892 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 67, NO.

6 , JUNE 1979

Review of Electromagnetic Methods in

Nondestructive Testing of
Wire Ropes
JAMES R. WAIT, FELLOW, IEEE

Ahct-Wire ropes are used extensively in many life sustain@ situ- SOMEEARLYNDT WORK IN ENGLAND
ations. Elevator and mine-hoist cables are two notable examples, but
the support cable for a& tramways, ski chairlifts and gondolas, heli- Wall [ 1 ] gives an early account of the design and operation
copt= and suspension cables wemight also mention. In this review, of electromagnetic rope testers. The test resultswere given for
we will deal mainly with wire ropes used m mine hoists, but the results specially constructed ropes. Using basically an ac technique,
are also relevantfor testing support cables for ski lifts. There is an his method makes it possible to detect broken wires within a
obvious need to ped- tests of the integrity of such ropes without in
any way imp&@ their function. Apart from careful v W examina- rope that represent less than 5-percent reduction in the total
tionand memments of the external diameter, the nondestructive cross sectional area. As the author indicates, the investigation
test methods available utilize electromagneticfields, X-rays, or mechan- was motivated by the testing of wire ropes used in collieries in
ical wavesHere, we will review progress in theelectromagnetic England. The author also indicates that other important appli-
methods cationsare to tram cables, airshipmooringropes,and to
The early history of the subject will be described briefly, since this
provides a remarkably good introduction to the working principlesWe suspension-bridge ropes.
w li then progress quickly to the current techniquesand operating pro- Wall is an early proponent of the ac method as opposed to
cedures Next, we w lisummarize some of the basic papers that deal
l the dc magnetic testing favored in more recent times. He lists
with the basic concepts and techniques for testing of cylindricnl con- some of the advantages as follows: a) The rope need not con-
ductors by both electric and magnetic methods. At this juncture, we tinuously move through the magnetic system, b) The ac signal
call our attention to theextensiverelatedwork on electromPgnetic
probing of geophysical targets such as ore bodies and other subsurface is easy to detect, and c) Any remnant magnetism due, say to a
conductors Finally, we turn to the various recent imestigntions, pri- previous test, iswiped out.
marily of theoreticalnature,thathave been carried out; we include He is interested in testing colliery ropes of the lockedcoil
here only the most recent works type up to 2.25-in diameter. In such locked ropes, the outer
and one or more of the inner layers are locked together to
INTRODUCTION

w IRE ROPES are used extensively in

sustaining situations.Bothelevator
many

cables are two notable examples, but we might also

life-
and mine-hoist

mention the support cable for aerial tramways, ski chairlifts

and gondolas, helicopter, andsuspension cables. In this review,
form flexible sheaths. This constrains the rope to maintain its
circularform as it passesover the winding drum. He then
quotes a classical skin-depth formula that gives a guide to the
penetration of the ac currents into the core of the rope. He
points out cogently,thatoncetheac energy penetrates
through the outer lockedcoil sheaths, it will be “practically”
we will restrict attention to wire ropes used in mine hoists. uniformly distributed through the remainder of the cross s e e
There is an obvious need to perform tests of the integrity of tion since the wires are so effectively stranded.
such ropes without in any way impairing their function. Apart The tests were made by means of a laminated iron yoket h i t
from careful visual examination and measurements of the ex- has projecting limbs with machine-tunnelledholes as indicated
ternal diameter, the nondestructive-test (NDT) methods avail- in Fig. l(a). The sample length of therope wai fixedcon-
able utilize electromagneticfields, X-rays, or mechanical waves. centrically in the holes. A search coil of 20 turns was wound
Here we will review progress in the electromagnetic methods. around the center portion of the rope that is midway between
The early history of the subject will be described briefly the projecting limbs. The relationship between the flux den-
since this provides aremarkably good introduction to the sity in the rope and the peak value of the magnetizing excita-
working principles. We will then progress quickly to the cur- tion at 20 and 50 Hz was measured. Wall was able to ascertain
rent techniques and operating procedures. Next we will sum- that the flux penetration was almost complete at 20 Hz, but
marize some of the basic papers that deal with the basic con- only partially so at 50Hz.
cepts and techniques for testing cylindrical conductorsby both In the Same pioneering paper, Wall studies the effect of me-
electric and magnetic methods. At thisjuncture, we call atten- chanical strain on the magnetic permeability with special refer-
tion to the extensive related work on electromagnetic probing ence to ac excitation. He also examines the change in the re-
of geophysical targets such as ore bodies, and other subsurface luctance of the air space due to theeccentricity of the rope in
conductors.Finally, we turn to the various investigations, the magnet system.
primarily of a theoretical nature, that have been carried out; Wall concludes that “whilst a flaw of about 3 percent of the
we include here only the most recentworks. total cross section is detectable, a flaw of about 5 percent pro-
duces a pronounced effect, whilst a flaw of about 18 percent
Manuscript received May 17,1978;revised November 1 6 , 1 9 7 8 .
The author is with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environ- gives a very striking disturbance of the record.” Some of his
mental Sciences, University of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, CO 80309. resuits are summarized inFig. I(b).

U.S. Government work not protected by U.S. copyright

WAIT: ELECTROMAGNETICMETHODS IN NDT 893

EXCITATION: M o d e l Wire Rope

Insulated Individual
'4
Wire Rods of in. dia.

location of embedded
/ \B search coil A
C

EMF in C - D
in central group) (flux in surface

am-
EMF in A - B
15,000- (flux in 2nd layer)
>-

8 in Search Coil
for 2430
AMP-TURNS Exciting
at x)Hz.
O
m 2 m 3 o O 0 4 o o o Fig. 2. Special model
of a wire rope used by Wall and Hainsworth
[ z ] t o study internal fields.
AMPERE TURNS (PEAK VALUES)

82 81
y
I 1 1 0 9 8
i
7 6 5 4 3 2
; m Centrol group
Distance from end in feet
10,m
(b)
Fig. 1. (a)Sketch o f Wall's device [ 11.(b)Some data from Wall's
test of a lockedcoil rope. The B-Hcurve and the resulting induced
EMF in the search coil. (EMF waveform amplitude not given.)
0 - ' AMPS.
Peak value of excitation current
In a follow-up study, Wall and Hainsworth [21 investigate
the way in which the flux is distributed within the rope. As
they point out, this information is relevant to the estimation
of the depth of a flaw in a locked coil or similar rope as used
Central group
in collieries. They feel a mathematical approach to the prob- m
lem is intractable. Instead, they build up a special sample or A.C. excitation
physical model with embedded search coils.
The experimental configuration was chosen to.be a replica
1 D.C. excitation
of a lockedcoil rope except that the layers of wires were not
so close as in actual ropes. Straight mild-steel wire rods of in vr
--
diameter were employed, each rod was coated with insulating
enamel before assembly. A f i s t layer or central groupof seven - 0 AMPS
Peak value of A . C
wires was formed and a search coil ( A ) of two-hundred turns Direci Current
was arranged to embrace this group. A second layer of twenty Fig. 3. Some measured data forthespecial wire rope model.(After
wires was then added and a searchcoil ( B ) embraced this layer. Wall and Hainsworth [ Z 1 .)
Next came thethird layer withafurther embracing search
coil (C). Finally, a fourth layer of forty-four wires was formed Also, as indicated in Fig. 3, the B-H response curves are shown
andasearch coil (D)embraced it. Each of the four search for central group and the surface layer. Here the screening ef-
coils had two-hundred turns. Then by connecting pairs of con- fect for the central group is very apparent. For the surface
secutive search coils in opposition, it was possible to measure layer, the situation is somewhat different since apparently the
the flux magnitude associated with each layer. ac excitation has the effect of increasing the apparent perme-
The differences between thewaveform of the induced EMF'S ability.To some extent thistends to counteracttheeddy
in the various layers are very striking as indicated in Fig. 2. current screening.
 a94 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 67, NO. 6 , JUNE 1979

THE IMFQRTANT EFFORTSBY SEMMELINK

IN
SOUTHAFRICA
Semmelink [ 31 gives an extremely interesting accountof the
early history of electromagnetic testing of wire ropes in south
Africa. He indicated that in a paper read to the Transvaal In-
stitute ofMechanical Engineering, in 1906, Mr. C. McCann
proposed an “electrical apparatus” for ascertaining the cross
sectional area of wire ropes. In this scheme, a detachable coil
around the rope was supplied through a step-down transformer
from the mains supply. A laminated yoke completed the mag-
netic circuit and an ammeter was connected in series with the Fig. 4. Stranded wire rope.
coil. It was claimed that “the current falls exactly in propor-
tion to the size of the rope.” Semmelink was also well aware n

of T. F. Wall’s [ 1] work in England that we described above. ROPE

He points out that the disadvantage of Wall’s method is that
the rope speed must be very slow due to the very low fre-
quencies being adopted. Furthermore, the locked-type ropes
and the use of high-ac flux densities causes severe heating of
the rope.
Thefirstexperiments described by Semmelink were con-
ducted in 1946. A magnetizing coil of twenty turns of weld-
ing cable was used carrying a current of 100 A at 50 Hz to-
gether with a coaxial search coil ofseveral thousand turns.
The rope was passed through the centers of both coils. It was
found that a l l visible corrosion and broken wires caused volt- AMPL. RECORR
age variations in the search coil that were measured by a peak
reading voltmeterandan oscilloscope. Semmelink [3] then
testedaboutfifty main winding (hoist) ropes. The tensile C.R.O.
strength of the wire was either 123/134 tons (2000 lb)/in2, or
128/ 140tonslin’. The ropes had six strands of approximately
Fig. 5. Semmelink’s [ 31 prototype ac scheme.
thirty wires laid on a sisal core which was impregnated with
lubricant. The diameter varied from 1.25 to 2 in. The ropes
were similar to the type shown in Fig. 4. The steel was ascer-
tained to have the following magnetic properties: relative
permeability = 44 for a magnetizing force less than 1 Oe,maxi- REFERENCE
mum permeability = 320 for a magnetizing force of25 &, VOLTAGE

maximum flux density = 14000 G for a magnetizing force of

200 Oe, retentivity = 9500 G, coercive force = 20 Oe, hys-
teresis loss = 0.35 W/cm3 at 50 Hz.He found, what is now
generally known, that an increase of tensile stress in the wire
causes an increase of permeability. For example, a stress of
65 tons/in2 causes an associated increase of permeability of wMI
14 percent even for a magnetizing force of less than 1 Oe. He 4
also noted that twisting of the wire caused a decrease of 8 per-
cent of permeabilityfor 180’ of twistperfoot of wire.
Semmelink [3] also measured the change of dc resistance of
the wire rope for stresses varying from 0 to 70 tonslin.’ Only
1.1 percent increase was noted over this range that was in ac-
cord with the percentage increase of length due to elasticity.
SCHEMATIC E, IR
In deciding on an ac method, Semmelink chose to employ a DIAGRAM
low magnetizing current. This has two advantages: a) internal
Fig. 6. Improved model use by Semmelink [ 41.
heating isminimized, and b) better penetrationof the rope due
to the relatively small initial permeability (i.e., he is working
on the virgin part of the B-H curve). A schematic of his mea- In the absence of eddy currents, the pickup or search-coil
suring scheme is indicated in Fig. 5. voltage leads the magnetizing current by 90’. However be-
In a later paper, Semmelink [41 describes a more sophisti- cause of the eddy current losses, the phase shift is modified as
cated approach to the eddycurrent testing of wire ropes. The indicated in Fig. 6. Both the reactive component E,, and the
schematic diagram of his measurement setup is illustrated in resistive component ER ,can be balanced out in an appropriate
Fig. 6. As indicated,therope is excited by spaced coaxial adjustment of the potentiometers. Thus the “output” for a
coils and the pickup coil is located centrally. The output of given rope can be indicated on a double pen recorder.
the pickup coil i s amplified and detected by a phase-sensitive The rope speed during a test depends onthe response of the
detector. recorderandthedetectorcircuit.Furthermore,due to the
METHODS
WAIT: ELECTROMAGNETIC IN NDT 895

choice of a low-operating frequency (e&, 80 Hz), the response Lang are not accompanied by “ground truth” information on
of the detectors cannotbe fast and Semmelink chooses a time- the actual state of the rope. He does show a few interesting
constant of 0.1 s. Thus if the shortest variation to be detected comparisons between the measured breaking tensile strength
along the rope is 10 cm, the rope speed should not exceed and the “R” and “X” readings at 10 Hz, for locked-coil ropes.
10 cm in 0.1 s (i.e., the rope speed should be less than 200ft/ Such data however, were not provided for the 30 and 80 Hz
min). tests on the stranded ropes.
The coils, wound on a Bakelite former are 6 in long, with Larsen er al. describes various devices for both dc and ac
5 in outer diameter, and 3-in inner diameter. The two mag- rope testing thatarecurrently available [71.Theymention
netizing coilshave 10 turns each. For a magnetizing current that the Rotesco device, as describedbyLang [61, has been
of 1 A, this gives an exciting field at the center of 0.43 Oe. successful in 1970 in predicting tensile reductions of about
The pickup or search coil also has ten turns. The whole as- 5 percent,althoughthe extensive comparisons were not
sembly is hinged with spring-loaded contacts to maintain the “quantitative.”
electrical integrity neededwhen the two halves are clamped Morgan [8] presents a generalreview of electromagnetic
around the rope. NDT methods applied to wire ropes. The discussion is entirely
A number of interestingresults havebeen obtainedby qualitative. Hemakes a number of recommendationsfor
Semmelink [4]. Forexample, a decrease of eddycurrents further development in Australia.Morgan and Symes 191
causes an increase of flux with a resulting increase on the E, then describe the activities that led to thecreation of a
traceand a corresponding decrease onthe ER trace. This government-sponsored project at the University of New South
often is associated with decreased contact between the strands. Wales. They give a largely qualitative description of their cur-
The reverse situation has also been found when there is in- rent research on both methods of testing wireropes. They
creased contact between the strands. Such stressful situations also describe some tentative ideas about an ac device that is to
occur at the crossover points where ropes pass from one layer operate at a frequency of 1 kHz. Surprisingly, they make no
to another on winding drums. mention of many ac devices that hithertohave been used else-
Slight corrosion in the rope leads to a deposit of nonconduct- where. It ispossible that they will find that 1 kHz is rather
ing material between the wires, and to a reduction of eddy too high a frequency for effective penetration to the core of
currents. This usually means a decrease of both E, and ER most mine-hoist ropes.
traces.Semmelinkalso indicates that internalcorrosion ap- Stachurski [ 101 gives a very useful summary of the physical
pears t o occur usuallyoverrelatively short lengths, often at concepts employed in dc magnetic testing for flaws in wire
intervals corresponding to the circumference of the drum. ropes. A number of interpretative schemes are outlined in a
External corrosion manifests itself in a large reduction of the qualitative manner. Also he usesprescribed forms of flaws,
E, tracebutonly a small reduction in the ER trace. Such breaks, and cracks t o calibrate the device.Much useful data
corrosion .canoccur over long lengths of therope (e.g., on the design and implementation of the defectogmph device
1000 ft). are also given. It is evident that t h i s Polish group has developed
Semmelink [4] found that inadvertent dc magnetization of the dc magnetic technique to a high degree.
the rope (e.g., from the earth’s magnetic field) could lead to Egen and Benson [ 111 describe some interesting tests on a
violent transients in the E, trace when the rope moves at high specially prepared rope with prescribed types of imperfections.
speed through the coil assembly. In one case, the rope had re- There wereseven types of faults: 1) splice; 2) two to three
mained at rest for long periods with one section of the rope wiresfiled halfway through, over a length of about 0.5
extending from the drum to the headgear sheave in a northerly in; 3) an added no. 18 AWG wirelaid into grooveof core;
direction. 4) spikes inserted into core andwires werespread apart; 5)three
wires of 2 in length were removed from the core; 6) one wire
MORE RECENTAPPLICATIONS
AND PRACTICES in core was cut; and 7) a 2-in length of core was removed;
Hiltbrunner gives a good description of what is known now all of these were done using threedc devices (the Polish
as the dc magnetic-testing method [ 51. This approach has MD-8 Defectoscope, the SwissPMK-75Kundigdevice, and
been highly developed in Switzerland for the NDT of tramway the Canadian Rotesco device).None of these devicesde-
wire ropes. Essentially, themethod is based on imposing a tected fault no. 6 , and the Kundig device did not detect fault
strong axial magnetic field to the sample by either a solenoid no. 2. Otherwise, all other faults were detected byall three
coil and/or permanent magnet. The search coil is oriented in instruments.The results indicated, that for the ropetested
the radial direction and producesa voltage response only when (i.e., in diameter, 6 X 25, FW, RLL, FC, XIPS), each in-
there is some type of lateral nonuniformity. strument observed aboutthe samemagnetic-field variations.
Langgives an extensive description of an ac testing device The verysimilar performance of these threeinstrumentsis
for wire ropes [ 61. Although he does not acknowledge the probably a consequence of the basic similarity of the operating
fact, the concept, method, and operational procedure seem to principle of each of these dc devices. It is a pity that the ac
bebased on the earlier work of Semmelink [31, 141.How- Rotesco device was not tested on thesame rope.
ever, Lang uses only one single-turn transmitting coil with a Bergander [ 121 describes the Polish dc magnetic device for
coaxial search coil. Most of his data are shown for a frequency the NDT of wire ropes known as the Defectograph MD-8 that
of 30 Hz.Lang found that in all casesof broken wiresde- he developed with Stachurski [ 121.Therope being tested
tected, the “X” trace shows a sharp reduction presumably due moves through the permanent magnet which is magnetized to
to a decrease in the axial magnetic flux. In a number of cases, itssaturationpoint. Heclaims that a 0.2-percent change of
sections of rope with apparent missing wires were found. This the rope cross section can be detected via a measurement of
was believed to indicate a wire separation at a faulty spotweld. the external magnetic-leakage field. The EMF induced in the
It is unfortunatk that the numerous test results published by search coil can also be compensated for changes in the rope
 896 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 67, NO. 6 , JUNE 1979

speed. Using an empirical approach the probe-coil response is

related t o such parameters as the loss of cross section of the
rope,thelength overwhich the loss occurs,andthe radial
location of the internal flaw.

EARLYTHEORETICAL
INVFSTIGATIONS
Hochschild [ 131 gives a review of papers by Forster [ 141 -
[ 181 and presents some useful plots of the current density in
conducting cylinders for ac excitationby a solenoidal coil. He -0.24 Values of
points out that no matter how carefully the test-coil system is P P O show”
designed, small defects will go undetected unless, the response (from Wait 1953)
time of the instrument is less than the time taken from thede- -0.48
fect t o pass through the effective region of the coils. For ex-
ample, a localized defect passing though a 0.03-in-wide dif- 0.3Q6 L2 3 6 I2 a60 15Om
ferential test coil at 100 ft/minwill not be detected unless the (vpw)’’2 a
response extendsupwards toat least200 Hz. A common Sphere Dipole Response
limitationonbandwidth is the ink-pen recording devices, M + iN
whose frequency response seldom exceeds 200 Hz. . Fig. 7. Induced magnetic dipole for a conducting permeable sphere as a
McClurg [ 191 also exhibits some of the results of Forster function of its conductivity u, permeability P , angular frequency w,
and colleagues in graphical form. In particular, he shows that and radius a.
the impedance variations of solenoids (i.e., feed-through coils)
encircling cylindricalconductors that have surface andsub-
surface cracks. The empirical data used arefrompapers by Values of p / h shown
Forster. McClurgdiscusses the application of theseeddy-
currenttechniques tometalcutting operations where such
things as uniformness of the hardness isdesirable.
Graneau introduces the interesting concept that induced cur-
rents in a conductor,flowing along closed curves, canbe repre-
sented by a number of filamentary circuits [201. These cur-
rents and the energizing current can then be deduced in
principle from a system of circuit equations with both self-
and mutual inductances that are postulated from the physics
of the problem, Using somewhat heuristic reasoning, Graneau
obtains an expression for the current anywhere in the metallic
object by infinite series of increasing powers of the energizing
frequency.Thecoefficients are undeterminedfunctions of
thefilamentcircuitresistance,andmutualinductances be-
tween the filaments. He concludes that there is a clear division Cylinder Dipole
Response
between quantities depending on geometry and properties. As
a consequence, the induced currents can be expressed as an RI = PI + LQI
explicitfunction of frequency. This is really quitestrange (from Wait 1952,1960)
since exactsolutions of idealized forms such as layered
Fig. 8.Induced (line)magnetic dipole for a conductingpermeable
cylinders with external dipole excitation do not exhibit this cylinder.
behavior [211-[251.

RELATED INVFSTIGATIONS IN GEOPHYSICAL those “early days” and modem accounts are published regu-
PROSPECTING larly in Geophysics, the journal of the (U.S.) Society of Ex-
Electromagneticmethods ofNDTof solid conductorsare ploration Geophysicists, and Geophysical Prospecting, the
closely akin to techniques that are now used in geophysical journal of the European Societyof Geophysical Exploration.
prospecting for metallic-ore bodies [ 211-[ 341. It is unfor- The work that is relevant to the electromagnetic probing of
tunate that these two groups have had little interaction. This wire ropes is the analysis of a homogeneous conductive and
writer was involved in the theoretical developments in multi- permeable cylinder of infinitelength. In an “early”paper
frequency and transient-electromagnetic methods in geophysi- [22l, a general solution wasgiven for the total fields pro-
cal exploration. In fact, as long ago as 1950, it was proposed duced when alinesource orcurrentcarrying cable waslo-
thatconductivityandpermeability of a spherical-ore body cated parallel tothe cylinder. An exacttwodimensional
could be ascertainedfromitselectromagnetic response in solution was obtained using a wave impedance approach. The
eitherthefrequencyor its timedomain. A similar analysis low-frequency version of the general solution was expressed in
was carried out fora cylindrical-ore bodywitha specified a quasi-static form and numerical results for the induced dipole
conductivityandpermeability.The basic concept was that term weregiven. Some examples are shown in Figs. 7 and 8
geometrical configuration of both the source and receiver coils for the inducedmagneticdipole responses of spheres and
with respect to the target could be arranged to have a negli- cylinders. In each case the ordinates are proportional to the
gible effect of the determination of ore body size, conductivity induced-dipole moment.
Strictly speaking, ‘the
monopole
and permeability. The subject has advanced considerably since term should also be considered when dealing with cylinders
ETIC WAIT: NDT 891

that are effectively infinitein length. This type of analysis coil no.1 in terms of the electric andmagnetic scattering
was later extended to dipolar excitationof the infinite cylinder matrices for an electrically small defect.
when again the monopole or azimuthally independent induced In the same paper, Dodd et al. give explicit solutions in in-
current was not considered in the numerical examples[22l. tegral form for the rectangular cross sectional coil located over
Further work on t h i s subject was carried out by Hill and a two-layer planar conductor. Actually, the form of these so-
Wait [ 301 , where more realistic situations were treated such as lutions are very similar to earlier investigations of electromag-
the excitation of a conductive cylinder of finite length by an netic induction in layeredmodels of the earth’s crust.The
external magnetic dipole where all significant induced mono- NDT community is apparently not aware of this extensive
pole, dipole, and multipole contributions were retained in the literature. An example is the book by Keller and Frischknecht
calculations. The analytical and numerical techniques used in [40] that reviews the current status of such problems at least
these paperswould seem to be applicable in aquantitative up to 1965. Of course, Dodd et al. give the explicit form of
analyses of electromagnetic NDT of solid conductors. the fields of a circular coil with rectangularcross section, while
the geophysicists restrict their attention to-smallloops. Dodd
MORE RECENT ANALYTICALSTUDIES et aL also give solutions for various combinations of pickup
Vein [35] points out what is usually accepted-that the mu- coils and the correspondingsecondary effects due t o em-
tual impedance between two closed circuits is dependent on bedded defects that can be characterized by the polarizability
conducting solids in the immediateenvironments. He pro- matrices mentioned above.
motes the concept of transfer impedance but feeh ill at ease in Cheng et al. [41] have presented a general formulation for
relating this to the reciprocity theorem for generally continu- the time-harmonic eddy currents, produced by a circular coil
ous media. With this motivation, he works through the ana- of rectangular cross section, for a underlying planar conductor
lytical details of a number ofclassical problems such as the of any number of layers. The integral solutions obtained in a
mutual impedancebetweencoaxialcircular
loops in the straightforward fashion yield algebraically complicated results.
presence of planar, cylindrical, and spherical conductors. He A number of these results could have been obtained byuse im-
assumes without really providing ajustification, that azimuthal pedancemethods based on analogies with transmission-line
symmetry prevails in each case. No real harm is done, how- theory (see for example [421 and 1431 ).
ever, since no numerical re,sults of any kind are provided. The Dodd e t al. [ 4 4 1 give a formal vector potential solutionto a
derivations seem to be unnecessarilycomplicated,and even coil coaxial with any number of cylindrical conductors. While
then, reliance is made on formulas quoted from exercises in they state the derivation is quite general, the solution is only
W. R. Smythe’s classic text [36]. w r i e d throughforcompletesymmetry about the common
Burrows, in a significant thesis, exploitsthe reciprocity axis.
theorem in eddycurrent testing and the subsequent develop- Dodd and Deeds [ 451 give the Same solutions for a uniform
ment of aflaw-detectiontheory [37]. He is very quick to coil with uniform ac current excitationover a two-layer planar
recognize the limitations of quasi-static theorysuch as as- conductor.Theythenrepeatthesolutionforthe coil en-
sumed by Vein [ 35 I . But it should be stressed immediately circling a two-layer cylindrical conductor of infinite length. A
that Burrows actually assumes azimuthal symmetry of his de- single numericalexample is given forthenormalized im-
tection coils even though the “flaws” may be asymmetrical. pedance of the coil as over the two-layer planar structure that
This is a valid procedure but it appears that some fundamental exhibits the effect of the thickness of the upperlayer.
information is lost when both the source and the probe coil Kahn e t al. [ 4 6 1 present an interesting analysis of how eddy
fully encircle the cylindrical sample.Burrowsrepresents in- currents in a solid conductor are divertedaround a surface
ternal flaws in terms of induced electric and magnetic dipoles, crack. One of the basic assumptions is that the magnetic field
that in turn producethesecondary influence. He also pro- tangent to the surface is a constant even in the presence of the
vides some very useful tabulations of the infinite integrals that crack. They also present solutions for diffraction by a semi-
describe the internal fields within both solid cylindrical and infinite crack (i.e., a half-plane) in anotherwise infAte
tubular samples of circular cross sections for azimuthally sym- medium. Neither of these solutions are “rigorous” as claimed
metric excitation. These same integrals can be used to predict by the authors, but the results do provide considerableinsight
theresponse ina correspondingazimuthallysymmetric de- into how defects, of other than infinitesimal size, will modify
tector coil due to an internal (small) flaw. Actually, this same to external fields. Kahn andSpal [471 havealso presented
approach has been followed up very recently byHill and Wait some results for the calculations of eddy currents in a long
who did not restrict the results to azimuthal symmetry of the cylinder with a radial crack at the surface. Details of the ana-
probe coil [381. lytical methods are not yet available but presumably the ap-
Dodd et al. [39] have obtained integral solutions forthe proach is similar to that used in treating the surface crack in
vector potential produced by a circular coil for a number of the ,planar conductor. It is appropriate to call attention to the
different geometrical configurations. The solutions are limited close similarity of such problems to earlier theoretical studies
to axial symmetry.In calculating theexciting fields of a in geophysics, where one is interested in the perturbation of
rectangular cross section circular coil, they assume thata time-varying geomagnetic fields near coastlines [48] and
straightforward superposition of current over the cross section other laterally varying features in the earth’s crust [49] .
is valid. This is a quasi-static assumption that probably needs
to be investigated, particularly when the coil of finite width AN ALTERNATIVE FORMULATIONFOR SOLENOID
and lengthencircles a highly conducting cylinder. EXCITATION
Dodd et al. quote Burrows’ formulation [37] for deducing As has been indicated, a common method of NDT of metal
the secondary-induced voltages due to a defect or flaw in an rods and tubes is to induce eddy currents by means of an en-
adjacent conductor. Here they write down a formula for the circling solenoidcarrying an alternating current. The im-
defect-produced voltage, induced in coil no. 2, by a current in pedance of the solenoid is related to the cross sectional area
 898 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 6 7 , NO. 6 , JUNE 1979

Now, for the air gap region a < p < b, we write correspond-
ing field expressions

Hoz = BZO(TOP)+ CKO(TOP) (5)

Eo@ ' - B ~ o I i ('Yap) + ~ o K l ( 7 0 p ) (6)

where B andCareconstants90=ro/(ieow)=Oco/eo)'/21 1 2 h
in terms of the permittivity eo, and permeability po, of the air
Rg. 9. Cross sectional view of cylindrical sample located centrally. region. Here and above, the Bessel function identities azo(x)/
ax = Il (x) and aKo (x)/ax = -K1 (x) have been employed.
Compatible with the requirement that tangential fields must
and the electrical properties of the sample. A formula for this be continuous at p = a we can write
impedance was obtained by Fijrster and Stambke [ 161 on the
assumption that end effects could be ignored. Also they as- [EO@+ ~CHOZIp=a = 0. (7)
sumed that the cylindrical sample was centrally located witbin
the solenoid. The same derivation was essentially repeated by This immediately tells us that
Hochschild [ 131 and Libby [ 5 1 ].
A feature of the Forster-Stambke derivation is that the ef-
fect of the air gap is introduced in asomewhat heuristic
fashion wherein the field in this concentric region is assumed In theexternal region p >b, the field expressionsmust
to be the same as the one for the empty solenoid. We feel it is clearly have the form:
worthwhile to provideamore general derivation of the im-
pedance formula. We also show it applies to the case of a non- Hoz = DKo (TOP) (9)
concentric air gap. Finally, we mention the relevance of the EO@ = D770K1 (TOP) (10)
current analysis to thedualproblem where the cylindrical
sample is excited by a toroidalcoil. where D is another constant.
To simplify the discussion, we consider first the concentric Now thesolenoidcurrent is idealized as acontinuous-
air gap model with a homogeneouscylindrical. sample of radius current distribution j o amperespermeter intheazimuthal
a , withconductivity u, andmagneticpermeability p. The
direction defined such that
situation is indicated in Fig. 9 where the solenoid of radius b H o , ( p = b + A ) - H o z ( p = b - A)=-jo (11)
encloses the sample, both of which are assumed to be infinite lim
in length. Our objective is to find an expression for the im- *+o { E o @ ( p= b + A ) - E o @ ( p= b - A ) = 0. (12)
pedance of the solenoid per unit length since this is the basis Application of these conditions immediatelyleads to
of the NDT eddy-current methods that are commonly used.
In terms of cylindrical coordinates ( p , 4, z), the only com- D = C - Il(70b)B/Kl(TOb) (13)
ponent of the magnetic field is H z , since the exciting current in
the solenoid is uniform in both the axial and azimuthal direc-
tion. Within the sample, Hz satisfies the Helmholtz equation
(V* - T 2 ) H z = 0 (1) Among other things, this tells us that the magnetic field ex-
ternal to the solenoid (i.e., p > b ) has the form
where ' 7 = iupw, andwhere we have adopted a time factor
exp (iwt). Here, w is the angular frequency that is sufficiently Ho, = I - B [ Z I ( T O ~ ) / K ~ ( T+OCI
~ )KO(TOP).
I (15)
low so displacement currents in the sample can be neglected.
If not, we merely replace u by u + iew, where E is the per- The quantity of immediate interest is the impedance 2 of
mittivity. .Also, it goes without saying that the field amplitude thesolenoid itself. Clearly, within the limits of our basic
is sufficiently small that nonlinear effects can be ignored. assumptions,
For the highly idealized situation described, we can immedi- z= const. x E , @ ( p = b)/jo. (16)
ately write [ 521
The correspondingimpedance of theemptysolenoid is de-
Hz = A Z o ( W ) (2) noted Z o . Thus it follows that
for p < a , where Io is a modified Bessel function of argument
~ p and
, where A is a constant. From Maxwell's equations the
azimuthal component of the electric field is
E@ = - (UU) a H Z m= - w w l (TP) (3) which is explicit since C / B is given by (8).
We now can simplify the impedance ratio formula if we in-
also for p < a . Nowwe can immediately form an expression voke the small argument approximations for Bessel functions
for the "impedance" 2, of the cylinder of order ~~a and r o b . That is, we use Zo(x) N 1, I l (x) 21 x/2,
Ko(x) = - log x, and K1 (x) N l / x . This exercise leads to
2, = [-E@/% 1 p = a = 77zl(Ta)/zo(TU) (4)
where, 77 = y/u = (jpw/o)'l2 is the intrinsic or wave impedance
of the sample material.
WAIT: ELECTROMAGNETIC METHODS IN NDT a99

where no restriction has been placed on the magnitude of ya.

Here R and X denote the resistance and reactance, respectively.
The formula for Z/Zo given by (18) is in agreement with
Forster and Stambke [ 161 (if one remembers they used the
old German designations .To and J1 for modified Bessel func- Values of
tions).Forster and Stambke [ 161, Hochschild [ 131, and Relative
Libby [ 5 1 ] present extensive numerical data for this quasi- Permeability
static approximation to Z/Zo in Argand diagrams in the com- p/po shown
plex plane for variousvalues of I ya I and p/po. Two examples,
using dimensionless parameters, are shown in Figs. 10 and 11
when the ordinates and abscissas are normalized by X0 which
is thereactance of theemptysolenoid.That is, we assume
Zo = iXo corresponding to negligible ohmic losses in the sole-
noid itself. The real parameter a is defined by (Y = ya exp * R /Xo+
(-i7r/4) = (upu)’/’a. In Fig. 10, the sample radius b is assumed
Fig. 10. Argand plot of the impedance 2 = R + iy normalized to the
to be the same as the sample radius a (i.e., no air gap). Dif- reactance X, of the empty solenoid,for a = b.
ferent values of themagneticpermeabilityare shown. Not
surprisingly, when a is small, R vanishes and X / X o tends to
p / h . However, in general, the eddy currents have the effect
of reducing X / X , , which is the effective flux, andof introducing
a resistive portion R / X o . In Fig. 11, the relative permeability
of the sample p/po = I but the f i g factor a z / b z a s s u m e s dif- Values of
ferent values. The results indicate that the presence of the air fillingfactor
gap reduces the sensitivity of the device for probing the con- a2/b2 shown
ductivity but the effect is predictable.
Actually, if a is sufficiently small (i.e., I ya I << 11, equation
(1 8) reduces to
z/z, = x/x, = 1 + (aZ/bZ)[p/po- 1 I
which is consistent with the curves in Figs. 10 and 1 1. In this
(19) 0u
0
9 ‘0

0.2 W
R/Xo+
Q6

dc limit the results only depend on the magnetic permeability

of the sample. Rg. 1 1 . Argand plot of the impedance Z = R + iX normalized to the
reactance X, of the empty solenoid,for p = p,,.
The formal extension of the theory to thecase where the ex-
citing solenoid is no longer concentricwiththecylindrical
sample can also be dealtwith.Thesituation is indicatedin
Fig. 12. As before, cylindrical coordinates( p , @, z ) are chosen
coaxial with the sample. But now, the shiftedcoordinates
( p ’ , @’,
z ) are chosen to be coaxial with the exciting solenoid.
The shift is po as indicated in Fig. 12 where we do impose the
rather obvious physical restriction that b > p o + a . We may
show thatthefieldinthenonconcentricair gap has the
form [ 501
+OD +OD
Hoz +
= B~o(ToP‘) Cm Km+n (TOP’)In
m=-- n=--
Fig. 12. Cross section view of the nonconcentricdy located sample.
* 0 1)”
( ~ 0 ~ (- ) exp (-i(n + m ) @ ’ ) . (20)
This is valid in the nonconcentric air gap region (i.e., p > a We again may invoke the small argument approximations for
and p ’ < b ) . The needed azimuthalcomponent is obtained Bessel functions of order you, y o b , and yopo. Lo and behold,
from these show that Z/Zo reduces again to the formula givenby
EO@!= -770aHOz/a<roP’). (21) (18)! This confirms the conjecture of Forster and Stambke
[ 161 who seemed to be gifted with keen physical insight into
Therelevantquantityfor the impedancecalculation is the
‘‘avezage” field Eoet at the solenoid. Then it follows that the such problems. Of course, we do not expect the result to hold
in any sense when the dimensions of the solenoid become
impedance Z per unit length of the solenoid with the sample
divided by the impedance ZO of the empty solenoidis given by comparable with the free-space wavelength. In that case, many
other complications arise such as the assumed uniformity of
the solenoid current.
THE DUAL PROBLEM
where EO = 1 and E, = 2 for m # 0,and where Cm/B is known There is an extremely interesting dual to the problem we
[501. Not surprisingly, (22) reduces to (17) for the centrally have discussed. That is, ratherthanexcitingthecylindrical
located sample,Le., Zm(yop0)= 0 for p o + 0 when rn # 0. sample with an azimuthal electric current, we employ an
900 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 67,1979
NO. 6 , JUNE

azimuthal magnetic current. This is an idealized representation

for a thin toroidal coil, but again, it effectively is of infinite
length inthe z or axial direction. Theassumed source dis-
continuity is now in the electric field at p = b which has only
a z component. The much more complicated case of the
toroidal coil of finite axial extent was analyzed recently [531.
Under the present assumption of axial uniformity, the ad-
mittance Y per unit length of the toroid is the dual of the im-
pedance Z of the solenoid discussed above. Thus all the earlier
equationsapply if we make the following transformations:
iP0 -+0, Po -+Eo, 9 -+9-',9 0 +TO', Hz + E z , E@+-H@l,
Hoz + E o Z , and Eo@ + - Ho+. Then, the dual of (18) is the
ratio of the admittance Y of the toroidal coil with the sample
to theadmittance Yo withoutthe sample. It is written
explicitly

(infinite length)
(a)
for the casewhere I r o b I << 1. That is, the radius of the
toroidal coil should be much smaller than the free-space wave-
length. Also, in full analogy to the earlier discussion, the Prolate -
quasi-state result holdsfor any location of thecylindrical Spheroidal Void
sample within the toroid. Furthermore, in the low-frequency A
limit where 1 ya I = 01 << 1, we see that
Y = yo [ I + ( a 2 / b z )[(ulieow)- I I] (24)
which depends only on the conductivity of the sample. Thus (C)
this type of excitation should be preferred with probing the
Fig. 13. Thin toroidal coil surrounding a metal rope of infinite length,
effective conductivity in the axial directionin the sample. (a) perspective view, (b) top view, (c) prolate spheroidal void.

THE PROLATE SPHEROIDAL VOID MODEL OF

HILL AND WAIT a model for a thin toroidal coil which completely encircles the
Aswe have indicated, an appropriate source for excitation rope. The rope is assumed to be i n f ~ t e l ylong and has radius
of axial-electric currents is a toroidal coil which encircles the a . It has conductivity u,, permittivity ,E and permeability
rope,anda magneticament modelforthetoroidal source p,. Thesurrounding free-space haspermittivity EO, and
coil has been analyzed [ 53 I . Expressions for both theinterior permeability PO. For now, we defer discussion of the void
and exterior fields were derived for a homogeneous wire rope. properties and consider only the homogeneous rope.
Aswe shall outline here, the presence of a small slender void Becauseof the symmetry of the source and the rope, $e
within the rope can be treated. Such a void can be considered fields are transverse magnetic (TM) and independent of fp.
a model for a broken strand. The void is also allowed to be The magnetic field has only a nonzero azimuthal component
oriented at any arbitrary angle to the rope axis to account for Hg, and the electric field has only nonzero axial and radial
the winding geometry of the wire rope. The induced electric components E r and E T . The superscript p r denotes the fields
and magnetic dipole moments are computed from the primary in the absence of the void. These primary fields are derived
fields and the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of thevoid. elsewhere [ 531, and the explicit forms bothinside and outside
We then obtain expressions for the external fields of electric the rope are given in a recent report [38, Appendix A]. We
and magnetic dipoles of arbitrary orientation. Of course, it is note that E B and H$ are zero for p = 0. On the other hand,
these external fields which are the observable quantities in any g' is nearly independent of p inside the rope for sufficiently
electromagnetic NDT method. Theparticularexpressions,
'
low frequencies.
derived for the external fieldsof internal electric andmagnetic We now select a thin prolate spheroid of conductivity uu,
dipoles, should be useful in future analyses of other types of permittivity E ~ and, permeability p v , inorder to modela
small imperfections in wire ropes. Of course in such cases, the brokenstrand.Theprolate-spheroidal shape is aconvenient
electric and magnetic polarizabilities would be different. one because itselectricandmagneticpolarizabilitiesare
In a previous analysis [ 531, we analyzed an azimuthal cur- known. However, we would not expect a significant difference
rent sheet source which encircled the rope. The current sheet for a thin circular cylinder of the same length and volume. To
was allowed to have arbitrary width in the z or axial direction account for thewinding geometry of the rope, we allow a rota-
and arbitraryazimuthalextent. This sourceresults in fairly tion of the major axis of the spheroid about the p' axis by an
complicated expressions for the electric and magnetic fields. angle a. Thus the major axis is oriented at an angleha to the
Since in this paper we are primarily concerned with the fields unit vector9' and an angle n / 2 + 01 to the unit vector@' as indi-
scattered by the void, we take the simpler special case for the cated in Fig. l(c).
source shown in Fig. 13. Specifically, a magneticcurrent ring Since the void has a contrast in both the electric and mag-
of strength K is located at a radiusb in the planez = 0. This is netic properties, both electric and magnetic dipole moments
WAIT: ELECTROMAGNETIC METHODS IN NDT 901

will be induced [ 361. The electric polarizabilities for the in-

cident electric field applied along the major axis a h a j , or along
the minor axis a&,,, are given by
ahaj= - V(o, - u,) (25)
and

where V is the volume of the thin prolate spheroid. Since we

anticipate the use of very-low frequencies, we have neglected
displacement currents. To include them, u, would be re-
placed by u, + I'wE,, and u, would be replaced by u, + I'wE,,
in (25) and (26). The magnetic polarizabilities for theincident
magnetic field applied along the major axis g a j , or along the
minor axis azn, are similarly given by
a,",j = - Vim (p, - p,) (27)
and
Fig. 14. Thenormalized magnitude of the scatte,red radial magnetic
.
field for various void locations P

In order to compute the induced dipole moments, it is f i i t

necessary to resolve the incident electric and magnetic fields t=z'=O
into components along the major and minor axes. The re- 0.00
sultant induced dipole moments can then be resolved into the
more convenient p, @,and z components. When this is done,
the induced electric dipole moments are found t o be
~ a + ahi,,sin' a)
( I ~ s ) =, E ~ ( c & ,cos' (29)
(Ids)@= Er(crhin- a&,j>sin a cos a (30)
(Ids), = EpYkh. (31)
In (29)-(31), the primary electric-field components andEr
E$r are evaluated at p', @',
2'. Similarly, the induced magnetic
dipole moments are found to be
( K d l ) , = Hr(aZn- a g a j ) sin a COS (32)
( K ~ z ) =@qr(azincos' a + agaj sn
i' a) (33)
(Kdl), = 0. (34)
Note that the units of the induced electric dipole moments in Rg. 15. The normalized magnitude of thescattered azimuthal mag-
(29)-(31) are ampere-meters, and the units of the induced netic field for various void locations p .
magnetic dipole moments in (32)through (34) are volt-meters.
These induced dipole moments are the sources of the scattered components. For the numerical results, the following para-
field. metric values remain fixed: a = 1 cm, ,u = 1.1 X lo6 mho/m,
The scattered field external to therope is the observable pw = 200 h,b = 2 cm, frequency = 10 Hz, p = 2 cm, u, = 0 ,
quantity in any NDT system. Since we anticipate the use of and p,, = h. For this low frequency, the conduction currents
coils for sensors, we have considered the scattered magnetic dominate, and the permittivities E, and E , are unimportant.
field components H r ( p , 4, z ) , P$(p, @, z ) , and e c ( p , $, z ) The above values of , u and pw are roughly representative of
[38]. Each of these components can be written as a super- stainless steel, but the permeability of steel is quite variable
position of the contributions from each of the six induced [ 541. For the above parameters, the radius a is approximately
dipole sources. (Actually there are only five nonzero sources, one-skin depth. For convenience here, we also choose z = z' = 0
since ( K d l ) , is zero for the specific configuration considered and u' = 0.
here). Explicit expressions for the three scattered-field com- In Figs. 14, 15, and 16, we show the magnitude of the scat-
ponents are given elsewhere [ 381. tered magnetic-field components normalized by VHg' as a
Thequantities of most interestin NDT are the external function of 9. The reason for showing the @ dependence is
( p > a ) magnetic-field components which are observed with that, although the primary field is independent of 9, the scat-
the sensing coils. The primary magnetic field has only a @ tered field varies considerably in @.This variation might dic-
component Hr but the scattered magnetic field has all three tate the use of multiple-sensing coils spaced in azimuth around
 902 PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 67, NO. 6 , JUNE 1979

scattered field calculation remains unchanged, but the primary

I- field wouldbe T E ( E f r = 0) rather than T M ( H f r = 0). Some
calculations for this casehave been carried out by Burrows
1371 forthe special case, where both exciting and sensing
coils are coaxial with the tubular specimen.
0.1 CONCLUDING REMARKS
We have attempted to give an overall view of NDT electro-
magnetic methods. As indicated, the investigations have pro-
ceeded along different lines. The very practical and perhaps
most useful work to date has been empirical in nature. There
0.01 has been no attempt made to deduce the magnitude of the
secondary fields due to the internal flaw; instead a large num-
ber of actual ropes are tested and the results presented. On the
otherhand, the analytical approaches have considered only
highly idealized situations. Nevertheless, some important
principles are disclosed that may have an important bearing on
operating procedures. For example, the toroidal coil exciter
could be utilized in practical schemes inconjunction with
9 localized sensor coils that can characterize the three-dimensional
Fig. 16. The normalized magnitude of thescattered radial magnetic
field for various void orientations a.
field configuration in an adequate fashion.
A basic theoretical aspect of the NDT problem that we have
not really addressed is to account for the anisotropic nature
the rope. The curves are normalized by the primary field be- of the effective conductivityand permeability of the wire
cause the anomalous scattered field is measured in the presence rope. The spiral construction of stranded wire ropes some-
of the primary field and their ratio is thus of interest. We also times described as a “twisted bunch of spaghetti” defies any
normalize the results to the volume V of the void in order to simple microscopic description. However, from a macroscopic
make the curves more general. However, a typical value for V point, we might describe the effective anisotropy by con-
might be on the order of lo-’ m3 (=1 cm X 1 mm X 1 mm). ductivity and permeability tensors. Some preliminary efforts
As indicated in Figs. 14 and 15, H F and H r are of approxi- in this direction have begun [551. It is obvious that much re-
mately the same level, but H F is odd in q5 while H F is even. mains to be done.
We also may note the decrease in scattered field as the void is
moved from the outer region ( p ’ / u = 0.9) toward the center ACKNOWLEDGMENT
(p‘/u = 0.1) of the rope. Because a = 0’ inFigs. 14 and 15, The assistance of Ms. Lana Hope in preparing this report is
only the axial and radial electric dipole moments and the much appreciated. He also thanks Dr. David A. Hill who pro-
azimuthal magnetic dipole are excited. Also, the radial electric vided the results shown in Figs. 14, 15, and 16.
dipole is very small because its exciting field E F is small. The
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