General Electric Company

Donna C Hurley

Kristina H Hedengren

John D Young

William P Kornrumpf

Robert S Gilmore

Francis Howard Little

Michael Kent Cueman

Richard J Charles

Christopher P Yakymyshyn

William Taylor Lotshaw

Paul B Tuck

George H Sutton, Jr

An eddy current surface inspection array probe and method for detecting cracks and flaws in aircraft skin metal immediately surrounding rivets, without requiring rivet removal or manual scanning. The array probe includes a circular array of small sense coils positioned beneath a much larger drive coil encased in ferrite. The sense coils are differentially connected in pairs such that the signals from two sense coils located on opposite sides of the rivet (180.degree. apart) subtract to produce a resultant output signal. During operation, the probe is positioned concentrically over the rivet and data acquired from all sense coil pairs. If no cracks or other defects are present, all sense coil pairs produce a null (zero) signal. If a crack exists, some sense coil pairs (the exact number depending on the crack length, number of sense coils, and sense coil spacing) produce a non-zero signal. The probe and method can be employed to inspect a variety of other structural features which are nominally circularly symmetrical.

Eddy current surface inspection probe for aircraft fastener inspection,

An optical transducer, such as used in an ultrasound system, includes a signal laser which generates an optical signal the frequency of which varies in correspondence with acoustic energy incident on the transducer. An optical cavity in the signal laser is disposed such that incident acoustic energy causes compression and rarefaction of the optical cavity, and this displacement varies optical frequency generated by the laser. A laser pump coupled to the lasing medium is adapted to apply selected levels of excitation energy appropriate to the generation and detection of acoustic pulses. The signal laser alternatively is adapted such that the refractive index of the optical cavity is varied in correspondence with the incident acoustic energy to modulate the optical frequency of the light generated by the signal laser. A piezoelectric device is disposed to receive the incident acoustic energy and generate a corresponding electrical signal that is applied to an electro-optic cell in the optical cavity, or alternatively, to conductors to generate an electric field across the lasing medium.

Optical transducer and method of use

An eddy current device for inspecting a component includes an eddy current array circuit having respective pluralities of drive and sense elements and having an active face for positioning on a surface of the component during the inspection operation. A backing is disposed on a face of the eddy current array circuit opposite to the active face for concentrating an electromagnetic flux from the eddy current array circuit into the component when each of the plurality of drive elements is being energized. A mechanical arrangement is provided for supporting and deploying the backing and the array circuit to substantially conform with the surface portion under inspection and to cause each of the pluralities of drive and sense elements to be maintained at their respective substantially constant distances from the inspection surface during scanning, preferably at a controlled rate of scan.

Eddy current device for inspecting a component having a flexible support

The invention discloses an inspection system for detecting near surface flaws or defects in conductors using nondestructive eddy current testing suitable for industrial application. The system provides a method and apparatus for acquiring real time, synchronized, discrete eddy current measurement signals from a plurality of sufficiently disposed, spatially correlated eddy current probes then processing and formatting said measurement signals automatically over parallel data channels to accommodate digital processing techniques in order to produce on eddy current image. Utilizing digital image processing provides a capability for improving flaw detection limits while simultaneously enhancing image resolution.

Method and apparatus for a multi-channel multi-frequency data

Apparatus for measuring flaws in an object, such as a tube, having both an erratic motion, e.g. a back and forth oscillation, and a net axial motion has an idler wheel engaging the tube, and a digital rotary shaft encoder attached to the wheel. A POP circuit is coupled to the encoder. A pair of coils disposed around the object make up the active elements in an eddy current bridge. An ADC is coupled to both the bridge and POP circuit and corrects the signal from the bridge for motion complications. A method for doing same comprises sensing only the net motion of the object, detecting flaws in the object, providing an erratic motion complicated flaw signal, and correcting the flaw signal for the erratic motion.

Method and apparatus for making spatially correlated eddy current

A phase-difference eddy current imaging system has a bridge circuit including a pair of coils with one or both coils disposed proximate an object that may contain one or more flaws. An oscillator is coupled to the bridge circuit and also to a pair of phase detectors that are coupled to the coils. A differential amplifier is coupled to the phase detectors for providing a comparison signal. A method for eddy current imaging using phase difference detection comprises providing relative movement between an object and at least one of a pair of coils, measuring the phase of the effective reactance in each of the coils, comparing the measured values, and formatting the compared values as a function of spatial position.

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Albany, NY, United States of America

Donna C Hurley