FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF MAGNETIC BIAS EDDY CURRENT PROBE INTERACTION WITH FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS

Requirements to demonstrate eddy current inspection capabilities for inspection of steam generator tubes in nuclear power generation stations are becoming more rigorous. One method to support qualification of an existing, modified, or new eddy current probe design is to model the probe response to various degradation modes and tube artifacts with a finite element approach. Magnetic-bias probes are used to inspect for defects in conditions where material magnetic permeability effects are a concern, such as in the presence of ferromagnetic tubes, deposits, or supports. In this paper, a transient finite element modeling approach was used to model the interaction of magnetic-bias eddy current probes with ferromagnetic materials.