Measuring Lift-Off Distance and Electromagnetic Property of Metal Using Dual-Frequency Linearity Feature

Lift-offs of the sensor could significantly affect the measurement signal and reconstruction of material properties when using the electromagnetic (inductive) eddy current (EC) sensor. Previously, various methods (including novel sensor designs, and features like zero-crossing frequency, lift-off point of intercept) have been used for eliminating the measurement error caused by the lift-off distance effect of the sensor. However, these approaches can only be applied for a small range of lift-off variations. In this article, a linear relationship has been found between the sensor lift-off and ratio of dual-frequency EC signals, particularly under the high working dual frequencies. Based on this linear relationship, the lift-off variation can be reconstructed first with a small error of 2.5% when its actual value is up to 10 mm (10.1% for 20 mm). The reconstructed lift-off is used to further get the property of the material under a low single frequency. Experiments on different ferrous metals have been carried out for the testing of the reconstruction scheme. Since the inductance is more sensitive to the material property (and less sensitive to the lift-off) under low frequencies, the reconstruction error of the material property is much smaller than that of the lift-off, with 1.4% under 12 mm (and 4.5% under 20 mm).