Eddy current nondestructive material evaluation based on HTS SQUIDs

High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) are promising sensors for applications in eddy current nondestructive evaluation (NDE). Due to their high field sensitivity at low frequencies, they are especially suitable for applications, where a large penetration depth is required. We have investigated two different SQUID-based NDE systems, one of which is optimised for testing felloes of aircraft wheels. The second system allows for testing planar structures using a motorised x-y-stage, which moves the cryostat above the planar samples. As sensors 3 GHz rf SQUIDs made from YBCO were used, having a field noise of about 1 pT/root Hz. This results in a dynamic range of our SQUID system of about 155 dB/root Hz. In most cases, the SQUIDs have been cooled by immersing them in liquid nitrogen. We have however also developed a cryosystem, which allows for cooling the sensors by a Ne-gas flow. In planar test structures we could detect flaws with lengths of 10 mm, having a height of 0.6 mm in a depth of 13 mm. In aircraft felloes, flaws located at the inner surface of the felloe (thickness 8 mm) were easily detectable despite a high static background field of up to 0.5 G caused by ferromagnetic structures inside the felloe. For flaws in a depth of 5 mm, the spatial resolution of both systems was about 8 mm without applying image postprocessing.