Detection of surface moving heat source using experimental temperature measurements on the opposite surface and inverse techniques

•This study deals with the detection of time-dependent moving heat sources using temperature measurement from the rear face. The originality lies in the ability to identify the intensity, and trajectory of the sources without any information about them.•Finite Volume Method (FVM) to solve the 3D heat conduction problem.•The iterative sequence for minimizing the criterion function in constructed using the conjugate gradient method (CGM).•The use of a reduced model results in substantial time savings in both calculations and inversion processes.•Validated through a dedicated experimental setup using a thermal camera and a laser as heating source motioned by two motorized rails. The identification of mobile sources is a widely researched area in multiple scientific and technical domains. Detecting mobile heat sources is an essential task in different fields, including fire safety, environmental monitoring, material science, and energy systems. In this investigation, we present an innovative solution to solve the inverse problem of detecting mobile heat sources, utilizing a three-dimensional transient inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP) formulation. The goal is to identify a moving heat source from thermographic infrared measurements of the rear face. The proposed method includes a finite volume approach with model reduction techniques to improve computational efficiency. Additionally, we use the conjugate gradient method to solve the inverse problem. We verified the proposed approach by conducting experiments on a metal plate with a moving heat source from a laser and comparing recalculated temperature of the front face with thermocouple measurements. Our results indicate that our method can detect the location and trajectory of the mobile heat source with high accuracy and efficiency. This study also highlighted the limits of source speed that can be detected by this method. This technique could be considered as an excellent option for real-time monitoring of mobile heat sources in practical applications.