An electromagnetic model for eddy-current imaging

In this paper, a model is presented for the interaction between an eddy-current probe system and a localized flaw in a test piece. The model is expressed in terms of the electromagnetic fields generated by the probe in the absence of the flaw, which are evaluated on an imaging surface near or on the surface of the test piece. Assuming that the quasistatic fields scattered by the flaw are proportional to immittance coefficients that are independent of the probe position, explicit expressions for the point-spread functions of the probe are derived. Knowledge of these functions permits one to optimize probe design and identify appropriate image-processing techniques. In contrast with optical image processing, it is shown that more than one point-spread function may be required to characterize a flaw image produced by an eddy-current probe.