Conducsens™ eddy current expert system

Conducsens ™ is an expert system for non-destructive eddy current testing. It has all the main functions that a user needs to practice this type of control:

1. Measurement of the impedance of a sensor in mono or multi-frequency mode. The frequency range of the measurement depends on the model of the impedance analyser used. Compatible models are Hioki IM3570, IM3533-01, Keysight 4980A, Hewlett-Packard HP4192A
2. Simulation of the impedance of a sensor
3. Inversion of the impedance of a sensor in mono and multi-frequency modes. The inversion of the impedance makes it possible to calculate the parameters sought from the impedance values ​​measured by the impedance analyser.

Conducsens ™ is often used for very difficult applications:

1. Measurement of the thickness of closed metal objects, made of various metals not determined in advance. In this case, the thickness and the electrical conductivity of the material are measured simultaneously.
2. Thickness measurement of thin sheets of nickel (magnetic material).
3. Thickness measurement of turbine parts manufactured by 3D printing
4. Electrical conductivity measurement of low conductive materials such as graphite or carbon composites.

The Conducsens™ system has been used by prestigious companies such as Alstom Power (now General Electric Power) for measuring 3D-printed turbine blade wall thickness, Airbus Innovation Works for measuring electrical conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP – carbon composite), Surys for measuring thickness of high precision electro deposit nickel plates, Schneider Electric for sorting magnetic stainless steels, and especially Mahle for measuring the wall thickness of car air-conditionner pistons. Two Conducsens™ systems from Sciensoria have checked more than one millions of pistons during 6 months and insure a wall thickness regularity of 0,01 mm on a total of 1,5 mm standard thickness.

The Conducsens ™ system is an ideal complement to ultrasonic thickness gauges. While ultrasonic instruments can measure thick walls very well, their accuracy decreases as the wall thickness decreases. The reason is that the echo takes very little time to return after reaching the other side of a thin wall, so the electronics cannot measure this time with great precision. On the contrary, the eddy current method works very well with thin walls (its precision decreases as wall thickness increases). So, both methods can work together.

The measurement range of the eddy current method is from several micrometers (µm) to about 10 mm, depending the electrical conductivity of the material. Typically, for aluminum, the usual measurement range is 10 µm to 3 mm.

Graphical user interface of Conducsens™ for measurement of aluminum piston wall thickness destined to
Mahle (German automotive supplier)

See also:

• Eddy current measurement of thickness, electrical conductivity, and distance with the Conducsens™ Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) system
• Advantages of the eddy current technique for thickness measurement