ABSTRACT
Aging is defined as the continuous time dependent degradation of materials due to normal service conditions, which include normal operation and transient conditions. All electrical/electronic connections undergo aging and lose, partially or totally, their designed functions. If not effectively monitored and controlled, aging degradation of these components may impair their performance characteristics and lead to a reduction in reliability of associated systems. Infrared condition monitoring is the technique capable of revealing the presence of thermal distribution produced on the surface of the defective component. The presence of the defect alters the thermal signature of the surface due to the change in the amount of heat generated and in the heat transfer properties of the component. The thermal energy radiated by an object is expressed in terms of its emissivity, which is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity of a nonblack body to the radiation intensity of a black body.
