Nondestructive inspection using rotating magnetic field eddy-current probe

Rotating magnetic field eddy-current (RoFEC) probe for nondestructive evaluation of steam generator tubes in a nuclear power plant offers an alternate method that has compact configuration and higher speed compared to traditional bobbin coil, rotating probe coils, and array probes. This paper investigates the feasibility of the proposed RoFEC eddy-current probe which is composed of three windings excited by three-phase ac current and does not require mechanical rotation of probe. Results of finite-element modeling using reduced magnetic vector potential (RMVP) formulation are presented for modeling the inspection of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic tubes. Design parameters of the excitation coils and GMR pick-up sensor are optimized by means of a parametric study.