Inspection of Cracks in Aluminum Multilayer Structures Using Planar ECT Probe and Inversion Problem

This paper proposes a method to detect and evaluate surface and subsurface cracks in aluminum multilayer structures using a planar eddy current testing (ECT) probe and processing an inverse problem algorithm. The proposed excitation method using this ECT probe allows the induction of eddy currents with different orientations on the metal surface without rotating the probe during the scan. An inversion algorithm was applied to evaluate the geometry of the cracks. The main result of this inversion algorithm is the determination of the shape of the cracks using the reconstructed eddy current pattern inside the specimen. These reconstructed patterns give the indication of the length, orientation, and geometry profile of the crack. In this paper, complex geometry cracks at different depths are inspected. Experimental data were obtained around a star crack at different depths in a stack of four aluminum plates where each plate has a thickness equal to 1 mm. The presented work shows that the distance between the sensor and the layer under analysis must be adjusted in the inversion process in order to obtain the best reconstructed images when subsurface cracks are under study. This consideration affects the quality of the resulting images.