Eddy Current Microsensor Dedicated to the Nondestructive Testing of Conductive Plates

Authors

  • Chifaa Aber Physical Engineering Department, Applied Power Electronics Laboratory, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria
  • Azzedine Hamid Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria
  • Mokhtar Elchikh Physical Engineering Department, Applied Power Electronics Laboratory, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria
  • Tierry Lebey Laplace Laboratory, University of Paul Sabatier, Toulouse Cedex 9, France

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/2022.ACES.J.370114

Keywords:

Defect inspection, eddy current, finite element method, microsensor, moving band method, NDT

Abstract

To ensure the safety of transportation and prevent accidents, nondestructive testing by Eddy current (EC) is proposed to check the conditions of industrial parts. EC sensors are used for the inspection of defects in conductive parts using coil fed by alternative current. These sensors are sensitive to defects, easy to implement, and robust for industrial applications. In order to satisfy the requirement for both reliability and speed during inspection operations, innovative EC sensors that can provide higher sensitivity, better spatial resolution, and more information about the defect characteristics, such as microsensors, are developed. The miniaturization of these sensors’ coils conforms the sensor for micro-defects in critical parts and in complex materials. In this paper, a microsensor dedicated to EC application is studied and characterized to identify the coil parameters and to optimize the geometry of the probe. An approach for the modeling of microsensor dedicated to EC nondestructive applications is proposed. The moving band finite element method is implemented for this purpose to take into account the movement of the sensor and to simplify the modeling of EC testing configurations that use this kind ofsensor. Experimental validations were conducted on a nickel-based alloy specimen. The real and imaginary parts of the impedance at every position of the sensor computed by experiments and simulations were consistent with each other. Simulation results proved that the sensor was capable of detecting micro-defects with a size starting from 0.1 mm under the optimal excitation frequency of 0.8 MHz. It is not only sensitive to micro-cracks, but also it distinguishes the different crack sizes (length, width, anddepth).

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Author Biographies

Chifaa Aber , Physical Engineering Department, Applied Power Electronics Laboratory, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria

Chifaa Aber received the magister degree in applied optics from the University of Ferhat Abbas Setif, Sétif, Algeria, in 2010. She is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with the University of Sciences and Technologies of Oran USTO-MB.

She is a member of Applied Power Electronics Laboratory LEPA and temporary teacher with Larbi Ben M’hidi OEB University. Her research interests include Eddy current, microelectronics, neural network, FEM, and optical sensors.

Azzedine Hamid , Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria

Azzedine Hamid was born in Algies, Algeria, in 1961. He received the magister degree in electrical engineering from the Mohamed Boudiaf University of Oran in 1994 and the Ph.D. degree from the Mohamed Boudiaf University of Sciences and Technology of Oran in 2005.

He is a head member of LEPA laboratory research team.

Mokhtar Elchikh , Physical Engineering Department, Applied Power Electronics Laboratory, University of Science and Technology USTO-MB, Oran 31000, Algeria

Mokhtar Elchikh received the Ph.D. degree in nuclear and particle physics from the University of Grenoble I, Grenoble, France, in 1992.

His is currently a Professor of Physics with the University of Sciences and Technology of Oran, Algeria. He has been interested in nuclear physics, spin physics, ion-surface interactions, condensed matter physics, ab initio calculations, and, recently, in power electronic.

Tierry Lebey , Laplace Laboratory, University of Paul Sabatier, Toulouse Cedex 9, France

Thierry Lebey received the M.Sc. degree in solid state physics in 1984 and in microelectronics in 1985, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 1989. He was a CNRS Research Scientist for 30 years. His fields of interest concern the characterization, modeling, and aging of solid dielectrics and insulating materials used in electrical engineering applications. From 2016 to 2019, he was the Director of LAPLACE, the French largest electrical engineering laboratory located in Toulouse, France. Since then, he joined SafranTech, the corporate research center of Safran, one of the first world aerospace companies, as the head of research on high voltage engineering for aviation applications. He is the author of around 90 papers in international journals AND more than 160 conference papers (mainly in IEEE conferences) and holds 18 international patents. https://www.safran-group.com/

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Published

2022-01-31

How to Cite

[1]
C. . Aber, A. . Hamid, M. . Elchikh, and T. . Lebey, “Eddy Current Microsensor Dedicated to the Nondestructive Testing of Conductive Plates”, ACES Journal, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 117–128, Jan. 2022.

Issue

2022: Vol 37 Iss 1

Section

General Submission