Pulsed eddy current nondestructive testing for defect evaluation and imaging of automotive lightweight alloy materials

Abstract

Rapid and accurate damage detection of magnesium-aluminum alloy, which is an important material for automotive lightweight, is of great significance. Pulsed eddy current (PEC) is an effective electromagnetic nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E) technique for metal materials. Metal loss evaluation and imaging are one of the most important steps in quality control and maintenance of key components of automobiles. A PEC method based on a rectangular excitation coil and an axial parallel pickup coil is proposed and investigated for the purpose of metal loss evaluation and imaging. Metal loss type of defects with different sections is designed and detected using line scanning technique and C-scan imaging in two scanning directions. Experimental results have illustrated that metal loss depth can be estimated effectively by the peak amplitude of PEC A-scan response. Then, the quantification information of metal loss depth is preliminarily obtained based on the linear fitting equation. Consequently, metal loss evaluation is realized by line scanning peak waves and C-scan pseudo 3D images. At last, the sensitivity comparison shows that the metal loss can be detected in both directions. The proposed method is an effective approach to evaluate the image surface-breaking metal loss in automotive lightweight alloy materials.