Non-destructive techniques are used widely in the metal industry in order to control the quality of materials. Eddy current testing is one of the most extensively used non-destructive techniques for inspecting electrically conductive materials at very high speeds that does not require any contact between the test piece and the sensor. This paper includes an overview of the fundamentals and main variables of eddy current testing. It also describes the state-of-the-art sensors and modern techniques such as multi-frequency and pulsed systems. Recent advances in complex models towards solving crack-sensor interaction, developments in instrumentation due to advances in electronic devices, and the evolution of data processing suggest that eddy current testing systems will be increasingly used in the future.

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Non-Destructive Techniques Based on Eddy Current Testing

Eddy current testing plays an important role in numerous industries, particularly in material coating, nuclear and oil and gas. However, the eddy current testing technique still needs to focus on t...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0020294018801382

Challenges in improving the performance of eddy current testing: Review:

Non-destructive eddy current testing (ECT) is widely used to examine structural defects in ferromagnetic pipe in the oil and gas industry. Implementation of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors as magnetic field sensors to detect the changes of magnetic field continuity have increased the sensitivity of eddy current techniques in detecting the material defect profile. However, not many researchers have described in detail the structure and issues of GMR sensors and their application in eddy current techniques for nondestructive testing. This paper will describe the implementation of GMR sensors in non-destructive testing eddy current testing. The first part of this paper will describe the structure and principles of GMR sensors. The second part outlines the principles and types of eddy current testing probe that have been studied and developed by previous researchers. The influence of various parameters on the GMR measurement and a factor affecting in eddy current testing will be described in detail in the third part of this paper. Finally, this paper will discuss the limitations of coil probe and compensation techniques that researchers have applied in eddy current testing probes. A comprehensive review of previous studies on the application of GMR sensors in non-destructive eddy current testing also be given at the end of this paper.

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/16/3/298/pdf

Giant Magnetoresistance Sensors: A Review on Structures and Non-Destructive Eddy Current Testing Applications

Eddy current probes are used extensively to evaluate the integrity of steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants and to detect cracks in tube walls. The probe design has evolved from simple bobbin probes to mechanically rotating multi-coil probes providing high resolution images of tube integrity. This paper presents a novel rotating field eddy current probe with bobbin pickup coil that generates a rotating magnetic field, thereby avoiding mechanical rotation of probe. Three balanced identical rectangular windings carrying excitation currents with 120° phase difference generate an electrically rotating magnetic field that is sensitive to defects of all orientations. A bobbin coil located in the center is used as a pick up sensor. The phase of induced voltage in the bobbin coil is interpreted in terms of the circumferential location of the defect. The properties of the probe are investigated using a three dimensional finite element model, and validated experimentally using measurements.

Rotating field eddy current probe with bobbin pickup coil for steam generator tubes inspection

Eddy current testing is widely used for nondestructive evaluation of metallic structures in characterizing numerous types of defects occurring in various locations. It offers remarkable advantages over other nondestructive techniques because of its ease of implementation. This paper presents a technical review of Eddy current technique in various scope of defect detection. The first part presents Eddy current evaluation on various defects location and orientation such as steam generator tubes, stress crack corrosion, and fatigue cracks. The next section analyzes the use of pulsed Eddy current and pulsed Eddy current thermography as an alternative method for monitoring the growth of cracks with the aid of computational techniques for postsignal analysis.

/pdf/defect-characterization-based-on-eddy-current-technique-2yal70vu71.pdf

Defect Characterization Based on Eddy Current Technique: Technical Review:

Rotating magnetic field eddy-current (RoFEC) probe for nondestructive evaluation of steam generator tubes in a nuclear power plant offers an alternate method that has compact configuration and higher speed compared to traditional bobbin coil, rotating probe coils, and array probes. This paper investigates the feasibility of the proposed RoFEC eddy-current probe which is composed of three windings excited by three-phase ac current and does not require mechanical rotation of probe. Results of finite-element modeling using reduced magnetic vector potential (RMVP) formulation are presented for modeling the inspection of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic tubes. Design parameters of the excitation coils and GMR pick-up sensor are optimized by means of a parametric study.

Nondestructive Inspection Using Rotating Magnetic Field Eddy-Current Probe

Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) methods are used to inspect materials without damaging their usefulness. The key problem in NDE is the inverse problem which involves reconstructing materials’ physical profiles, like inner discontinuity etc., using information in the measured NDE signal. Inverse problem solutions in NDE can be classified as model-based and system-based approach. In model-based approach, an accurate forward model is used in an iterative framework. This approach provides a resultant materials' physical profile that minimizes the error between the measured signal and a simulated signal. However, this approach requires repeated calculations of a numerical model in each iteration, making it computationally demanding. This paper presents a model-based method that also provides a direct approach to inversion using principles of time reversal. Time reversal focusing is based on the fact that when a wave solution is reversed in time and back-propagated the wave comes to focus at the source. Using a computational model, this paper applies principles of time reversal to microwave NDE data to solve the inverse problem of defect detection in dielectric materials. A two-dimensional finite difference time domain (FDTD) model, for simulating the propagation of forward and time reversed wave fields, is developed. A dielectric sample with artificial defects, illuminated by a Gaussian modulated pulse, is used in the simulations. The microwave measurements are recorded, time reversed and propagated using the FDTD model to highlight the scatterer/defect. Maxima in the energy image indicate locations of defects. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of the technique to detect defects in dielectric materials. The FDTD model is validated using experimental data.

Time reversal and microwave techniques for solving inverse problem in Non-Destructive Evaluation

A novel design of eddy current probe based on rotating magnetic fields is presented for the inspection of steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants. A major advantage of the rotating field probe is that it offers the same functiona lity as that of a rotating probe coil without the need for mechanical rotation, which in turn translates into higher operating sp eed. The probe design is also sensitive to cracks of all orientations in the tube wall.

Naiguang Lei

Papers

Rotating field eddy current probe with bobbin pickup coil for steam generator tubes inspection

Nondestructive Inspection Using Rotating Magnetic Field Eddy-Current Probe

Time reversal and microwave techniques for solving inverse problem in Non-Destructive Evaluation

Rotating field eddy current (RoFEC)-probe for steam generator inspection

The Monotonicity Imaging Method for PECT