An equivalent-effect phenomenon in eddy current non-destructive testing of thin structures

TL;DR

This paper discovers an equivalent-effect phenomenon in eddy current NDT of thin structures, enabling simplified simulations by replacing complex structures with equivalent ones based on a reciprocal conductivity-thickness relationship, thus reducing computational effort.

Contribution

It introduces a novel equivalent-effect phenomenon allowing efficient eddy current simulations by substituting structures with equivalent properties, saving computational resources.

Findings

The equivalent-effect phenomenon is theoretically derived and experimentally verified.

Simulations show significant reduction in mesh size and computation time.

The method maintains accuracy in mutual impedance/inductance calculations.

Abstract

The inductance/impedance due to thin metallic structures in non-destructive testing (NDT) is difficult to evaluate. In particular, in Finite Element Method (FEM) eddy current simulation, an extremely fine mesh is required to accurately simulate skin effects especially at high frequencies, and this could cause an extremely large total mesh for the whole problem, i.e. including, for example, other surrounding structures and excitation sources like coils. Consequently, intensive computation requirements are needed. In this paper, an equivalent-effect phenomenon is found, which has revealed that alternative structures can produce the same effect on the sensor response, i.e. mutual impedance/inductance of coupled coils if a relationship (reciprocal relationship) between the electrical conductivity and the thickness of the structure is observed. By using this relationship, the mutual inductance/impedance can be calculated from the equivalent structures with much fewer mesh elements, which can significantly save the computation time. In eddy current NDT, coils inductance/impedance is normally used as a critical parameter for various industrial applications, such as flaw detection, coating and microstructure sensing. Theoretical derivation, measurements and simulations have been presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed phenomenon.