Sciensoria 35170 BRUZ http://www.sciensoria.fr email : info@sciensoria.

fr
1
NON DESTRUCTIVE MEASUREMENT OF
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF
FERROUS METALS
L MINH-QUANG SCIENSORIA
F-35170 BRUZ France
tl. : 02 99 57 19 71 fax. : 02 99 57 18 78
e-mail : info@sciensoria.fr, Internet : http://www.sciensoria.fr
Bertrand BOUTTIER VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT
Centre de recherche sur leau
Chemin de la digue BP 76
78603 Maisons Laffitte Cedex
tl. : 01 34 93 31 91 fax. : 01 34 93 31 18
e-mail : bertrand.bouttier@veolia.com Internet : ht t p: / / www.veolia.com

Abstract So far, the non-destructive measurement of ferrous metals such as cast iron by the eddy
current method is not available on the market. This is due to the difficulties arising from highly variable
magnetic properties of ferrous metals. We have recently implemented a system to overcome this
obstacle using a multi-parameter computing method and an external biasing magnetic field. The non-
destructive measurement of the electrical conductivity opens the way for other important applications
such as the measurement of the residual thickness of steel or steel alloy products.

1 Introduction
Ferrous metals such as various grades of steel and cast iron have their magnetic properties varying in
a large range, which makes it difficult to carry out many applications of non-destructive testing by eddy
currents. That is why no commercial eddy currents instrument includes the measurement of electrical
conductivity of ferrous metals in its applications.
However, the electrical conductivity can be very revealing about the quality parameters of the product,
such as its malleability and its mechanical strength.
In addition, knowledge of the electrical conductivity of a material can be used to access other very
important parameters, like the thickness of a product. For the study of the internal corrosion of a steel
plate, for example, one can estimate the thickness by measuring the apparent electrical resistance.
This can be done by injecting a current I into the plate and measuring the voltage drop between two
points A and B. The resistance RAB is determined by the formula:
I
V
R
AB
AB= (1)
However, reading the electrical resistance gives an incomplete indication of the state of corrosion
(thickness) because we do not know exactly the resistivity of the product. Indeed, the relationship
between the resistance and the thickness is as follows:
S
L
RAB = (2)
where is the resistivity of the material (unit: ohm.meter), L the length of the segment AB and S the
section of the segment AB. If the section of the measured sample is rectangular, of height H and of
thickness E, S is determined by the relation S = HE. Equation (2) becomes
HE
L
RAB = (3)
To determine E, it is necessary to know the resistivity , which is nothing but the inverse of the
electrical conductivity (unit: siemens/meter).

Sciensoria 35170 BRUZ http://www.sciensoria.fr email : info@sciensoria.fr
2
This is a process where the electrical conductivity of the material must be performed first. This
measurement is preferably non-destructive.
2 Operation principle of non-destructive testing by eddy currents
The non-destructive testing using eddy currents consists in submitting the material to an alternating
magnetic field of frequency f in order to create eddy currents. These currents flow through the material
and are used as "probes": their magnitude and phase depend on the properties of the material.
We can know the state of eddy currents through the secondary magnetic field they create. This field
can be measured indirectly through the impedance of the excitation coil, or directly through a magnetic
field sensor.
The impedance of the excitation coil depends on the characteristics of the coil, the frequency of the
excitation current, and characteristics of the target, as its electrical conductivity, magnetic permeability,
thickness, material, and lift-off (coil-target distance). It is a multi-parameter function:
) , , , ( off lift e f Z =
Z is a complex quantity, having a real part, R, and an imaginary part, X. When plotting R and X on two
Cartesian axes, we obtain the impedance plane. By observing the evolution of R and X, it is possible
to deduce the characteristics of the tested material. This is the signature analysis and can be done
automatically by a computer program.
2.1 Eddysens
Sciensoria sells Eddysens, a software built on equations that describe precisely the behaviour of Z
as a function of the parameters , , e, lift-off. Eddysens allows you to quickly simulate the
behaviour of an eddy current sensor. In addition, the software has an important function: it can
calculate the parameters , , e, lift-off from the measured data. It is the inversion of experimental
data.
The inversion process is iterative: the parameters are adjusted until the computed impedance Z
values are as close as possible to the experimentally measured values. As many parameters have to
be found at the same time, the search can be manual or automatic, but must follow specific
algorithms, or a combination of different algorithms.
The following figure illustrates the iterative search parameters:

When the convergence is reached, experimental measurements are fitted sufficiently by the values of
the theoretical impedance so the proposed parameters are considered to be close enough to those of
the test material. This is possible only if the impedance calculation is accurate and that the sensor is
sensitive to the desired settings.
Because the probe coil characteristics are not ideal, experimental data often does not match model
data. Our probe coils are specially manufactured so that their behaviour match nearly perfectly the
behaviour predicted by Eddysens.

Sciensoria 35170 BRUZ http://www.sciensoria.fr email : info@sciensoria.fr
3
3 Implementation of a non-destructive measurement of electrical
conductivity by eddy currents
In the case of a measurement of electrical conductivity of a sample of ferrous metal (cast steel), there
are four parameters involved:
First, the electrical conductivity to be determined
The three other parameters are of no interest: the sensor-target distance (lift-off), the magnetic
permeability, the thickness of the sample. However, they must be determined in order to
complete the calculations.
The thickness of a sample can be determined manually to ease the calculations. The lift-off, the
magnetic permeability can be determined by the inversion process.
In practice, when the magnetic permeability () is large, the impedance is not linear with respect to
parameters to be determined. To reduce the non-linearity, the test material is subjected to an external
saturating magnetic field.
The instrumentation chain is composed as follows:


The measurements are performed on samples of cast steel supplied by Veolia Environment group.
These samples are part of Veolia's drinking water supply network. The properties of these pipes made
of cast iron are highly variable, which is due to their manufacturing eras.
These samples are bars of 300 mm long and 10 mm wide. Their thickness ranges from 2.5 mm to 4
mm. The thickness of each bar is measured manually and entered into Eddysens as a known
parameter. The other parameters (lift-off and magnetic permeability) are defined as variables and are
updated at each iteration.
It is important to note that no calibration or data adjustment was performed for the measurement with
the non-destructive method. The raw data are entered directly into Eddysens, which returns, in its
turn, the estimated values of the tested material parameters. For a particular industrial process, a
correction of systematic errors would provide more accurate results.
Eddysens(tm)

Sciensoria 35170 BRUZ http://www.sciensoria.fr email : info@sciensoria.fr
4
4 Measurement result
Comparison of the values of resistivity (inverse of conductivity) measured by Veolia with the traditional
method of four points, and those measured by the non-destructive eddy current is given below.

Resistivity (ohm*m)
Measured by 4 points method
(by Volia)
Measured by eddy current method (by
Sciensoria using Eddysens)
0.674 0.623
0.792 0.667
0.96 0.780
0.682 0.609
0.667 0.531
0.481 0.401
0.481 0.403
0.928 0.788
0.721 0.618
0.865 0.704
0.74 0.640
0.655 0.492




Sciensoria 35170 BRUZ http://www.sciensoria.fr email : info@sciensoria.fr
5
5 Conclusion
With Eddysens, we can measure without calibration the electrical conductivity of ferrous metals.
This was possible thanks to the multi-parameter estimation function of the Eddysens software and
to the use of an external magnetic field to reduce the magnetic permeability of the materials.
The experiment was conducted blindly, without a priori information on the samples, and without
calibration, which reinforces its objectivity and demonstrates its ability for industrial application.
The conductivity measurement by the non-destructive method is less restrictive than the traditional 4-
point method because it does not require the preparation of filamentary samples but only a small area
of material. In addition it does not require electrodes, thus eliminate the problems of bad contacts.
Eddysens can be implemented in industrial systems and customized in order to meet specific
technical requirements. The software are delivered with special probes which are manufactured and
tested in our laboratories.