• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.198-202
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• 2002

Beacuse intergranular attack (IGA), one of the locallized corrosion forms occurring on steam generator tubes, can not be fabricated by an electric discharge machining method, there are few data for the eddy current test (ECT) characteristics of IGA. In this paper, the characteristics of eddy current signals are evaluated using nonexpanded tubes with IGA defects formed in 0.1 M sodium tetrathionate solution at $40^{\circ}C$. The detectability and sizing accuracy of IGA were discussed in terms of the coil type and frequency of the ECT probes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.501-509
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• 2001

For the enhancement of ECT reliability on the primary water stress corrosion cracks of nuclear steam generator tubes, of which the occurrence is on the increase, it is important to comprehend the signal characteristics on crack morphology and to select an appropriate probe type. In this paper, the sizing accuracy and the detectability for the inner wall axial cracks of tubes were quantitatively evaluated using the following specimens: the electric discharge machined notches and the corrosion cracks which were developed on the operating steam generator tubes. The difference of eddy current signal characteristics between pancake and axial coil were also Investigated. The results obtained from this study provide a useful information for more precise evaluation on the inner wall axial tracks oi stram generator tubes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.291-298
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• 2015

An array type probe for monitoring metal tubes is proposed in this paper which utilizes peak value and peak time of a pulsed eddy current(PEC) signal. The probe consists of an array of encircling coils along a tube and the outside of coils is shielded by ferrite to prevent source magnetic fields from directly affecting sensor signals since it is the magnetic fields produced by eddy currents that reflect the condition of metal tubes. The positions of both exciter and sensor coils are consecutively moved automatically so that manual scanning is not necessary. At one position of send-receive coils, peak value and peak time are extracted from a sensor PEC signal and these data are accumulated for all positions to form an array type peak value signal and an array type peak time signal. Numerical simulation was performed using the backward difference method in time and the finite element method for spatial analysis. Simulation results showed that peak value increases and the peak appears earlier as the defect depth or length increases. The proposed array signals are shown to be excellent in reflecting the defect location as well as variations of defect depth and length within the array probe.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2012

Two kinds of eddy current probes are mainly used to perform the steam generator tube integrity assesment in NPPs. The first one is the bobbin probe using for inspection of volumetric defect like a fretting wear. The second one is the rotating probe using for inspection of non-volumetric defect like a crack. The eddy current probe is one of the essential components which consist of the whole eddy current examination system, and provides a decisive data for the tube integrity in accordance with acceptance criteria described in specific procedures. The design of ECT probe is especially important to improve examination results because the quality of acquired ECT data is depended on the probe design characteristics, such as coil geometry, electrical properties, operation frequency. In this study, it is analyzed that the coil winding number of differential bobbin probe affects the electrical properties of the probe. Eddy current bobbin probes for the steam generator tubes in NPPs are designed and fabricated according to the results. Experiment shows that the change in coil winding number has much effects on the optimum inspection frequency determined by the tube geometry and material. Therefore, the coil winding number in bobbin probe is very important in the probe design. In this study, a basis of the coil winding number for the eddy current bobbin probe design for steam generator tubes in NPPs is established.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2009

In this paper, the signal analysis of eddy current array probe was performed to analyze the electromagnetic characteristics with the variation of FBH(flat bottomed hole) defects size on steam generator tube in NPP(nuclear power plants) using the electromagnetic finite element method. To obtain the electromagnetic characteristic of probes, the governing equation was derived from Maxwell's equations, and the individual problem was analyzed by using the 3-dimensional finite element method. For the simulation FBH defects were used. The depth of FBH defects were 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of steam generator(SG) tube thickness, and it was assumed that the defects were located on the tube outside. And the operation frequencies of 100 kHz, 300 kHz and 400 kHz were used. Material of specimen was Inconel 600 which is usually used for SG tubes in NPP. The signal difference could be observed according to the size variation of depth of FBH defects and operation frequencies. The results in this paper can be helpful when the ECT(eddy current testing) signals from EC array probe are evaluated and analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2000

In this paper, a numerical analysis using the finite element method (FEM) is presented which models the eddy current testing (ECT) of tubes with 3-dimensional defects. For the description of 3-dimensional eddy current problems, the governing equation is derived from the Maxwell's equations. The 3-dimensional FEM formulation with hexahedral elements is carried out using the Galerkin weighted residual method. The INCONEL 600 steam generator tube with inner and outer diameter defects is adopted for the numerical analysis, and the ECT signal, which is the trajectory of the probe impedance, is calculated. For the verification of the numerical analysis method, results of numerical calculations and experiments are compared and they show good agreements. Based on this verification, several defect signals are predicted and their characteristics are investigated with the variation in the defect depth and the circumferential angle of the defect.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.464-476
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• 1998

Determination of location, shape and size of a flaw from its eddy current testing signal is one of the fundamental issues in eddy current nondestructive evaluation of steam generator tubes. Here, we propose an approach to this problem; an inversion of eddy current flaw signal using neural networks trained by finite element model-based synthetic signatures. Total 216 eddy current signals from four different types of axisymmetric flaws in tubes are generated by finite element models of which the accuracy is experimentally validated. From each simulated signature, total 24 eddy current features are extracted and among them 13 features are finally selected for flaw characterization. Based on these features, probabilistic neural networks discriminate flaws into four different types according to the location and the shape, and successively back propagation neural networks determine the size parameters of the discriminated flaw.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.164-170
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• 2004

Liquid Injection Nozzle(LIN) tube and Calandria tube(CT) in pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) are .ross-aligned horizontally. These neighboring tubes can contact each other due to the sag of the calandria tube resulting from the irradiation creep and thermal creep, and fuel load, etc. In order to judge the contact which might be the safety concern, the remote field eddy current (RFEC) technology is applied for the gap measurement in this paper. LIN can be detected by inserting the RFEC probe into pressure tube (PT) at the crossing point directly. To obtain the optimal conditions of the RFEC inspection, the sensitivity, penetration and noise signals are considered simultaneously. The optimal frequency and coil spacing are 1kHz and 200mm respectively. Possible noises during LIN signal acquisition are caused by lift-off, PT thickness variation, and gap variation between PT and CT. The simulated noise signals were investigated by the Volume Integral Method(VIM). Signal analysis on the voltage plane describes the amplitude and shape of LIN and possible defects at several frequencies. All the RFEC measurements in the laboratory were done in variance with the CT/LIN gap and showed the relationship between the LIN gap and the signal parameters by analyzing the voltage plane signals.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.510-517
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• 2001

This paper describes an initial study for the application of eddy current pattern recognition approaches to more realistic flaw characterization in steam generator tubes. For this purpose, finite-element model-based theoretical eddy current testing (ECT) signals are simulated from 5 types of OD flaws with the variation in flaw size parameters and testing frequency. In addition, three kinds of software are developed for the convenience in the application of steps in pattern recognition approaches such as feature extraction feature selection and classification by probabilistic neural networks (PNNs). The cross point of the ECT signals simulated from flaws with non-symmetric cross-sections shows the deviation from the origin of the impedance plane. New features taking advantages of this phenomenon are added to complete the feature set with a total of 18 features. Then, classification with PNNs are performed based on this feature set. The PNN classifiers show high performance for the identification of symmetry in the cross-section of a flaw. However, they show very limited success in the interrogation of the sharpness of flaw tips.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.7-12
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• 2012

Steam generator tubes are critical boundary of the primary and secondary side in nuclear power plants. Eddy current testing is commonly used as the method of non-destructive testing for the safety and integrity of steam generator tubes in the nuclear power plants. Changes in the geometric shape act as a stress concentration factor likely to cause a defect during the steam generator operation. The mixed-signals with the geometric shape are distorted and attributes that are difficult to detect signals. An example is bending stress due to compression process at a U-bend occurring in the intrados region which has a small radius of curvature. The resulting change in the geometric shape may lead to a dent like occurrences. The dent can cause stress concentration and generates stress corrosion cracks. In this study, the steam generator tubes of nuclear power plant were selected to study for analysis of mixed-signal containing dent and stress corrosion cracks.