EDDY-CURRENT PROBE IMPEDANCE DUE TO A VOLUMETRIC FLAW

Eddy current induced in a metal by a coil carrying an alternating current may be perturbed by the presence of any macroscopic defects in the material, such as cracks, surface indentations, or inclusions. In eddy-current nondestructive evaluation, defects are commonly sensed by a change of the coil impedance resulting from perturbations in the electromagnetic field. This paper describes theoretical predictions of eddy-current probe responses for surface cracks with finite opening. The theory expresses the electromagnetic field scattered by a three-dimensional flaw as a volume integral with a dyadic kernel. Probe signals are found by first solving an integral equation for the field at the flaw. The field equation is approximated by a discrete form using the moment method and a numerical solution found using conjugate gradients. The change in probe impedance due to a flaw is calculated from the flaw field. Predictions of the theory are compared with experimental impedances due to eddy-current interaction with a rectangular surface breaking slot. Good agreement is found between predictions and the measurements.