A study of the determination of surface crack shape by the electric potential method.

This paper describes the procedure for determining surface crack shape using the Line Spring Analysis in the electric potential method. Line Spring Analysis can be used to solve three-dimensional electric potential problems by use of personal computers, over a short computational time. The hardware and software systems for the determination of surface crack shape are developed using a personal computer, based on Line Spring Analysis. A demonstration was made for a semi-elliptical surface crack in a rectangular A 533 B steel plate, and the determined crack shape coincided with the real one.