Determination of thickness of silver coatings on brass by measuring the impedance of a thin elliptic coil

To measure the impedance of a thin elliptically shaped coil, in presence of a flat plate with a coat of metal, can be an instrument for determination of the cladding thickness. An electromagnetic field from the coil is then forced to the object, producing eddy currents inside the object. These are influenced by the, characteristics of the object and the coil and give rise to an impedance change, which can be detected and correlated to the thickness of the coating. An electromagnetic model accounting for the impedance of the elliptic coil with different values on the numerical eccentricity and the coating thickness is described. The model is based on a dyadic Green function formulation of the problem from which the electric field and hence the impedance is evaluated by utilizing the method of scattering super position. Numerical calculations based on the model and experimental measurements have been taken. An example shows how the model can be used to model a brass surface with a coat of silver to find expected impedance as function of the coating thickness.