A velocity induced eddy current probe has been used to detect cracks in both non-ferromagnetic and ferromagnetic metals. The simulation and experimental results show that this probe can successfully detect cracks in both cases, but further investigation shows that the underlying principles for inspecting non-ferromagnetic and ferromagnetic metals are actually different. For an aluminum plate, the induced eddy current density and the signal amplitude both increase with probe speed, which means the signal is caused by velocity induced eddy currents. For a steel plate, probe speed changes the baselines of the testing signals; however, it has little influence on signal amplitudes. Simulation results show that the signal for cracks in a steel plate is mainly caused by direct magnetic field perturbation rather than velocity induced eddy currents.
Keywords: eddy current testing; non-destructive testing; velocity effect; velocity induced eddy current.