Non-destructive Case Depth Determination by Means of Low-Frequency Barkhausen Noise Measurements

The availability of a fast and reliable method for non-destructive case depth determination which can be used to directly monitor the quality of various heat treatment processes is of great interest. Conventionally hardened steel components are analyzed by means of depth-resolved microhardness measurements providing the case hardening depth (CHD) of the material. However, as a consequence of mechanical destruction, the investigated part cannot be used in its original state anymore and needs to be replaced by a twin part whose properties might be different. In this work, a new approach of non-destructive CHD determination based on Barkhausen noise analysis with an excitation frequency of 0.5 Hz is described. The use of a low frequency allows to enhance the penetration depth of the external magnetic field and to reduce the eddy current damping of the filtered Barkhausen (BN) signal at the same time. In this way, simultaneous information about the hard case and the soft base material core is experimentally accessible. Various measurands derived from the detected BN signals are sensitive to the different magnetic properties of the case and the core. The so-obtained correlations with the measured CHD can be used for non-destructive CHD determination by means of appropriate calibration data. The investigated sample set consists of cylindrical parts of 18CrNiMo7-6 which were case-hardened and ground in order to provide graded CHD values up to 3.6 mm. The sensitivity of the tested low-frequency method will be quantitatively demonstrated over the complete range of interest and its potential for industrial applications will be discussed.