Eddy Current Testing Basics and Innovation

Eddy current testing is considered a theoretically challenging technique. Out of all the different nondestructive testing (NDT) methods, the electromagnetic testing (ET) method (of which eddy current testing is a technique) is probably the most difficult for understanding theory. This is perhaps why the last Materials Evaluation Back to Basics paper on eddy current testing is from 2006, which is a long time ago given the amount of innovation in the technique that has taken place since then (Hansen and Peoples 2006). In this paper we will show what has changed due to recent innovations. We first will present the physics, and then explain how modern equipment assists the user in distinguishing between different physical phenomena. Although this paper is on conventional eddy current testing, we will also mention some other ET techniques along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Case Depth Evaluation of Induction Hardened Steel Using Barkhausen Noise Technique

Barkhausen noise (BHN) measurement is one of electromagnetic testing methods that is suitable for ferromagnetic materials. It has a sensitivity to different material properties such as microstructure, composition, residue stress, hardness, etc. which can also be used to determine the hardness case depth of a hardened layer. The measurement is intriguing because of its time and cost-effectiveness. The aim of this work was to study and select a suitable method to evaluate and predict the hardness case depth of induction hardened S50C steel based on Barkhausen noise measurement. Signal processing of BHN signal was performed and extracted features were validated with the actual hardness case depth according to the destructive method of Vickers hardness and metallography in order to achieve the most accurate hardness case depth evaluation model. The results showed that the hardness case depth prediction model could be used to indicate the hardness case depth of induction hardened steel significantly at the correlation coefficient (R) of 0.97 and root mean squares error of estimation (RMSEE) of 3.56%.

Electromagnetic Testing of Moisture Separation Reheater Tube based on Multivariate Singular Spectral Analysis

Moisture separator reheater (MSR) tubing systems are an important part of a pressurized-water power plant to increase the efficiency of the heat transfer rate. The MSR tubes are finned tubes which are made of ferritic stainless steel (SS439) with a high strength and corrosion resistance characteristics. However, corrosion can appear along with the fins after a long period of operation of the MSR tubes that requires nondestructive testing (NDT) of the MSR tubes’ periodically. Electromagnetic testing (ET) is an efficient NDT method for the inspection of far-side corrosion in the MSR tubes. However, the ET sensor signal is affected by signal noise from the fins. Material degradation that make it challenging to inspect and evaluate the corrosion. In this study, we proposed three ET methods, including magnetic flux leakage testing, eddy current testing and partial saturation eddy current testing, and incorporated with a multivariate singular spectral analysis (MSSA) filter to improve the detectability of the corrosion in the MSR tubes. The proposed MSSA filter was compared with the multivariate wavelet transform filter and Gabor transform filter, and the results showed more efficient and stable results of the MSSA filter in the extraction of the corrosion signal.

Electromagnetic Testing of Rod Cluster Control Assemblies in Pressured-Water Reactor Power Plants

This paper presents an electromagnetic testing system for rod cluster control assemblies used in pressurized-water reactors. The system uses several encircling-type magnetic cameras equivalent to a number of the control rods; each sensor probe composes of an encircling Hall sensor array (EHaS) and a bobbin coil. The EHaS has 16 Hall sensor elements that measure the electromagnetic field distribution in the radial direction of the control rod induced by the bobbin coil for defects. Experiments are performed on artificial defects on the cladding tube of real control rods to simulate short-circumferential grooves (SCGs), sliding wears (SWs), and circumferential cracks (CCs). The system can inspect the artificial SCGs, SWs, and CCs with depths up to 20%, 30%, and 40% of the cladding tube thickness (0.47 mm), respectively. Furthermore, the shape and depth of the defects could be estimated. The standard deviations of depth estimation are 18%, 5.8%, and 6.0% for CCs, SCGs, and SWs. The SCGs and SWs have a small and similar estimation error, but the CCs have the highest error of estimation, and have a small width of 0.2 mm.