A Review of The History of Eddy Current Testing（涡流检测的历史回顾）

A Review of The History of Eddy Current Testing（涡流检测的历史回顾）

The phenomenon of eddy currents was discovered by French physicist LeonFoucault in 1851, and for this reason eddy currents are sometimes calledFoucault currents. Foucault built a device that used a copper disk moving in astrong magnetic field to show that eddy currents (magnetic fields) aregenerated when a material moves within an applied magnetic field.

Eddy current testing began largely as a result of the English scientistMichael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831. Faradaydiscovered that when a magnetic field passes through a conductor (a material inwhich electrons move easily)-or when a conductor passes through a magnetic field-anelectric current will flow through the conductor if there is a closed paththrough which the current can circulate. In 1879, another breakthrough was madewhen another English scientist, David Hughes, demonstrated how the propertiesof a coil change when placed in contact with metals of different conductivityand permeability. However, it was not until the Second World War that thesedevelopments in the transmitting and receiving of electromagnetic waves wereput to practical use for materials testing.

Beginning in 1933, in Germany, while working for theKaiser-Wilhelm-Institute, Professor Friedrich Förster adapted eddy currenttechnology to industrial use, developing instruments for measuring conductivityand for sorting mixed-up ferrous components. In 1948, Förster founded his owncompany in Reutlingen, a business based on eddy current testing that continuesto this day. Other companies soon followed. Many advances were made throughoutthe 1950s and 1960s, especially in the aircraft and nuclear industries. Therehave been many recent developments in eddy current testing, leading to improvedperformance and the development of new applications. Eddy current testing isnow a widely used and well-understood inspection technique for flaw detectionas well as for thickness and conductivity measurements.

涡流现象是由法国物理学家利昂·傅科于 1851 年发现的，因此涡流有时也被称为傅科电流。傅科制造了一种装置，利用在强磁场中移动的铜盘来展示当材料在施加的磁场中移动时会产生涡流（磁场）。

涡流检测很大程度上源于英国科学家迈克尔·法拉第于 1831 年发现的电磁感应。法拉第发现，当磁场穿过导体（一种电子容易移动的材料）时，或者当导体穿过磁场时，如果存在一个闭合路径让电流流通，就会有电流流过导体。1879 年，另一位英国科学家大卫·休斯展示了当线圈与不同导电性和磁导率的金属接触时其特性如何变化。然而，直到第二次世界大战，电磁波的发射和接收方面的这些发展才被实际用于材料检测。

1933 年起，在德国，弗里德里希·福斯特教授在凯撒·威廉研究所工作期间，将涡流技术应用于工业用途，开发出了用于测量导电性和对混杂的铁磁性部件进行分类的仪器。1948 年，福斯特在劳滕林根创立了自己的公司，这是一家基于涡流检测技术的企业，一直延续至今。其他公司很快也纷纷效仿。在 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代，涡流检测技术取得了许多进展，尤其是在航空和核工业领域。近年来，涡流检测技术又有许多新的发展，性能得以提升，新的应用也不断涌现。如今，涡流检测已成为一种广泛使用且被充分理解的检测技术，用于缺陷检测以及厚度和导电率测量。

A Review of The History of Eddy Current Testing（涡流检测的历史回顾）