Investigation of Flux Transfer along Ferrite Core of Probe Coil for Eddy Current Nondestructive Evaluation

A probe coil with a T-core above a layered conductor with surface hole is investigated for magnetic flux transfer along the ferrite core and enhancement of eddy currents in conductor. The cylindrical coordinate system is adopted and an artificial boundary is added to the solution domain with radius b, and the general formula for calculating the impedance of the T-core coil is derived using the truncated region eigenfunction expansion (TREE) method. For four special cases with different probe configurations, coil impedance changes due to the layered conductor and defect are calculated with Mathematica software over a frequency change ranging from 100 Hz to 20 kHz. The analytical results are in good agreement with those obtained by the finite element method and experimental measurements. The results show that under the same lift-off height and excitation frequency, the impedance change caused by the conductor or defect in the coil of long core column is greater than that of the short core column coil. It indicates that the probe coil with a long core column can transfer magnetic flux to the conductor, thereby enhancing eddy currents in the conductor.