Eddy-current testing

About: Eddy-current testing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3010 publications have been published within this topic receiving 28472 citations.

Reduction of lift-off effects for pulsed eddy current NDT

Abstract: The lift-off effect is commonly known to be one of the main obstacles for effective eddy current NDT testing as it can easily mask defect signals. Pulsed eddy current techniques, which are believed to be potentially rich of information, are also sensitive to the effect. An approach using normalisation and two reference signals to reduce the lift-off problem with pulsed eddy current techniques is proposed. Experimental testing on the proposed technique and results are presented in this report. Results show that significant reduction in the effect has been achieved mainly in metal loss and sub-surface slot inspection. The technique can also be applied for measurement of metal thickness beneath non-conductive coatings, microstructure, strain/stress measurement, where the output is sensitive to the lift-off effect.

State Detection of Bond Wires in IGBT Modules Using Eddy Current Pulsed Thermography

Abstract: Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules are important safety critical components in electrical power systems. Bond wire lift-off, a plastic deformation between wire bond and adjacent layers of a device caused by repeated power/thermal cycles, is the most common failure mechanism in IGBT modules. For the early detection and characterization of such failures, it is important to constantly detect or monitor the health state of IGBT modules, and the state of bond wires in particular. This paper introduces eddy current pulsed thermography (ECPT), a nondestructive evaluation technique, for the state detection and characterization of bond wire lift-off in IGBT modules. After the introduction of the experimental ECPT system, numerical simulation work is reported. The presented simulations are based on the 3-D electromagnetic-thermal coupling finite-element method and analyze transient temperature distribution within the bond wires. This paper illustrates the thermal patterns of bond wires using inductive heating with different wire statuses (lifted-off or well bonded) under two excitation conditions: nonuniform and uniform magnetic field excitations. Experimental results show that uniform excitation of healthy bonding wires, using a Helmholtz coil, provides the same eddy currents on each, while different eddy currents are seen on faulty wires. Both experimental and numerical results show that ECPT can be used for the detection and characterization of bond wires in power semiconductors through the analysis of the transient heating patterns of the wires. The main impact of this paper is that it is the first time electromagnetic induction thermography, so-called ECPT, has been employed on power/electronic devices. Because of its capability of contactless inspection of multiple wires in a single pass, and as such it opens a wide field of investigation in power/electronic devices for failure detection, performance characterization, and health monitoring.

Eddy currents: theory and applications

Abstract: The theory and applications of eddy currents induced in conducting materials by time-varying magnetic fields are reviewed. The mathematical methods employed in solving the relevant problems are presented. Both analytical and numerical methods are described. Applications based on effects arising from eddy currents are discussed in detail. These applications are to magnetic levitation, electromagnetic launching, hyperthermia treatment of cancer, and nondestructive testing. >

Design of a pulsed eddy current sensor for detection of defects in aircraft lap-joints

Abstract: This paper presents a new type of pulsed eddy current (PEC) sensor that has been designed for defect detection in aircraft lap-joint structures. The sensor employs a new excitation circuit that requires no additional signal amplification and the paper also reports compensation techniques that improve the sensing resolution and stability. A new hybrid feature of the peak value in time domain and the maximum frequency magnitude in frequency domain has been investigated. A test rig has been built and some results from aircraft samples are presented.

Pulsed eddy current technique for defect detection in aircraft riveted structures

Abstract: The Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) technique is an effective method of quantifying defects in multi-layer structures. It is difficult to detect defects in riveted structures of aging aircraft. Based on theoretical analysis of PEC technique, three different probes, including a differential hall probe, a differential coil probe, and a two-stage differential coil probe are designed to detect this kind of defects. The averaging method and wavelet analysis method are used to de-noise the hall response signals. By selecting peak amplitude and zero-crossing time of response signal in time domain as key features, defects in riveted structures can be detected effectively. The experimental results indicated that the differential coil probe acted as effectively as the differential hall probe. The defects between third layer and fourth layer in riveted structures can be detected by utilizing the two-stage differential coil probe. The PEC technique has a promising application foreground in the field of aeronautical nondestructive testing.