared
cameras. In terms of crack detection size, the wide angle lens has the same problems as moving farther
away.
In this research, the investigators used a 24o lens, and an 80o lens. As can be seen in Figure 4, the
image from the 80o lens suffers from lack of detail primarily due to loss of energy through the system
optics. It was concluded that a 24o lens placed at about 3.0 m from the roadway offers the best tradeoff.
In this case, 2 to 3 cameras would be needed to cover a modern 12’ (4m) lane.

Figure 5: Infrared Image using 80° Lens

5) Infrared imaging during wet and dry conditions:

Rain, specifically the presence of a film of water on the asphalt surface, causes an “evening out” of the
surface temperature. This condition leads to an almost complete loss of temperature and even emissivity
differentials that leads to image blur as shown in Figure 6A. For successful monitoring using infrared
cameras, the roadway surface has to be completely dry. Wet locations, especially ridges can lead to
incorrect deduction of cracks especially when automated crack detection software is used. The effect is
demonstrated in Figure 6B.

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 Figure 6A: Infrared Image of wet surface. Figure 6B. Infrared image of a wet ridge that can be
mistaken for a crack.

6) Imaging of Asphalt joints:

Several research articles have been written that deal with the impact of asphalt construction joints on the
weakening and eventual cracking of the asphalt surface. Joints create discontinuities in the asphalt
leading to changes in thermal properties that can be observed using infrared imaging, again, without the
need for active dedicated heating. Figure 7A shows a roadway surface about 2 weeks from construction
of the asphalt overlay. In Figure 7B, an infrared image was taken of the same roadway showing very
clearly the location of the joint. Research in the future can exploit this capability in studying the impact of
joint construction on eventual cracking of the roadway surface.

Figure 7A: Roadway visual image. Figure 7B: Infrared image showing Cold Joint as a warm
stripe.

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7) Imaging on Rigid versus Flexible Pavements:
Several images were taken for both rigid and flexible pavements. The conclusion is that under sufficient
daylight heating, cracks in rigid pavements are even clearer that those appearing in flexible pavements,
as shown in Figure 8. The investigators believe that this is primarily due to the relative homogeneity of
rigid pavements where temperature and emissivity differences caused by cracking has a larger impact in
infrared imaging.

Figure 8: Cracks appearing in Imaging of Rigid Pavements

8) Imaging of Clean versus “Filled” Cracks:

The researchers noticed that infrared imaging of asphalt surface yielded cracks that appeared hotter in
some images, and colder in others. These differences could not be explained as these “color” differences
in infrared images could not be attributed to the effect of crack location relative to the infrared lens.
In the investigation, the team cleaned part of the crack and then took an infrared image. The results were
impressive. When cracks are cleared of dust and debris, they appear hotter in images. This facilitates
the detection of cracks as can be seen clearly in Figure 9. The center part of the crack in the latter figure
was cleared prior to infrared imaging, with the resulting image clearly showing the crack. This is possibly
due to material that fills a crack acting as insulation and thereby being closer to ambient air temperature,
and a clean crack having a temperature closer to the bulk temperature of the roadway which will be a bit
warmer than its surface.

Figure 9: Effect on Clean versus "Filled" Cracks

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9) Automated Crack Detection:
The researchers used WiseCrax ® (19), a crack detection software package from Roadware Inc., for
processing infrared images as seen in Figure 10. The automated detection of infrared images was often
superior to processing images from high-resolution traditional digital cameras. It was possible to both see
and detect cracks that are barely 1 mm in width. This is primarily because the sensing in infrared images
is due to changes in temperature and emissivity rather than changes in color of traditional imagery.
Image processing routines deployed for crack detection are often less accurate in detecting minor
changes in color that a less than a few pixels in width.

Figure 10: Effect on Clean versus "Filled" Cracks

10) Imaging during Highway Speeds:

Developing and processing images for roadway inventory involves collection of millions of frames. For
this technology to be of practical use, the user has to be capable of acquiring images at highway speeds.
The IR camera that was used for this test is the Merlin MID from FLIR Systems. The Merlin MID has a
spectral range from 1 - 5 µ m and has a 320 x 256 FPA for high resolution images. The IR camera has
also variable integration time. The IR camera was mounted and securely fixed to the back of an SUV as
shown in Figure 11. The distance from the camera lens to the ground surface was 4 feet and a 25 mm
lens was used. With this configuration, the image from the IR camera represents 480 mm x 310 mm of
the asphalt surface. The test was conducted in the Tampa suburbs. The IR integration time was set to
1700 microsec and the vehicle moved at speeds 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mph. At each speed, video clips
were taken by the IR camera to the road surface. Then the integration time was reduced to 500 microsec
and new pictures were taken at the same speeds.

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Figure 11: Imaging During Highway Speeds (30 & 50 mph)

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SUMMARY
The research project reported in this manuscript evaluated the hypothesis that asphalt cracks cause a
discontinuity in the surface, and eventually fill up with sand and other debris. These changes are enough
to cause variances in the measured temperature of the crack relative to its surroundings. Also, a change
in the emissivity of the cracked region occurs due to the changes in surface texture. These two changes
can be detected by infrared sensors and will appear as discontinuities in the image. Images developed
by infrared cameras were processed using crack detection software with results compared to traditional
imaging techniques using visual frequencies.
Provided that sufficient heating from the sun or other source is available and no moisture is present on
the ground, infrared cameras operating in the far-infrared range even at an optical resolution of 320 x
240, produced images that were often superior to these taken by conventional cameras having much
higher optical resolution.

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15. Snyder, W. C., and Schott, J. R., New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researchers wish to thank the Center for Advanced Transportation Systems Simulation (CATSS), and
the Florida Department of Transportation for sponsoring this research. Special thanks to Mr. John G.
Fricot of FLIR Systems Inc., and Mr. Paul A. Czerepuszko of FLIR Systems Inc., for providing hardware
used in this investigation for providing the hardware used in this investigation. The research team
appreciates the assistance of Roadware Inc. for their valuable software assistance and support.

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