With the rapid development of automotive technology, the maintenance industry is also becoming intelligent, facing challenges such as technological upgrading and talent shortage. As a non-contact and high-accuracy inspection tool, thermal cameras play an important role in automotive maintenance to enhance inspection efficiency and safety.
The Role of Infrared Thermal Imaging in Automotive Maintenance
Infrared Thermal Imaging Application in Automotive Maintenance
1. Engine Fault Diagnosis
traditional engine inspections
Thermal cameras provide intuitive monitoring of temperature anomalies and rapid identification
2. Brake Pad Fault Diagnosis
brake pedal, hydraulic circuit, caliper, brake pads, and discsTemperaturebraking and wear resistance
a thermal camerathe temperature rises sharply after brakingtemperature trend is slower
intuitive monitoring of temperature changes in brakes and brake humps
3. Tire Performance Diagnosis
bearing gravity, transmitting power, braking, and steeringTire surface temperature
the temperature is too highthe temperature is too lowThermal camerasoptimize the choice of materials
4. Glass Heating Wire Inspection
Thermal cameras provide intuitive viewsdetect faults such as broken resistance wires and uneven heating efficient and accurate method
5. Automotive Air Conditioning and Air Tightness Diagnosis
Thermal camerasclogged air conditioning pumps, clogged condensers, compressor faults, and refrigerant leaks
the overall air tightness of the vehiclelocate leaks
6. Exhaust Pipe Diagnosis
Abnormal exhaust pipe temperatures in vehicles may affect the normal operation of the engine system, chassis bearings, and electrical equipment. By using a thermal camera, maintenance personnel can monitor temperature changes in the exhaust pipe in real time, accurately locate anomalies, and prevent faults in advance. If the exhaust pipe temperature is too high, it indicates insufficient fuel combustion; if the temperature distribution is uneven, it indicates a structural defect or clogging problem in the pipeline. Infrared thermal imaging technology, featuring non-contact detection, real-time monitoring, and accurate diagnosis, helps engineers optimize the exhaust system design efficiently to ensure the safe and stable operation of vehicles.
7. Seat Heating Fault Diagnosis
Thermal cameras provide accurate thermal radiation signals captured from the seat heating components at work. With advanced image processing technology and algorithms, they convert the detected thermal radiation signals into an intuitive thermal imaging map. Without complex operation, technicians only need to observe the thermal imaging map to quickly locate faults, such as damaged heating components, poor wiring contact, etc. This technology not only significantly improves troubleshooting efficiency, but also effectively reduces maintenance costs and time, ensuring the stable operation of the seat heating system and user experience.
8. Temperature Monitoring for Lithium-ion Batteries in New Energy Vehicles
During the use of traction batteries, external forces such as collision, extrusion, puncture and vibration, as well as electrical abuse such as short circuit, overcharging and over-discharging, and even internal quality defects, may trigger thermal runaway, which may lead to battery fire or explosion, posing a serious safety hazard.
To improve the safety of traction battery packs, thermal cameras can be used for real-time monitoring of battery thermal runaway conditions. The cameras are designed to accurately identify abnormal temperature changes, delivering early warning and fault localization. The use of thermal cameras for monitoring and early warning during battery pack maintenance can effectively reduce the risk of thermal runaway, improve the safety of battery packs, and reduce accidents.
9. Hot Riveting Process Monitoring for Automotive Dashboard Frame
The hot riveting process for automotive dashboard frames is an efficient connection technology, where rivets are heated to expand and then inserted into the component, and then cooled to form a solid connection. To improve riveting quality and production efficiency, thermal cameras provide intelligent monitoring of the entire process. The visual monitoring of real-time temperature helps to ensure the temperature uniformity of the riveting process, to avoid localized overheating or underheating, and to improve the strength of the riveted joint. With intelligent linkage control, thermal cameras can also work with heating devices to regulate heating time accurately, optimize process parameters and reduce energy consumption. At the same time, thermal cameras are also used for process quality inspection, identification of cracks, voids and other potential defects during the riveting process, and early warning and optimization to effectively reduce the rate of non-conforming products, making automotive dashboard manufacturing more efficient and reliable.
10. Temperature Monitoring for Automotive Die-casting Molds
The hot casting process is widely used in the manufacture of vehicle engines and body shells. The precise control of the mold temperature is critical to ensure the quality of the devices. For this reason, it is necessary to perform real-time monitoring of the mold temperature before and after die casting, including the preheating temperature before die casting and the cooling temperature after water spray cooling. With intelligent linkage to the die-casting PLC system, thermal cameras provide fully automated monitoring of the mold temperature to ensure temperature uniformity, reduce defects, and improve production efficiency. At the same time, the system can completely record the mold production temperature data to provide an accurate basis for quality traceability and process optimization, making die-casting manufacturing more intelligent, efficient and reliable.
11. Temperature Monitoring for Automotive Gluing Processes
Automotive glue application is a relatively important process in welding workshops and assembly workshops during automotive production. As a result of the distance between the glue injector nozzle and the actual heating sleeve of the gluing machine, there may be an inconsistency between the heating of the gluing machine and the actual glue output temperature. Changes in the ambient temperature and long-term production line stopping may affect the temperature of the glue injector nozzle, which may result in poor glue application, such as uncoated glue, stacked glue, and drawn wire during production, thereby leading to serious quality problems in the whole vehicle. Therefore, the fixed thermal camera TN430 can be used for all-weather online operation, which realizes 24-hour automatic monitoring, imaging, and temperature measurement of the glue injector nozzles without manual on-site inspection, thereby saving a lot of manpower.
12. Leakage Detection of Battery Cover for New Energy Vehicles
In traction battery applications, poor welding between electrode tabs or terminals and busbars may lead to sparking and ablation of the weld during high-current discharging or even trigger battery explosion or leakage, posing a serious threat to the battery’s safety. Battery leakage not only causes performance degradation and damage but may also pose a safety hazard.
At present, common resistance detection methods, air pressure detection methods, VOC detection methods, mass spectrometry, and visual inspection methods can be used to detect battery leakage. However, it is difficult to realize rapid, intuitive, and accurate detection. In contrast, thermal cameras make use of the reflection, refraction, and scattering characteristics of different liquids on infrared light to capture the temperature difference between the leaking area and the battery surface, enabling efficient and accurate real-time monitoring. This technology not only helps to quickly locate the spot and scope of battery leakage, but also improves the efficiency of battery quality inspection, contributing to the improvement of battery safety performance.
13. Automotive LED Fault Detection
An LED indicator consists of dozens to hundreds of LED beads. During the inspection process, it is difficult for the naked eye to accurately identify the light-emitting situation of the beads, making it impossible to identify defects promptly. Using a thermal camera with a macro lens, technicians can obtain intuitive monitoring of the LEDs’ operating status based on the thermal energy distribution to accurately identify bead defects, such as abnormal heating, circuit breakage or failure. At the same time, this technology also provides an effective analysis of the luminous efficiency of LEDs, contributing to the optimization of lighting performance and the improvement of product quality and production efficiency.
14. High-Temperature Warning and Monitoring for New Energy Charging Piles
With the accelerated development of the new energy vehicle industry, high-voltage and high-current modes are gradually adopted in charging piles, and the safety requirements are subsequently improved. It is critical to prevent fire hazards. The earlier a fire is detected and contained, the fewer economic losses can be incurred. Ordinary smoke detectors provide alarms only after smoke has been produced. In contrast, thermal cameras provide early warnings of abnormal temperatures, helping to identify fire risks earlier.
Thermal cameras provide 24/7 visual monitoring of charging pile temperatures. By detecting changes in the surface temperature of charging interfaces and lines, they provide timely warnings of abnormal temperature fluctuations to ensure the safe operation of charging piles. Thermal cameras support temperature measurement areas by customizing points, lines, and areas with accurate coverage of high-temperature hazardous areas, such as connecting cables, chargers, contact points, distribution boxes, etc. With a multi-level early warning mechanism, the cameras provide quick localization of problematic areas, contributing to intelligent monitoring and safety protection.
Advantages of Thermal Imaging Technology
Infrared thermal imaging technology, featuring non-contact detection, high-accuracy temperature measurement, and visual analysis, is reshaping the diagnostic process in the automotive maintenance industry, providing innovative solutions for fault localization, preventive maintenance, and efficiency improvement. The specific advantages and features are as follows:
- Non-contact temperature measurement supports comprehensive scanning and inspection during vehicle maintenance, which is easy to operate.
- Real-time temperature monitoring supports area temperature data and historical data analysis, which can help users scientifically analyze the temperature distribution and changes in the monitoring area.
- Temperature change records and temperature curve generation for the entire process provide effective data support for engineers to follow up.
- The support of temperature alarm and temperature rise alarm configuration allows automatic alarm after exceeding the threshold and supports linkage image capture and video taking.
- The dual-spectrum device supports visible light and infrared dual-spectrum fusion, which facilitates accurate identification and quick localization of abnormal temperature spots.
