Eddy Current Testing

Introduction
NDE techniques that use some form of electromagnetic excitation are termed as
electromagnetic NDE techniques and some of these include eddy current (EC), magnetic particle,
magnetic flux leakage, magnetic Barkhausen emission, micromagnetic, potential drop,
microwave, AC field measurement techniques etc. In these techniques, material under
investigation is excited electromagnetically and the manifestation of electromagnetic fields due
to material discontinuities affecting electrical conductivity or magnetic permeability or dielectric
permittivity are measured using a sensor, with the exception of magnetic particle testing in which
magnetic particle are used in place of a sensor.
EC technique is the most popular and widely used electromagnetic NDE technique. In
industrial scenario, among other electromagnetic NDE techniques, this technique finds larger
number of applications. This technique finds versatile applications in power, aerospace and
petrochemical industries. It is not incorrect to say that worldwide almost all the heat exchangers
and aircrafts are inspected using this technique. Two main aspects behind this widespread use are
excellent sensitivity to surface as well as sub-surface defects and testing speed of as high as 10
m/s which no other NDE technique can match. This is especially profitable to industries as it
enables rapid examination during manufacturing stages, while it drastically reduces the down
time of operating plant components.

Principle
Every coil is characterized by the impedance parameter. Impedance has a magnitude and
a phase. When an alternating current energizes a coil, it creates a time-varying magnetic field.
The magnetic lines of flux tend to be concentrated at the centre of the coil. Eddy current
inspection is based on Faraday’s electromagnetic induction law. Faraday discovered that a time-
varying magnetic induction flux density induces currents in an electrical conductor. The
electromotive force is proportional to the time-rate change of the magnetic induction flux
density. When an alternating energized coil of impedance approaches an electrically conductive
non-ferromagnetic material, the primary alternating magnetic field penetrates the material and
generates continuous and circular eddy currents. The induced currents flowing within the test
piece generate a secondary magnetic field that tends to oppose the primary magnetic field. This
opposing magnetic field, coming from the conductive material, has a weakening effect on the
primary magnetic field. In effect, the new imaginary part of the coil impedance decreases
proportionally when the eddy current intensity in the test piece increases. Eddy currents also
contribute to the increasing of the power dissipation of energy that changes the real part of coil
impedance. Measuring this coil impedance variation, by monitoring either the voltage or the
current signal, can reveal specific information such as conductivity and chemical composition of
the test piece.

Figure 1. Concept of Eddy Current Testing

Test procedures
General EC test procedure for detection of defects involves calibration of EC instrument
using reference standard defects in a material with similar chemical composition and geometry
as that of the actual component. Artificial defects such as saw cuts, flat bottom holes, electro-
discharge machining (EDM) notches are used while well characterised natural defects, cracks in
failed or withdrawn components are always preferred. Instrument test parameters such as
excitation frequency, gain, phase angle etc. are optimised for a desired performance. A suitable
EC signal parameter, e.g. signal peak-to-peak amplitude or phase angle is identified and an
appropriate threshold is determined for incorporating accept/reject criterion. When defect sizing
is required, a calibration graph between signal parameter and defect size is generated and used.
During actual testing, any region that produces EC signals with parameter greater than the
threshold is recorded defective, while its equivalent size is determined using the calibration
graph. Similar procedure is followed for material sorting, conductivity measurement,
microstructure characterisation, and coating thickness measurement.
 Figure 2. Shows several types of material used for ECT calibration at Nuklear Malaysia
Probes
EC probe forms the basic link between EC instrument and the test material. Depending
on the geometry of the test material, different probes such as surface probes (for plates),
encircling probes (for rods and tubes) and bobbin probes (for tubes) with coil configurations
shown in Fig. 8 are used. Appropriate selection of probe coil is important in eddy current testing,
as even an efficient EC instrument cannot achieve much if it doesn’t get the right (desired)
information from the coils.

Figure 3. Advanced general purpose digital instruments for static, dynamic as well as
multi-frequency EC tests used for demonstration at Nuklear Malaysia

a) b)
 Figure 4a and 4b. Bobbin Probe for HX tube and Focused/Surface Probe for thickness and
scratches used for ECT demonstration at Nuklear Malaysia.

Application
A few specific practical applications of EC technique are given below for better
appreciation of the technique.
• Quality assurance of austenitic stainless steel tubes, plates and welds.
• Inspection of installed heat exchanger/steam generator/condenser tubes (single and
multi-frequency)
• Detection of surface as well as sub-surface defects in multi-layer aircraft structures
(single frequency, multi-frequency & pulsed techniques)
• Detection of intergranular corrosion (IGC) in stainless steels (316, 316L and 304 L)
• Measurement of coating thickness of SiC on carbon-carbon composites
• Sorting of materials based on electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability
Mainly, there are 3 types of Eddy Current Testing demonstrated during our visit to Nuklear
Malaysia.
1. Eddy Current Testing - Scratch
2. Eddy Current Testing - Coating thickness
3. Eddy Current Testing - Heat Exchanger Tube

1. Eddy Current Testing – Scratch

The principle of the eddy current technique is based on the interaction between a
magnetic field source and the test material. This interaction induces eddy currents in the test
piece. NDT inspector of EC test can detect the presence of very small cracks by monitoring
changes in the eddy current flow.
Figure 5. shows the paper wrapped plate for EC scratch testing
2. Eddy Current Testing – Coating thickness
The thickness of non-metallic coatings on metal substrates can be determined simply
from the effect of lift off on impedance. This method has widespread use for measuring thickness
of paint and plastic coatings. The coating serves as a spacer between the probe and the
conductive surface. As the distance between the probe and the conductive base metal increases,
the eddy current field strength decreases because less of the probe's magnetic field can interact
with the base metal. Thicknesses between 0.5 and 25 µm can be measured to an accuracy
between 10% for lower values and 4% for higher values.

Figure 6. Shows layers paper for thickness calibration

3. Eddy Current Testing - Heat Exchanger Tube

Eddy current testing uses electromagnetic induction to identify defects in tubing. A probe
is inserted into the tube and pushed through the entire length of the tube. Eddy currents are
generated by the electromagnetic coils in the probe and monitored simultaneously by measuring
probe electrical impedance. The information revealed by the probe will detail the tube defects. 

Figure 7. Shows Bobbin Probes being inserted into Heat Exchanger Tube