Pulsed Eddy Current Technology: Characterizing Material Loss with Gap and Lift-off Variations

Ownership costs of operational aircraft have increased steadily over the years. One of the major cost drivers is structural deterioration due to corrosion. Beyond the economics, finding and characterizing corrosion is essential for the continued airworthiness of aircraft fleets. To this end, the pulsed eddy current technique holds the potential of becoming the primary means of detecting corrosion in multilayered structures. Its wide-band frequency spectrum allows the determination of a large number of parameters, such as defect size and location. Pulsed eddy current is still considered an experimental nondestructive technique because of realistic inspection problems (e.g., probe tilting, protrusion of rivets, and thickness variations in adhesive and paint) have not been addressed in the past. Recent advances change this situation and allow pulsed eddy current to be a credible field technique.     

飞机结构腐蚀检测中的脉冲涡流无损检测技术

对脉冲涡流无损检测技术的工作原理进行了分析，建立了脉冲涡流的检测系统对加工的模拟飞机多层结构的试件进行了测试，提取其时域瞬态感应信号的峰值和过零时间作为特征量，对出现在飞机多层结构第二层中的腐蚀缺陷进行了定量检测，试验结果和理论分析相一致，证明了脉冲涡流检测方法的有效性，由于其具有快速和定量化的优点，因而在飞机结构的腐蚀检测中具有广阔的应用前景．     

Fusion zone of AA6061 alloy GTA welds: electrochemical polarisation and impedance study

Abstract

The corrosion behaviour of the fusion zone of gas tungsten arc (GTA) welds of AA6061 alloy was studied. Welds were made of AA4043 and AA5356 fillers using the continuous current (CC) and pulsed current (PC) techniques of GTA welding. Dynamic polarisation and impedance testing were used to determine the pitting and general corrosion resistance of the fusion zone respectively. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies were carried out to find the mechanism of corrosion. The fusion zone of welds made with the AA4043 filler was found to show better corrosion resistance than those made with AA5356 filler. The PC technique improved the pitting and general corrosion resistance of the fusion zone of AA6061 GTA welds.     

Separation of electrically neutral non-metallic inclusions from molten steel by pulsed electric current

ABSTRACT

Effect of a pulsed electric current on the distribution of Al₂O₃ inclusions in liquid steel is explored; these inclusions ranged in size from micrometres to nanometres. When no electric current was applied, the inclusions were randomly distributed in the steel. However, when an electric current was applied, the inclusions were found in highly populated regions near the various interfaces. Moreover, this process applies to a wide range of inclusion diameters, in contrast to conventional inclusion removal methods which tend to apply to larger (>20?μm) particles only. Consequently, the application of pulsed electric current provides a method of removing inclusions from the steel and thereby improving the mechanical, physical and corrosion resistance properties of the steel.

This paper is part of a themed issue on Materials in External Fields.     

Quantitative Fractography for Improved Probability of Detection (POD) Analysis of Bolt Hole Eddy Current

Fatigue cracks are prone to develop around the fasteners found in multilayer aluminum structures such as ageing aircraft. The determination of their probability of detection (POD) using eddy current techniques is critical for risk assessments used in evaluating serviceability. Normally, a large number of samples of both fatigue cracks and electric discharge machined notches are required for such a study. In this study, the use of quantitative fractography (QF) to efficiently gather POD data for bolt hole eddy current is demonstrated. The technique can be readily automated, significantly reducing man-hour requirements. The method is applied to mid-bore cracks, grown without starter notches, in order to simulate naturally occurring fatigue cracks. POD of the mid-bore cracks is examined using a probit analysis. An a _90/95 is the probability that 90% of the cracks of size a or larger will be detected 95% of the time. An a _90/95 of 0.34 mm was obtained for mid-bore crack depth. This value is consistent with skin depth considerations at the 1.6 MHz inspection frequency. An examination of the POD based on crack length found that it was related to that of depth according to the average length-to-depth aspect ratio of 2 to 1.     

Effect of pulsed magnetic treatment on the corrosion of titanium

ABSTRACT

Results of corrosion tests of titanium in the initial state and after treatment using pulsed magnetic field are presented. It is shown that samples after treatment have better corrosion resistance due to the formation of denser and finer corrosion products with better adhesion to the substrate. Samples after treatment have more homogeneous microstructure due to a substantial increase of dislocations which are uniformly distributed. Mechanisms of dislocation multiplication and a model explaining the effect of the treatment on the corrosion are discussed.

This paper is part of a themed issue on Materials in External Fields.     

Finite-Element Calculations of Remote Field Eddy Current Interactions with Slit Defects

Abstract

Remote field eddy current (RFEC) excitation is a promising approach for detection of the very fine axial cracks typical of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in pipelines. Interactions between adjacent cracks or slits can enhance responses in some cases. Detailed finite-element modeling was undertaken to establish the behavior and interactions of multiple slits such as those occurring in SCC. Three different field/slit configurations are considered, with anomalous source models used to aid interpretation of the results. The study noted that magnetic perturbations generated by ferromagnetic material tend to be vanishingly small, and that the interactions between multiple cracks give minimal enhancement, indicating that eddy current rather than magnetic field excitation is best for the detection of SCC. With eddy current excitation, field perturbations are generated by even very fine slits, and are larger in non-ferromagnetic material. For non-ferromagnetic pipes, the perturbations tend to merge as a circumferential separation between parallel axial cracks decreases, resulting in significant interaction and signal enhancement.     

Numerical Analysis for Eddy Current Characteristics of Magnetically Saturated Ferromagnetic Tubes

Abstract

Magnetic saturation is applied to ferromagnetic tubes inspected by the encircling or inner coil because suppressing magnetic noise is important for the eddy current testing technique. Eddy current signal characteristics in magnetically saturated tubes are different from those in nonmagnetic tubes. In ferromagnetic tubes, defect signal phase angle is not useful for estimating defect depth because it does not depend on the defect depth. In this paper, numerical eddy current analysis has been done in order to explain the relationship between the defect depth and the phase angle in magnetically saturated tubes. This analysis is performed as follows: 1) The magnetic permeability near the defect is calculated as the non-linear magnetostatic problem. 2) The eddy current distribution is calculated as the linear magnetodynamic problem using the incremental permeability value calculated in step 1. The numerical analysis results reveal that the permeability around the defect remains inhomogeneous and it causes the unique eddy current characteristics. Based on these calculated results, a quantitative evaluation method of determining defect depth is proposed. After determining the defect shape by using signal characteristics obtained from the strongly magnetizing state, the defect depth can be estimated by using the signal amplitude.     

Effects of duty ratio at high frequency on growth mechanism of micro-plasma oxidation ceramic coatings on Ti alloy

The aim of this work is to study the effects of duty ratio on the growth mechanism of the ceramic coatings on Ti–6Al–4V alloy prepared by pulsed single-polar MPO at 2,000 Hz in NaAlO₂ solution. The phase composition of the coatings was studied by X-ray diffraction, and the morphology and the element distribution in the coating were examined through scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The thickness of the coatings was measured by eddy current coating thickness gauge. The corrosion resistance of the coated samples was examined by linear sweep voltammetry technique in 3.5% NaCl solution. Duty ratio influenced the composition and structure of the coatings. Many residual discharging channels on the coating surface showed that the spark discharge at 2,000 Hz was mainly attributable to the breakdown of the oxide film, which was suitable for the elements both from the electrolyte and from the substrate to join MPO process, and therefore, the coating was mainly composed of Al₂TiO₅. Because of the increase of the congregation and the adsorption of Al from the electrolyte with increasing duty ratio, the redundant Al on the electrode surface led to the formation of γ-Al₂O₃. And Al and Ti in the coating existed in the form of the reverse gradient distribution. Meantime, ceramic coatings improved the corrosion resistance of Ti alloy, and the coating surface morphology and thickness determined the coated samples prepared at D = 20% had the best corrosion resistance among the coated samples.     

Determination of presence of undesirable carbides at surface of cast iron parts using differential eddy current technique

Abstract

Machinability of grey cast iron parts can greatly suffer from the formation of carbide at the surface, resulting in a decrease in cutting tool life and higher production costs. Therefore, detection of the hardened layer and its hardness are the key factors in quality control and inspection processes. In the present paper, a number of metallurgical parameters (surface carbide, surface hardness and hardened depth) have been investigated using the non-destructive differential eddy current technique. The results show the high potential of the proposed method as a fast and accurate technique in inspecting and in consequent separation of undesirable parts.     

Time-Frequency Analysis of Pulsed Eddy Current Signals

Detection and measurement of the material loss due to corrosion in aircraft fuselage lap splices are of great importance to life management of ageing aircraft. Pulsed eddy current (PEC) techniques have shown the potential to fully characterise these structures. However, variations in the probe lift-off, the interlayer gaps and material thinning produce similar PEC signals, making signal interpretation very difficult. This paper describes time-frequency analysis algorithms applied to pulsed-eddy current signals from lap-joint specimens containing simulated flaws. The effect of probe lift-off, interlayer gap, and material thinning on PEC signals is examined in three-dimensional space (amplitude-time-frequency). This study shows that the time-frequency analysis of PEC signals provides specific visual patterns that can be related to the interlayer gap, lift-off, and material loss.     

Analytical Modeling of Wobble in Eddy Current Tube Testing with Bobbin Coils

Abstract

By utilizing the second-order vector potential formulation we solve the eddy current problem of a coil inside a conductive tube and in an offset position to it. The study focuses on the derivation of a closed-form expression for the impedance change of the coil, which is used to calculate the signal produced by wobble in eddy current testing of tubes with bobbin coils.     

Eddy Current Probability of Detection for Mid-Bore and Corner Cracks in Bolt Holes of Service Material

Fatigue cracks are prone to develop around fasteners found in multilayer aluminum structures on aging aircraft. Probability of detection (POD) studies using eddy current techniques within the bolt holes contribute to risk assessments used in evaluating the serviceability of these aircraft. Signal response to corner and mid-bore cracks by eddy current testing using standard split-D differential probes has been examined for in-service material from the horizontal stabilizer of a Hercules aircraft. Results are compared to data obtained from laboratory samples with drilled holes. Based on a logistic regression analysis, the results show no significant difference for a_90/95 (90% of the cracks of size a will be detected 95% of the time) for mid-bore crack length of 0.60 mm in this study compared to 0.62 mm in earlier work on drilled holes. However, there was a substantial loss of sensitivity for corner cracks. In this study on in-service material, the a_90/95 for corner cracks was 0.82 mm compared to 0.31 mm obtained from drilled holes. Decrease in sensitivity was attributed to damage at the hole’s corners of the in-service material, including rounding, folded metal, and burrs. Hole damage also significantly increased the risk of a false call.     

Robust Estimation of Hidden Corrosion Parameters Using an Eddy Current Technique

An eddy current technique is used to inspect the interface between air and a conductive material such as aluminum, which can be covered with a non-conductive material. Hidden corrosion may appear inside the conductive material. This corrosion leads to flaws whose shape varies greatly depending of the flaw. The proposed methodology addresses this problem by considering the potential shapes as realizations of a random process. The goal of the proposed approach is not to find the exact shape of the corrosion flaw but to estimate some of its dimensional parameters. The area and the dimension ratio of the shape have been chosen because they depict the importance of the corrosion damage.     

Effect of Pulsed Current TIG Welding Parameters on Pitting Corrosion Behaviour of AA6061 Aluminium Alloy

Medium strength aluminium alloy （Al-Mg-Si alloy） has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring a high strength-to weight ratio, such as transportable bridge girders, military vehicles, road tankers and railway transport systems. The preferred welding process for aluminium alloy is frequently TIG （tungsten inert gas） welding due to its comparatively easier applicability and better economy.In the case of single pass TIG welding of thinner section of this alloy, the pulsed current has been found beneficial due to its advantages over the conventional continuous current process. The use of pulsed current parameters has been found to improve the mechanical properties of the welds compared to those of continuous current welds of this alloy due to grain refinement occurring in the fusion zone. A mathematical model has been developed to predict pitting corrosion potential of pulsed current TIG welded AA6061 aluminium alloy.Factorial experimental design has been used to optimize the experimental conditions. Analysis of variance technique has been used to find out the significant pulsed current parameters. Regression analysis has been used to develop the model. Using the developed model pitting corrosion potential values have been estimated for different combinations of pulsed current parameters and the results are analyzed in detail.     

Multiparameter Control of Multilayer Structures by Pulsed Eddy-Current Techniques

Technical Physics Letters - A multiparameter technique for pulsed eddy current testing is proposed, which allows one to conduct separate quantitative determination of more than seven parameters of...     

Wirbelstromprüfung auf interkristalline Korrosion

Eddy current inspection for intergranular corrosion The paper focuses on fundamental investigations into eddy current detection of intergranular corrosion of nickel based alloys. After introducing this damage phenomenon and its results briefly the eddy current distribution is calculated. The experimental results confirm the suitability of the eddy current method for damage detection and provide features for quantitative analysis.