Non-destructive testing of bronze sculptures

Vanessa Roth <vanessaroth [at] hotmail__com> writes

>I am organising the assessment of some cracks in large bronze
>sculptures to determine whether they pose a structural problem.  I
>have had two quotations so far--one for digital radiography and the
>other for dye penetrant analysis using a fluorescent dye.  Both
>methods seem to have some drawbacks.

I am not so sure about the quality of the result that you might get,
but have you tried asking a digital thermal camera specialist? You
may get good results, as the difference in surface temperature is
bound to show up in areas of cracks. You may also get thermal
mapping of differences in temperature in areas of different material
thickness. It could be well worth pursuing.

Mario Galea
Head Conservator
Heritage Malta


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:56
                  Distributed: Saturday, June 4, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-18-56-011
                                  ***