Due to its anisotropy and laminated structure, carbon fiber reinforced polymer materials make defect detection and identification difficult. Therefore, nondestructive testing research on such materials has consistently been a focal point of attention both domestically and internationally. Based on the crack heat generation mechanism, the principles of frictional heating and viscoelastic heating are primarily analyzed, revealing that heat generation at the defect is mainly related to the normal pressure and amplitude velocity. By establishing a heat generation model of a through crack in a CFRP, the finite element analysis method is employed to simulate and solve different detection parameters. The simulation results show that the greater the excitation amplitude and preload, the more obvious the heat generation phenomenon. The ultrasonic infrared thermal imaging detection platform is utilized to detect the carbon fiber reinforced composite plate with cracks. The experimental results show that under controlled variable conditions, when the excitation voltage is 180 V, the maximum temperature rise at the defect is 13.3 ℃. And when the preload is 40 N, the maximum temperature rise at the defect is 10.83 ℃. At this point, the heat generation at the crack is evident, yielding optimal detection results. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation results, which verifies that low-power ultrasonic infrared thermal imaging detection technology is a feasible and efficient method.