A Numerical Study of the Inclusion Problem in Electromagnetic Testing

Abstract

Abstract The determination of magnetic distortion fields caused by inclusions hidden in a conductive matrix using homogeneous current flow needs to be addressed in multiple tasks of electromagnetic non-destructive testing and materials science. This includes a series of testing problems such as the detection of tantalum inclusions hidden in niobium plates, metal inclusion in a nonmetallic base material or porosity in aluminum laser welds. Unfortunately, easy tools for an estimation of the defect response fields above the sample using pertinent detection concepts are still missing. In this study the Finite Element Method (FEM) was used for modeling spherically shaped defects, and an analytical expression was developed for the strength of the response field including the conductivity of the defect and matrix, the sensor-to-inclusion separation, and the defect size. Finally, the results were adapted to Eddy Current Testing problems, in which the skin effect was taken into consideration for an appropriate estimation of the signal strength.