So far, only destructive measurement techniques are available for thickness determination of polymer based surface protection systems for concrete surfaces. Pulse thermography appears to be well suited for non-destructive thickness evaluation in these systems. Here, we present first results of the development of a respective measurement and analysis procedure. Since surface protection systems consist of a number of layers, a model for the calculation of the surface temperature of a multi-layer structure on an infinite (concrete) substrate in pulse thermography setup was developed. It considers semitransparency of the upmost layer and thermal losses at the surface. It also supports the use of an arbitrary temporal shape of the heating pulse to properly describe the measurement conditions for different heat sources. A general solution for an arbitrary number of layers on top of the infinite substrate is presented. Explicit solutions for one and three layers on the substrate are discussed and first experimental results regarding the verification of the model are presented.

Funding by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is gratefully acknowledged.