Design of an eddy-current array probe for crack sizing in steam generator tubes

This paper describes an arrayed multi-coil probe, newly developed for the testing and crack sizing of steam generator tubes by eddy current testing (ECT). The testing speed, the high sensitivity to shallow cracks and the crack sizing are the present requirements in ECT. Because of the multi-coil arrangement, the arrayed probe has a high detection speed around the whole tube, without the need for rotation. It is realized from former studies that knowing the number of cracks, their directions, and their positions beforehand is of great help in crack sizing. Thus, not only the sensitivities but also the spatial resolutions are important. Numerical simulations are applied to help the design of the probe from the viewpoint of the crack sizing of steam generator tubes. Experiments show that the present probe provides both a high detectability and a remarkable capability of reconstructing the shallow cracks of a tube.