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MST2005 PDF
MST2005 PDF
doi:10.1088/0957-0233/16/11/009
potential drop
1. Introduction
Measurements of electrical conductivity (or resistivity) are
useful in metal sorting, alloy identification [1, section 7], heattreatment monitoring of aluminium alloys [2] and detection
of flaws which are manifest as a change in the material
conductivity, such as thermal damage in aircraft structures
[3]. There is a need for accurate, portable conductivity
0957-0233/05/112193+08$30.00
2193
Alloy
(MS m1 )
T (mm)
w l (mm)
Brass
Stainless
steel
Spring
steel
C26000
316
16.2 0.3
0.7 0.3
5.66 0.01
6.36 0.01
615 616
457 457
C1074/75
1.57 0.01
412 412
2. Metal plates
Three plates were studied: brass, stainless steel and spring
steel. These give a range of conductivity from approximately
1 to 20 MS m1 , with spring steel also being strongly
ferromagnetic. Parameters of the plates are given in table 1.
The brass plate was precision ground on receipt to remove
surface scratches. The stainless steel plate was received in
precision-ground form. The spring steel plate was received in
cold-rolled form, completely annealed. It was demagnetized
on receipt in both horizontal axes, using a demagnetizing
coil. The plate conductivity values listed in table 1 were
obtained using a Zetec MIZ-21A eddy-current instrument.
The manufacturers statement of uncertainty of the instrument
was used to obtain the uncertainty values quoted in table 1.
For materials with conductivity in the ranges of 0.925%
and 1660% IACS, the uncertainty in the conductivity
measurement is 0.5% IACS. It is not possible to measure
the conductivity of ferrous metals, such as spring steel, with
this instrument. Plate thicknesses were measured using digital
calipers at several points around the plate edges. The mean
values are listed in table 1. The horizontal dimensions of
the plates were sufficiently large that edge effects were not
ro
ri-
coil
@
@
air
conductive plate
L0 = |Zair |.
@
@
?
6
T
?
air
Figure 1. Cross-section through the axis of a circular, air-cored,
eddy-current coil, positioned horizontally above a metal plate.
2
2r 2 (1 e2 T )
d,
2
+ 2r 2 (1 e2 T ) 2r (1 + e2 T )
(3)
in which = i0 r . Equation (3) results from
a straightforward adaptation of the theory of [5], for a nonmagnetic half-space conductor with a surface layer.
2
(2)
4.04 0.01
11.84 0.01
8.02 0.01
1.00 0.02
1858
33.9
80.1
191
(6)
exp
ZC = ZC Z0 .
(8)
exp
ZU = ZU Z0 .
2196
(9)
N
Rj (fj )
j =1
+
thry
exp
Lj (fj )
(10)
0.05
S (mm)
p (mm)
q (mm)
resistance
25.454 0.005
10.152 0.005
10.162 0.005
0.05
expressed as
(S p)(S + q)
I
ln
V =
,
2 T
(S + p)(S q)
0.1
0.15
reactance
0.2
0.25
2
10
10
frequency (Hz)
10
air
6
conductive plate
T
S
air
p
6
0r
S
6
I 6
-
Measured
Effective
11.84 0.01
11.43 0.06
1.00 0.04
1.00 0.04
1.06 0.03
1.01 0.02
16.2 0.3
0.7 0.3
ro
s
(11)
?I
Parameter
f < fs .
16.6 0.4
1.31 0.02
2.02
3.5
x 10
2.018
2.5
real voltage (V)
2.016
2.014
2.012
2.01
brass
stainless steel
spring steel
1.5
1
2.008
0.5
2.006 0
10
10
frequency (Hz)
10
0 0
10
10
frequency (Hz)
0.035
0.025
1.5
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0 0
10
10
frequency (Hz)
10
0.03
x 10
brass
stainless steel
spring steel
0.5 0
10
10
10
frequency (Hz)
Accuracy (%)
0.5
0.3
0.1
0.1
0.3
98.7 0.5
10
VR (mV)
V (V)
Brass
Stainless steel
Spring steel
198.6 0.1
198.80 0.05
199.000 0.008
5.83 0.01
62.24 0.01
62.84 0.01
34
40
23
Zetec MIZ-21A
Eddy current
ACPD
Brass
Stainless steel
Spring steel
16.2 0.3
0.7 0.3
16.6 0.4
1.31 0.02
16.42 0.09
1.369 0.007
5.50 0.04
(MS m1 )
s eff (mm)
(%)
1.00
1.02
1.04
1.06
1.31 0.02
1.379 0.007
1.45 0.02
1.51 0.04
1.01 0.02
1.053 0.005
1.10 0.01
1.14 0.03
2
0.5
1
3
Zetec MIZ-21A
Eddy current
ACPD
Brass
Stainless steel
Spring steel
2
40
3
2
0.5
0.5
0.7
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the NSF Industry/University
Cooperative Research program. The authors thank J R Bowler
and M J Johnson for helpful comments regarding the
experiments. NB thanks T P Theodoulidis for suggesting
useful references and S K Burke for commenting on the
manuscript.
Appendix
In this appendix, relationships used for determining
measurement uncertainties according to the guidelines of [9]
are summarized.
Consider a measurand Y, determined from N other
quantities X1 , X2 , . . . , XN through a functional relation f :
Y = f (X1 , X2 , . . . , XN ).
(A.1)
(A.2)
2200
1
Xi,k ,
n k=1
n
xi = Xi =
(A.4)
References
[1] Moore P O, McIntire P (eds) and Stanley R K (technical ed)
1995 Special nondestructive testing methods Nondestructive
Testing Handbook 2nd edn, vol 9 (Columbus, OH:
American Society of Nondestructive Testing)
[2] Lynch A C, Drake A E and Dix C H 1983 Measurement of
eddy-current conductivity IEE Proc. A 130 25460
[3] Metcalfe G R 1988 The use of eddy current flaw detectors with
meter display for measuring the conductivity of aluminium
alloy structures Br. J. NDT 30 1649
[4] Harrison D J, Jones L D and Burke S K 1996 Benchmark
problems for defect size and shape determination in
eddy-current nondestructive evaluation J. Nondestr. Eval.
15 2134
[5] Dodd C V and Deeds W E 1968 Analytical solutions to
eddy-current probe-coil problems J. Appl. Phys. 39
282938
[6] Bowler N and Huang Y 2005 Model-based characterization of
homogeneous metal plates using four-point alternating
current potential drop measurements IEEE Trans. Magn. 41
210210
[7] Moore P O (ed) and Udpa S S (technical ed) 2004
Electromagnetic testing Nondestructive Testing Handbook
3rd edn, vol 5 (Columbus, OH: American Society of
Nondestructive Testing)
[8] Suhr H and Guettinger T W 1993 Error reduction in eddy
current conductivity measurements Br. J. NDT 35 6348
[9] Taylor B N and Kuyatt C E 1994 Guidelines for evaluating and
expressing the uncertainty of NIST measurement results
NIST Technical Note 1297
[10] Free G 1981 High-accuracy conductivity measurements in
nonferrous metals Eddy-Current Characterization of
Materials and Structures ed G Birnbaum and G Free
(Philadelphia, PA: ASTM) STP 722, pp 1218
[11] Drake A E and Lynch A C 1987 AC conductivity standards for
the calibration of eddy-current conductivity meters J. Phys.
E: Sci. Instrum. 20 1379