A Flexible Arrayed Eddy Current (FAEC) sensor can inspect a large area in a single probe pass, which is beneficial for customizing the profile of the inspected part. This paper presents the development of a flexible arrayed eddy current sensor with three-phase excitation for inspection of Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) cracks in rail. The excitation coils are driven by three-phase currents that are 120° apart in phase. The induced eddy current in the conductive rail sample shifts electrically along the phase variation direction of the excitation currents. The sensor measures a small background signal to determine if there is no defect in the rail sample. Therefore, the sensor has a high relative sensitivity to defects. We study the operating principle of the sensor using a 3D finite element method (FEM) model. The numerical results demonstrate the sensor's viability for fast inspection and characterization to detect RCF defects in conductive rail steel samples.
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Lahrech et al. (2024) studied this question.
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