Evaluation of the detectability of flaws in a two layer structure: A simulation-based PoD study incorporating correlated variables

Abstract

Probability of Detection (PoD) models, in general, take into consideration one or multiple flaw parameters such as its length, maximum depth, and/or maximum surface area, and one flaw signal. However, due to correlation between the response signals, it might be necessary to consider multiple flaw response signals simultaneously. Hence, in this work, we demonstrate the possibility of including multiple correlated flaw signals, features, towards the construction of a PoD curve. The flaw features considered are the 3 components of the magnetic flux density. This is a simulation based PoD estimation for a narrow opening notch type flaw located in the sub-surface of a two-layer geometry. The inspection is carried out by an uniform eddy current probe that induces a spatially uniform fields into the conducting space, around the region of interest. The analysis was performed using the semi-analytical boundary element method (BEM).