USE OF EDDY CURRENT TESTING FOR CRACK CHARACTERIZATION IN STRUCTURES

Eddy Current Testing is a nondestructive test method used for detecting surface discontinuities and for materials characterization. It consists in to induce electrical currents into the tested material and monitoring their behavior. Eddy currents are affected by materials characteristics such as geometry, microstructure and electrical and magnetic properties. These aspects allow the use of Eddy Current Testing as a nondestructive tool for materials evaluation. This paper presents a study about the use of eddy currents for cracks detecting and sizing, involving probes development and the experimental methodology used. The results obtained during experimental measurements showed a good correlation between crack depth and measurements using eddy current testing.