Advanced ceramic components are frequently used in industrial applications. As a brittle material, ceramic reacts very suddenly to excessively high stresses. Existing defects lead to rapid crack growth followed by spontaneous destruction. This leads to a functional failure of the entire component. It is therefore important to develop innovative techniques to ensure a good quality condition of ceramic products. Laser speckle photometry (LSP) is an optical nondestructive testing method. It is based on the dynamic analysis of time-resolved speckle patterns that are generated by an external excitation. In this paper, we will present two investigations on ceramic components using the LSP technique. One is the nondestructive stress characterization on ceramic surfaces, and the other is the defect detection on ceramics components. The aim is to improve the quality and safety control of ceramic production in the challenging industrial field. Preliminary results have shown the potential of the LSP sensor system for the nondestructive characterization of ceramics in terms of stress monitoring and surface defect detection.

The direction for zero-emission transport is largely driven by the adoption of battery-powered vehicles. A critical aspect of a successful battery storage system is the production of high-quality electrodes, which necessitates rigorous inspection processes and defect detection systems. In this...

For reliable structures in power electronics, it is crucial to guarantee the proper quality of their interconnection layers. At the moment, most of these joints are made by a solder process. Like every joining process, irregularities such as cracks or voids can impair their thermal and structural resilience. In the context of power electronics, one of the most important factors is the heat path from semiconductor devices into the substrates they are soldered onto. A disturbed heat path can, in the worst case, lead to failure of an entire (safety-relevant) system. Recent investigations have shown that the Laser Speckle Photometry (LSP) is a promising method to detect such impurities. Therefore, the specimen is illuminated by coherent monochromatic light. The interfering effects can then be recorded and analysed, since their behaviour can be correlated with the sample’s state. Additionally, due to its easy setup and its non-contact, non-destructive manner, the LSP could be well suited even for inline applications. The previous publication presented a simulation that showed the underlying physical processes and the transmission of these into a real setup, testing on synthetically provoked voids. This paper will concentrate on improving the system to analyse real samples, optimize measurement times and provide an outlook for further development steps.