The Lift-Off Effect in Eddy Currents on Thickness Modeling and Measurement

Abstract

This paper uses a linear transformer model to investigate the effect of the lift-off on the results of the thickness measurement of nonferromagnetic metallic plates. The transformer model previews that the time derivative of the magnetization curves obtained for different gaps between the excitation coil and the plate should intercept in a single point when low magnetic coupling factors are considered. To assess the validity of the model, results are compared with experimental data obtained with a giant magnetoresistive sensor probe. For comparison, the sensor output voltage time derivative must be performed as well. The similarity of the theoretical model results and those obtain experimentally with pulsed excitation, confirms the correctness of the transformer approach.