Dual-Probe Using Pulsed Eddy Currents and Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers for NDT Inspection

In many situations,the application of only one non-destructive testing(NDT) technique is generally thought to be inadequate.This drives NDT operators to carry out the inspection using more than one technique to ensure the detection of defects that are potentially harmful to the life or function of the test object.One disadvantage will be the extended and expensive inspection time if the techniques are applied separately.In this article,the introduction of a new NDT system that utilises two different non-contact techniques in a complementary mode,namely Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers(EMATs) generating surface ultrasonic waves,and Pulsed Eddy Current(PEC) sensors,is reported.Being non-contact,they lend themselves to automatic on-line inspection that can benefit inspection of materials during the manufacturing process and whilst in service.This paper also highlights other potential benefits and presents some preliminary experimental results.