TECHNOLOGY-20

Remote Field Eddy Current Technique

for In-Service Inspection of Ferromagnetic Tubes
n EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Eddy current non-destructive evaluation of installed ferromagnetic tubes is difficult due to variations in magnetic
permeability. D.C. Saturation method can not be applied for small diameter tubes such as modified 9Cr-1Mo tubes of
steam generators of PFBR due to lack of space for placing magnetizing coils. In this regard, comprehensive remote field
eddy current (RFEC) technology comprising of high-performance instrument, finite element model optimized flexible
tungsten-carbide/depleted-Uranium probes capable of negotiating the expansion bend regions by gravity and a wavelet
transform based signal processing method for detection of defects in tubes (even in the presence of electrically-conducting
sodium deposits on the tube outer surface and also in the defects was developed). This technology has demonstrated
reliable detection of 10% wall thinning in the tubes and has been successfully employed for in-service inspection (ISI) of
full-scale SG test facility built at IGCAR.

n OUTLINE

Periodic in-service inspection of steam generators

(SG) is important. For inspection of ferromagnetic
SG tubes, remote field eddy current technique is a
natural choice, essentially because conventional
eddy current testing is inadequate. As shown in
Figure 1, RFEC technique uses separate exciter
and receiver coils and low-excitation frequencies
for non-destructive examination of metallic tubes 30
from tube-side. In this technique, induced voltage
in a receiver coil placed at 2 to 3 tube diameters
away from the exciter coil is measured using a
lock-in amplifier. Reliable detection and sizing of
defects in steam generator tubes requires that the
excitation frequency is optimized and the receiver
Fig. 1 : Schematic of remote field eddy current testing
coil is positioned in remote-field zone. In this
regard, detailed finite element analysis has been -5
x 10
2
carried out to examine the electromagnetic field- 5
-6
x 10 700 Hz
900 Hz
Induced voltage in the Receiver coil, Volts

defect interactions in the RFEC technique using 1.8 1100 Hz

RFEC Intensity, Volts

4 1300 Hz
an axi-symmetric finite element model and a 3-D 1.6
1500 Hz
1100 Hz Experimental
3
code developed in-house. Triangular and
2
hexahedral meshes have been employed in axi- 1.4

symmetric and 3-D models, respectively and 1.2

1

RFEC signals due to various types of defects have 800 900 1000 1100 1200
Frequency, Hz
1300 1400

1
been predicted at different frequencies and inter-
coil spacing. The test frequency, excitation current 0.8

and receiver coil location and its size have been

0.6
optimised using the models. Figure 2 shows
predicted induced voltage in receiver coil at 0.4

different frequencies for different coil positions for

0.2
frequency optimisation based on RFEC intensity
and measured induced voltage at 1100 Hz for 0
1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8
model validation. Receiver coil location, ID (12.6 mm) times
Fig. 2 : Predicted induced voltage in receiver coil at 700, 900, 1100,
1300 and 1500 Hz as a function of receiver coil location and
measured induced voltage at 1100 Hz. The inset shows the
intensity of back entered remote field with excitation frequency

n ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The SGs have only one side access (top) and the tubes have expansion bends at approximately one-thirds height. In this
regard, flexible RFEC probes have been developed for easy negotiation of probe through the bend regions. High density
tungsten carbide and depleted uranium rings have been used for easy sliding of the probe by gravity during probe lowering
and controlled pulling by winch mechanism (Figure 3). High sensitivity instrument with lock-in amplifier, filters and low-
distortion power amplifiers has been developed for enhanced detection of wall loss defects in tubes. Wavelet transform
based signal processing method and duel-frequency method have been developed to suppress signals due to bend regions
and support plates enabling detection of defects in these regions. As sodium is used as coolant on the shell side, presence
of sodium deposits in defective regions, if any, is expected to influence the RFEC signals, essentially because sodium is
electrically conducting. In this regard, experimental studies are carried out in this regard, by exposing a few SG tubes
having uniform wall loss grooves to sodium environment in a specially designed test vessel (Figure 3). Definite change in
the shape of RFEC signals is observed and it is possible to approximate the volume of sodium deposited in defects.
Further, using an invariant signal parameter quantitative characterization of defects has been possible despite the
presence of sodium in the defects.

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n GENERAL EXPLANATION RELATED TO THE DESCRIPTION

RFEC technique uses separate exciter and receiver coils that are
kept inside tube. The separation distance is usually 2 to 3 times the
inner diameter of the tube. Low frequency sinusoidal excitation
usually in the range of 50 Hz to 2 kHz, is applied to the exciter coil to
generate time varying magnetic fields. The eddy currents induced
in the tube wall, as a result, generate secondary magnetic fields.
The primary and secondary fields travel axially and radially. In
such a situation, there exist two regions of importance: i) the region
inside the tube wall where the field due to the exciter coil decays
exponentially along the axial direction, called the direct field region
and ii) the region inside the tube wall where the concentrated flux
in the tube wall enters back into the tube at a distance where the
direct field component is less, called the remote field region. The
magnetic flux in the remote field region is attenuated and lagged in
phase. When receiver coil is placed in the remote field region, the
back entered magnetic flux induces a voltage which carries the Fig. 3 Flexible RFEC probe with Tungsten carbide and
information of condition of tube wall. The amplitude and phase lag depleted uranium rings used for ISI of SG tubes (left)
of this induced voltage are measured and correlated with the wall and photograph showing residual sodium in grooves
loss or the presence of defects. The exciter and receiver coils are (left) after draining sodium in sodium studies
moved in tandem and the trajectory thus formed by the amplitude
and phase lag of the induced voltage during the coils transit over a
defect is called RFEC signal.

n BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

As the tubes are ferromagnetic, D.C saturation based EC technique is employed. In this technique, the tube material is
magnetised to near saturation region such that the variations due to magnetic permeability are minimized and the
disturbing signals that reduce the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are not produced. In that situation, encircling differential EC
probe embedded in the magnetising solenoid coil can detect localised defects. The observed disturbing signals during EC
testing due to extended wall thickness variations are similar to that of the support plate signals from heat exchanger tubes
using a bobbin type coil. In case of heat exchanger tubes, two-frequency mixing technique is adopted for eliminating the
disturbing signal from support plate for detection of localised defects, if any, under it. In an analogous manner, a two-
frequency approach is proposed to suppress the high-amplitude signals from the wall thickness variations which mask
feeble indications of localised defects, if any. The challenge in implementing two-frequency mixing technique, in the
present case, is the lack of proper reference standard replicating such extended wall thickness variations to tune the mixer
settings for suppressing the disturbing signals. Further, fabrication of a reference standard replicating the wall thickness
variations is difficult, essentially because, the variations are on the ID side. In view of this, this approach innovatively uses
the ultrasonic thickness measurement data.

n ACHIEVEMENT
The in-house technology has demonstrated performance superior to the international state-of-the art. Using this
technology along with a winch mechanism for probe handling it is possible to reliably detect and size 10% wall thinning in
the tubes. This technology has been successfully used for in-service inspection of full-scale SG test facility built at IGCAR.
This technology development is a major step and an essential regulatory requirement for safe and reliable operation of SGs
of FBRs. This is being implemented in the PFBR being constructed at Kalpakkam. This technique can be readily applied to
other ferromagnetic tubes in heat exchangers, boilers and condensers for detection of defects and corrosion wall loss.

n PUBLICATIONS ARISING OUT OF THIS STUDY AND RELATED WORK

1. S. Thirunavukkarasu, B.P.C. Rao, S. Vaidyanathan, T. Jayakumar, P. Kalyanasundaram, Internal Report No: PFBR-
01950-DN-1007-Rev-A.
2. S. Thirunavukkarasu, R. Chellapandian, B. Sasi, B.P.C. Rao, T. Jayakumar, K.V. Kasiviswanathan,
P. Kalyanasundaram, Internal Report No: IGCAR/NDED/EMSI/SGTF-RFEC/2006/1.

Further inquiries:
Dr. B. P. C. Rao, Non Destructive Evaluation Division
Metallurgy and Materials Group, IGCAR, e-mail: bpcrao@igcar.gov.in

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