Development of a flexible cross-wound eddy current array probe

Issue title: Proceedings from the 16th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2013)

Guest editors: Xavier Maldague and Toshiyuki Takagi

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lepage, Benoit^a

Affiliations: [a] Olympus NDT Canada, 505, boul. Du Parc-Technologique, G1P 4S9, PQ, Canada. E-mail: [email protected] | Université Laval, Canada | Tohoku University, Japan

Abstract: Cross-wound eddy current sensors have been used for years in the non-destructive testing industry for surface detection of cracks on steel components. The conventional sensor, which is a three dimensional transmit-receive structure comprising two orthogonal coils, can't be directly translated to a flat winding suitable for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing. This paper describes a method that makes it possible, through the use of finite element modeling (FEM), to reproduce the cross wound sensor response on a flexible printed circuit board. As a second step, an innovative compact PCB made cross-wound eddy current array (ECA) structure is presented and demonstrated experimentally.

Keywords: Eddy current array, cross-wound, weld inspection, flexible PCB, probe

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-141887

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 45, no. 1-4, pp. 633-638, 2014