An inversion scheme for sizing of wall thinning defects from pulsed eddy current testing signals

Issue title: Selected Papers from the 15th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2011)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Xie, Shejuan^a | Chen, Zhenmao^b | Wang, Li^{b; c} | Takagi, Toshiyuki^{a; *} | Uchimoto, Tetsuya^a

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan | [b] State Key Lab for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China | [c] College of Science, Xi'an Posts and Telecommunications Institute, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Toshiyuki Takagi, Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan. Tel./Fax: +81 22 217 5248; E-mail: takagi@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp

Abstract: In this paper, an inversion algorithm has been proposed and validated, based on a fast simulator of pulsed eddy current testing (PECT) signals and a deterministic optimization strategy, for the profile reconstruction of wall thinning in pipes of nuclear power plants. Local wall thinning is modelled as a group of planar defects with different length and depth, reconstructed from two-dimensional PECT signals. Through inverse analysis of simulated signals and signals with random noise, the efficiency and the robustness of the proposed algorithm have been demonstrated.

Keywords: Wall thinning, pulsed ECT, QNDT, inversion problem, conjugate gradient

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2012-1462

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 39, no. 1-4, pp. 203-211, 2012