Crack depth estimation by using a multi-frequency ETC method

In many industrial application fields as manufacturing, quality control, and so on, it is very important to highlight, to locate, and to characterize the presence of thin defects (cracks) in conductive materials. The characterization phase tries to determine the geometrical characteristics of the thin defect namely the length, the width, the height, and the depth. The analysis of these characteristics allows the user in accepting or discarding realized components and in tuning and improving the production chain. The authors have engaged this line of research with particular reference to non-destructive testing applied to the conductive material through the use of eddy currents. They realized methods and instruments able to detect, locate, and characterize thin defects. In this paper a novel measurement method able to improve the characterization of the crack depth is proposed. It is based on the use of a suitable multi-frequency excitation signals and of digital signal processing algorithms. Tests carried out in an emulation environment have shown the applicability of the method and have allowed the tuning of the measurement algorithm. Tests carried out in a real environment confirm the goodness of the proposal.