Description

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This book covers the topic of eddy current nondestructive evaluation, the most commonly practiced method of electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation (NDE). It emphasizes a clear presentation of the concepts, laws and relationships of electricity and magnetism upon which eddy current inspection methods are founded. The chapters include material on signals obtained using many common eddy current probe types in various testing environments. Introductory mathematical and physical concepts in electromagnetism are introduced in sufficient detail and summarized in the Appendices for easy reference. Worked examples and simple calculations that can be done by hand are distributed throughout the text. These and more complex end-of-chapter examples and assignments are designed to impart a working knowledge of the connection between electromagnetic theory and the practical measurements described. The book is intended to equipreaders with sufficient knowledge to optimize routine eddy current NDE inspections, or design new ones. It is useful for graduate engineers and scientists seeking a deeper understanding of electromagnetic methods of NDE than can be found in a guide for practitioners.

About the Author

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Nicola was educated in physics at the University of Nottingham, UK, and conducted her PhD thesis research at the University of Surrey, UK, solving canonical problems of eddy-current nondestructive evaluation analytically using perturbation theory, the Wiener-Hopf method and an adapted form of the geometrical theory of diffraction. The latter piece of work was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Nicola moved to the USA in 1999 to join Iowa State University's Center for Nondestructive Evaluation as a research scientist, and joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University as an Associate Professor in 2006, obtaining tenure and promotion to the rank of Professor in 2012 and becoming a Fellow of the UK Institute of Physics in 2013. Nicola's research interests include nondestructive evaluation and materials characterization using eddy-current, four-point probe, capacitive and microwave sensors, and broadband dielectric spectroscopy applied, variously, to structural steels, metal powder, electrical insulation polymers and polymer-based composites. Nicola enjoys teaching courses in electronic properties of materials and eddy current nondestructive evaluation to senior undergraduates and graduate research students in engineering, for whom she hopes that this book will be helpful. She credits the late R. Bruce Thompson for supporting the writing of this book in its early stages, and her husband John R. Bowler for helping to envision it.