Detection of Deep Subsurface Cracks in Thick Stainless Steel Plate

Unlike conventional Eddy Current Test (ECT), Pulsed Eddy Current (PEC) uses a multiple-frequency current pulse through the excitation coil. In the present study, the detection of subsurface cracks using a specially designed probe that allows the detection of a deeper crack with a relatively small current density has been attempted using the PEC technique. The tested sample is a piece of 304 stainless steel (SS304) with a thickness of 30mm. Small electrical discharge machining (EDM) notches were put in the test sample at different depths from the surface to simulate the subsurface cracks in a pipe. The designed PEC probe consists of an excitation coil and a Hall sensor and can detect a subsurface crack as narrow and shallow as 0.2 mm wide and 2 mm deep. The maximum distance between the probe and the defect is 28 mm. The peak amplitude of the detected pulse is used to evaluate the cracks under the sample surface. In time domain analysis, the greater the crack depth the greater the peak amplitude of the detected pulse. The experimental results indicated that the proposed system has the potential to detect the subsurface cracks in stainless steel plates.