Eddy current probe and inspection method

US7154265B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• General Electric Company · US

Inventors

• Mottito Togo · Bengaluru, IN
• Changting Wang · Niskayuna, US
• Yuri Alexeyevich Plotnikov · Niskayuna, US
• Shyamsunder Tondanur Mandayam · Savanuru, IN
• William Stewart McKnight · Hamilton, US
• Walter J. Bantz · Sharonville, US
• Ui Suh · Cincinnati, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 21, 2004
• Grant date: Dec 26, 2006
• Expiry date: Mar 24, 2025

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N27/902
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An eddy current (EC) probe for inspecting a component is provided. The EC probe includes a tangential drive coil configured to generate a probing field for inducing eddy currents in the component, where a portion of the eddy currents are aligned parallel to an edge of the component. An axis of the tangential drive coil is aligned parallel to a surface of the component. The EC probe further includes a pair of sense coils, where an axis of the sense coils is aligned perpendicular to the surface of the component. The sense coils are configured to sense the portion of the eddy currents aligned parallel to the edge of the component.