An efficient finite element method for modeling ferrite-core eddy current probe

Issue title: Selected Papers from the 14th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2009), Part I

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Zeng, Zhiwei^{a; *} | Udpa, Lalita^b | Udpa, Satish S.^b

Affiliations: [a] Department of Aeronautics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China | [b] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 158 5929 3851; Fax: +86 592 218 9426; E-mail: zeng@xmu.edu.cn

Abstract: Three-dimensional simulation of eddy current testing (ECT) using finite element method (FEM) has been studied over the past three decades and various methods have been developed. In these methods, the ferrite-core probe is meshed together with the sample. Hence, simulation of probe scanning requires re-meshing, which is not only cumbersome but also a major source of computational noise. In this paper, we propose a novel FEM for the simulation of ECT with ferrite-core probe in which the meshes of ferrite core and sample are generated separately and the coil is not meshed. The new method avoids re-meshing for different probe positions and is simple, flexible, accurate, and efficient.

Keywords: Eddy current testing, finite element method, ferrite-core probe, reduced magnetic vector potential

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2010-1148

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 33, no. 1-2, pp. 481-486, 2010