Contents

1 Introduction o 1.1 Strength of eddy currents

2 Applications o 2.1 Electrical o 2.2 Repulsive effects/levitation o 2.3 Mechanical

2.3.1 Structural Testing o 2.4 Side Effects o 2.5 Other Applications o 3 References

Introduction

An eddy current (also known as Foucault current) is an electrical phenomenon discovered by French physicist Léon Foucault in 1851. It is caused when a conductor is exposed to a changing magnetic field due to relative motion of the field source and conductor; or due to variations of the field with time. This can cause a circulating flow of electrons, or a current, within the conductor. These circulating eddies of current create electromagnets with magnetic fields that opposes the change of the magnetic field (see Lenz's law). The stronger the applied magnetic field, or the greater the electrical conductivity of the conductor, or the faster the field that the conductor is exposed to changes, then the greater the currents that are developed and the greater the opposing field.

The term eddy current comes from analogous currents seen in water when dragging an oar breadthwise: localised areas of turbulence known as eddies give rise to persistent vortices.

Eddy currents, like all electric currents, generate heat as well as electromagnetic forces. The heat can be harnessed for induction heating. The electromagnetic forces can be used for levitation, creating movement, or to give a strong braking effect. Eddy currents can often be minimised with thin plates, by lamination of conductors or other details of conductor shape.As the circular plate moves down through a small region of constant magnetic field directed into the page, eddy currents are induced in the plate. The direction of those currents is given by Lenz's law.

When a conductor moves relative to the field generated by a source, then electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) can be generated around loops within the conductor. These EMFs acting on the resistivity of the material generate a current around the loop, in accordance with Faraday's law of induction. These currents dissipate energy, and create a magnetic field that tends to oppose the changes in the field.

Eddy currents are created when a moving conductor experiences changes in the magnetic field generated by a stationary object, as well as when a stationary conductor encounters a varying magnetic field. Both effects are present when a conductor moves through a varying magnetic field, as is the case at the top and bottom edges of the magnetized region shown in the diagram. Eddy currents will be generated wherever a conducting object experiences a change in the intensity or direction of the magnetic field at any point within it, and not just at the boundaries.

The swirling current set up in the conductor is due to electrons experiencing a Lorentz force that is perpendicular to their motion. Hence, they veer to their right, or left, depending on the direction of the applied field and whether the strength of the field is increasing or declining. The resistivity of the conductor acts to damp the amplitude of the eddy currents, as well as straighten their paths. Lenz's law encapsulates the fact that the current swirls in such a way as to create an induced magnetic field that opposes the

phenomenon that created it. In the case of a varying applied field, the induced field will always be in the opposite direction to that applied. The same will be true when a varying external field is increasing in strength. However, when a varying field is falling in strength, the induced field will be in the same direction as that originally applied, in order to oppose the decline.

An object or part of an object experiences steady field intensity and direction where there is still relative motion of the field and the object (for example in the center of the field in the diagram), or unsteady fields where the currents cannot circulate due to the geometry of the conductor. In these situations charges collect on or within the object and these charges then produce static electric potentials that oppose any further current. Currents may be initially associated with the creation of static potentials, but these may be transitory and small.

Eddy currents generate resistive losses that transform useful forms of energy, such as kinetic energy, into heat, which is generally much less useful. In many devices, this Joule heating reduces efficiency of iron-core transformers and electric motors and other devices that use changing magnetic fields. Eddy currents are minimized in these devices by selecting magnetic core materials that have low electrical conductivity (e.g., ferrites) or by using thin sheets of magnetic material, known as laminations. Electrons cannot cross the insulating gap between the laminations and so are unable to circulate on wide arcs. Charges gather at the lamination boundaries, in a process analogous to the Hall effect, producing electric fields that oppose any further accumulation of charge and hence suppressing the eddy currents. The shorter the distance between adjacent laminations (i.e., the greater the number of laminations per unit area, perpendicular to the applied field), the greater the suppression of eddy currents.

The loss of useful energy is not always undesirable, however, as there are some practical applications. One is in the brakes of some trains known as an eddy current brake. During braking, the metal wheels are exposed to a magnetic field from an electromagnet, generating eddy currents in the wheels. The eddy currents meet resistance as charges flow through the metal, thus dissipating energy as heat, and this acts to slow the wheels down. The faster the wheels are spinning, the stronger the effect, meaning that as the train slows the braking force is reduced, producing a smooth stopping motion.

Strength of eddy currents

Some things usually increase the size and effects of eddy currents:

stronger magnetic fields faster changing fields (due to faster relative speeds or otherwise) thicker materials lower resistivity materials (aluminium, copper, silver etc.)

Some things reduce the effects

weaker magnets slower changing fields (slower relative speeds) thinner materials slotted materials so that currents cannot circulate laminated materials so that currents cannot circulate higher resistance materials (silicon rich iron etc.)

Applications

Electrical

Eddy currents are used to great effect in movement-to-electricity converters such as electrical generators and dynamic microphones.

Repulsive effects/levitation

Superconductors allow perfect, lossless conduction, which creates perpetually circulating eddy currents that are equal and opposite to the external magnetic field, thus allowing magnetic levitation. For the same reason, the magnetic field inside a superconducting medium will be exactly zero, regardless of the external applied field.

In addition, in a fast varying magnetic field the induced currents, in good conductors, particularly copper and aluminium, exhibit diamagnetic-like repulsion effects on the magnetic field, and hence on the magnet and can create repulsive effects and even stable levitation, albeit with reasonably high power dissipation due to the high currents this entails.

They can thus be used to induce a magnetic field in aluminum cans, which allows them to be separated easily from other recyclables.

Mechanical

Eddy currents are used for braking at the end of some roller coasters. This mechanism has no mechanical wear and produces a very precise braking force. Typically, heavy copper plates extending from the car are moved between pairs of very strong permanent magnets. Electrical resistance within the plates causes a dragging effect analogous to friction, which dissipates the kinetic energy of the car.

Structural Testing

Eddy current techniques are commonly used for the nondestructive examination (NDE) and condition monitoring of a large variety of metallic structures, including heat exchanger tubes, aircraft fuselage, and aircraft structural components.

Side Effects

Eddy currents are the root cause of the skin effect in conductors carrying AC current.

Other Applications

Metal detector Eddy current adjustable-speed drives Eddy-current testing Electric meters (Electromechanical Induction Meters) Eddy current brakes Induction cooker Metal detectors Proximity sensor (Displacement sensors) Traffic detection systems Vending machines (detection of coins) Coating Thickness Measurements [1] Eddy current separator for metal separation [2] Mechanical speedometers Safety Hazard and defect detection applications

References

1. ̂ Hand-Held Instruments - eddy current test method 2. ̂ Eddy current separators

Metal detectors use electromagnetic induction to detect metal. Uses include de-mining (the detection of land mines), the detection of weapons such as knives and guns, especially at airports, geophysical prospecting, archaeology and treasure hunting. Metal detectors are also used to detect foreign bodies in food, and in the construction industry to detect steel reinforcing bars in concrete and pipes and wires buried in walls and floors.

In its simplest form, a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field. If a piece of electrically conductive metal is close to the coil, eddy currents will be induced in the metal, and this produces an alternating magnetic field of its own. If another coil is used to measure the magnetic field (acting as a magnetometer), the change in the magnetic field due to the metallic object can be detected.

History and developmen The first detectors

Toward the end of the 19th century, many scientists and engineers used their growing knowledge of electrical theory in an attempt to devise a machine which would pinpoint metal. The use of such a device to find ore-bearing rocks would give a huge advantage to any miner who employed it. The German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove invented the induction balance system, which was incorporated into metal detectors a hundred years later. Early machines were crude, used a lot of battery power, and worked only to a very limited degree. Alexander Graham Bell used such a device to attempt to locate a bullet lodged in the chest of American President James Garfield in 1881; the attempt was unsuccessful because the metal bed Garfield was lying on confused the detector.[1]

Modern developments

The modern development of the metal detector began in the 1930s. Gerhard Fisher had developed a system of radio direction-finding, which was to be used for accurate navigation. The system worked extremely well, but Fisher noticed that there were anomalies in areas where the terrain contained ore-bearing rocks. He reasoned that if a radio beam could be distorted by metal, then it should be possible to design a machine which would detect metal using a search coil resonating at a radio frequency. In 1937 he applied for, and was granted, the first patent for a metal detector. However, it was one Lieutenant Josef Stanislaw Kosacki, a Polish officer attached to a unit stationed in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland during the early years of World War II, that refined the design into a practical detector. They were heavy, ran on vacuum tubes, and needed separate battery packs. The design invented by Stanislaw was used extensively during the clearance of the German mine fields during the Second Battle of El Alamein when 500 units were shipped to Field Marshal Montgomery to clear the minefields of the retreating Germans, and later used during the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Allied invasion of Italy and the Invasion of Normandy. As it was a wartime research operation to create and refine the design of the detector, the knowledge that Stanislaw created the first practical metal detector was kept secret for over 50 years.

After the war, there were plenty of surplus mine detectors on the market; they were bought up by relic hunters who used them for fun and profit. This helped to form metal detecting into a hobby.Further refinements

Many manufacturers of these new devices brought their own ideas to the market. Whites Electronics of Oregon began in the 50's by building a machine called the Oremaster Geiger Counter. Another leader in detector technology was Charles Garrett, who pioneered the BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) machine. With the invention and development of the transistor in the 50's and 60's, metal detector manufacturers and designers made smaller lighter machines with improved circuitry, running on small battery packs. Companies sprang up all over the USA and Britain to supply the growing demand.

Larger portable metal detectors are used by archaeologists and treasure hunters to locate metallic items, such as jewelry, coins, bullets, and other various artifacts buried shallowly underground.

Discriminators

Technological changes were taking place at a rapid rate too, and very few of the smaller companies managed to stay in competition with the big outfits. GOLDAK, METROTECH, IGWT, TEC, and, quite recently, ARADO ceased production of hobby machines. Some devotees of metal detecting still treasure their Arado machines, which had a reputation for being difficult to set up, but were reputed to be the deepest-seeking hobby detectors ever made. The biggest technical change in detectors was the development of the induction-balance system, where two coils are set up in an electrical equilibrium to produce a 'null' or zero balance. Introducing metal to the vicinity of the coils caused them to unbalance, producing a change of tone in the machine's speaker. Scientists had long known that every metal has a specific response to stimulation by alternating current. Each metal produces a time lag or 'phase angle' in its induced current, in relation to the drive current. This meant that detectors could now be set up to ignore unwanted phase angles, and respond positively only to desired metals. But there was also a downside to the development of the 'discriminator' detectors. Introducing discrimination always had the effect of reducing the sensitivity of the machine, so it was less able to find deep objects. In addition, there was the fact that some desirable metals were quite near the area of unwanted metals, such as iron. Gold, particularly in alloy form, was quite close to tinfoil in the overall spectrum, so the discrimination control had to be used carefully. The price to be paid for setting up a detector to ignore iron and tinfoil was the possibility that, sooner or later, the user would scan over, and ignore, a valuable find - perhaps a diamond engagement ring on a beach.

New coil designs

Coil designers also tried out innovative designs. The original Induction Balance coil system consisted of two identical coils placed on top of one another. Compass Electronics produced a new design; the two coils were made in a D shape, and were mounted back-

to-back to form a circle. This system was widely used in the 1970s, and both concentric and D type (or Widescan as they became known) had their fans. Another development was the invention of detectors which could cancel out the effect of mineralization in the ground. This gave greater depth, but was a non-discriminate mode. It worked best at lower frequencies than those used before, and frequencies of 3 to 20 kHz were found to produce the best results. Many detectors in the 1970s had a switch which enabled the user to switch between the discriminate mode and the non-discriminate mode. Later developments switched electronically between both modes. The development of the Induction Balance detector would ultimately result in the Motion detector, which constantly checked and balanced the background mineralization.

Pulse induction

A pulse induction metal detector with an array of coils

At the same time, developers were looking at using a completely different type of technology in metal detectors. This was the process known as Pulse Induction. Unlike the Beat Frequency Oscillator or the Induction Balance machines which both used a uniform alternating current at a low radio frequency, the pulse induction machine simply fired a high-voltage pulse of signal into the ground. In the absence of metal, the 'spike' decayed at a uniform rate, and the time it took to fall to zero volts could be accurately measured. However, if metal was present when the machine fired, a small current would flow in the metal, and the time for the voltage to drop to zero would be increased. These time differences were minute, but the improvement in electronics made it possible to measure them accurately and identify the presence of metal at a reasonable distance. These new machines had one major advantage: they were completely impervious to the effects of

mineralization, and rings and other jewellery could now be located even under highly-mineralized 'black sand . They had one major disadvantage too: there was no way to incorporate discrimination into a Pulse induction detector. At least, that was the perceived wisdom of scientists and engineers until Eric Foster, who had run Location Technology in Ireland for many years, started a new company in Britain and produced the Goldscan, the first Pulse Induction detector which had the apparent ability to differentiate between metals. This was a new type of 'junk eliminator' circuit, which relied on the size of the target as well as its metallic response to give a control that would show positive for a gold ring and negative for a copper coin. Its ability to differentiate between non-ferrous metals was not an exact science, but gave unparalleled depth on mineralized soil or sand. Pulse Induction detectors are now widely used in the construction industry; the Whites PI-150 is an industrial machine which can detect large objects to 10 feet, using a 12 or 15 inch coil.

Future detectors

Modern top models are fully computerized, using microchip technology to allow the user to set sensitivity, discrimination, track speed, threshold volume, notch filters, etc., and hold these parameters in memory for future use. Compared to just a decade ago, detectors are lighter, deeper-seeking, use less battery power, and discriminate better.

New genres of metal detector have made their appearance. BB (Beat Balance) and CCO (Coil Coupled Operation) were unveiled by the electronics press in 2004. Both were invented by electronics writer and designer Thomas Scarborough and combine unprecedented simplicity with good sensitivit

Uses of metal detector

Metal detectors in archeology

In England and Wales metal detecting is legal provided permission is granted by the landowner, and the area is not a Scheduled Ancient Monument or covered by elements of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Voluntary reporting of finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme or the UK Detector Finds Database is encouraged. These schemes have their critics, however, including some archaeologists and metal detectorists. The situation in Scotland is very different. Under the Scots law principle of bona vacantia[1], the Crown has claim over any object of any material where the original owner cannot be traced. There is also no 300 year limit to Scottish finds. Any artifact found, whether by metal detector survey or from an archaeological excavation, must be reported to the Crown through the Treasure Trove Advisory Panel at the National Museums of Scotland. The Panel then determines what will happen to the artifacts. Reporting is not voluntary, and failure to report the discovery of historic artifacts is a criminal offense in Scotland.

Archeology is beginning to recognize the contribution responsible metal detecting provides in adding to the knowledge of our past. One example is utilizing the skilled use of the metal detector to examine wide areas such as battlefield sites where surface scatters

of metal objects may be all that survives. This has recently been demonstrated during archaeological work conducted at Antietam National Battlefield in the United States.[citation

needed]

As a hobby

This 156 ounce nugget was found by an individual prospector in the Southern California Desert using a metal detector.

Many people use consumer metal detectors to look for coins on the beach. Most metal detectors are good to detect metal only within a foot or so below the ground. The detection depth depends on the type of metal detector, type of metal in the buried object, size of buried object, type of metals in the ground, and other objects in the ground.

There are five major types of hobbyist activities involving metal detectors:

Coin shooting is looking for coins after an event involving many people, like a baseball game, or simply looking for any old coins. Serious coin shooters will spend hours, days and months doing historical research to locate long lost sites that have the potential to give up historical and collectible coins.

Prospecting is looking for valuable metal like gold and silver. Relic hunting is very similar to coin shooting except that the relic hunter is after

any type of historical artifact, relic hunters are usually very determined and dedicated not only to the research and hunting that they do but also to preserving historical artifacts. Coins, Minié balls, buttons, axe heads, and buckles are just a few of the items that are commonly found by relic hunters.

Treasure hunting is looking for valuable items in general. Beach combing is hunting for lost coins or jewellery lost on a beach. Beach

hunting can be as simple or as complicated as one wishes to make it. Many dedicated beach hunters also familiarize themselves with tide movements and beach erosion.

Security screening

Metal detectors at an airport

The first industrial metal detectors were developed in the 1960s and were used extensively for mining and other industrial applications. A series of aircraft hijackings led the Finnish company Outokumpu to adapt mining metal detectors, still housed in a large cylindrical pipe, to the purpose of screening airline passengers as they walked through. The development of these systems continued in a spin off company and systems branded as Metor Metal Detectors evolved in the form of the rectangular gantry now standard in airports. In common with the developments in other uses of metal detectors both alternating current and pulse systems are used, and the design of the coils and the electronics has moved forward to improve the discrimination of these systems. In 1995 systems such as the Metor 200 appeared with the ability to indicate the approximate height of the metal object above the ground, enabling security personnel to more rapidly locate the source of the signal. Smaller hand held metal detectors are also used to locate a metal object on a person more precisely.

Industrial metal detectors

Industrial metal detectors are used in the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, textile, plastics, chemicals, and packaging industries.

Safety

Contamination of food by metal shards from broken processing machinery during manufacture is a major safety issue in the food industry. Metal detectors for this purpose are widely used and integrated in the production line.

Eddy-current testing

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Eddy-current testing uses electromagnetic induction to detect flaws in conductive materials. There are several limitations, among them: only conductive materials can be tested, the surface of the material must be accessible, the finish of the material may cause bad readings, the depth of penetration into the material is limited, and flaws that lie parallel to the probe may be undetectable.

However, eddy-current testing can detect very small cracks in or near the surface of the material, the surfaces need minimal preparation, and physically complex geometries can be investigated. It is also useful for making electrical conductivity and coating thickness measurements.

The testing devices are portable, provide immediate feedback, and do not need to contact the item in question. Recently tomographic notion of ECT has been explored see for example:

Speedometer

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An animation of an Aston Martin speedometer, showing how an eddy-current speedometer indicates the vehicle's speed.

A speedometer is a device that measures the instantaneous speed of a land vehicle.

Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the 1900s, and as standard equipment from about 1910 onwards.[1]

Speedometers for other vehicles have specific names and use other means of sensing speed. For a boat, this is a pit log. For an aircraft, this is an airspeed indicator.

The speedometer was invented by the Croatian Josip Belušić in 1888, and was originally called a velocimeter.

Eddy current

An eddy-current speedometer gauge on a car, showing the speed of the vehicle in kilometres per hour. Also shown is the tachometer, which displays the rate of rotation of the engine's crankshaft.The eddy-current speedometer has been used for over a century and is still in widespread use. Until the 1980s and the appearance of electronic speedometers it was the only type commonly used.

Originally patented by a German, Otto Schulze on 7 October 1902,[2] it uses a rotating flexible cable usually driven by gearing linked to the tail shaft (output) of the vehicle's transmission. The early Volkswagen Beetle and many motorcycles, however, use a cable driven from a front wheel.

A small permanent magnet affixed to the rotating cable interacts with a small aluminum cup (called a speedcup) attached to the shaft of the pointer on the analogue instrument. As the magnet rotates near the cup, the changing magnetic field produces eddy currents in the cup, which themselves produce another magnetic field. The effect is that the magnet "drags" the cup, and thus the speedometer pointer, in the direction of its rotation with no mechanical connection between them.[1]

The pointer shaft is held toward zero by a fine spring. The torque on the cup increases with the speed of rotation of the magnet (which, recall, is driven by the car's transmission.) Thus an increase in the speed of the car will twist the cup and speedometer pointer against the spring. When the torque due to the eddy currents in the cup equals that provided by the spring on the pointer shaft, the pointer will remain motionless and pointing to the appropriate number on the speedometer's dial.

The return spring is calibrated such that a given revolution speed of the cable corresponds to a specific speed indication on the speedometer. This calibration must take into aseveral

factors, including ratios of the tailshaft gears that drive the flexible cable, the final drive ratio in the differential, and the diameter of the driven tires. The speedometer mechanism often also drives an odometer plus a small switch that sends pulses to the vehicle's engine computer.

Electronic

Many modern speedometers are electronic. A rotation sensor, usually mounted on the rear of the transmission, delivers a series of electronic pulses whose frequency corresponds to the rotational speed of the driveshaft. The sensor is typically a toothed metal disk positioned between a coil and a magnetic field sensor. As the disk turns, the teeth pass between the two, each time producing a pulse in the sensor as they affect the strength of the magnetic field it is measuring.[1]

A computer converts the pulses to a speed and displays this speed on an electronically-controlled, analog-style needle or a digital display. Pulse counts may also be used to increment the odometer.

Another early form of electronic speedometer relies upon the interaction between a precision watch mechanism and a mechanical pulsator driven by the car's wheel or transmission. The watch mechanism endeavors to push the speedometer pointer toward zero, while the vehicle-driven pulsator tries to push it toward infinity. The position of the speedometer pointer reflects the relative magnitudes of the outputs of the two mechanisms.

Eddy Currents Faraday’s Law implies that a changing magnetic flux produces an induced electric field even in empty space.

If a metal plate is inserted into this empty space the induced electric field produces an electric current in the metal. These induced currents are called eddy currents.

If the induced currents are created by a changing magnetic field then the Eddy currents will be perpendicular to the magnetic field and flowing in circles if the B-field is uniform.

These induced electric fields are very different from electrostatic electric fields of point charges. For one thing they do not began and end on charges but circle around on them self in loops. Second, and more importantly practically, the induced electric field is nonconservative , i.e. the work done by generated electric field can not be recovered except as heat.

A light bulb in a microwave QTMovie (1.3M) is an example of eddy current heating. All electromagnetic waves are oscillating electric and magnetic fields which are moving in space.

Eddy currents are useful to dissipate unwanted energy like the swinging arm of mechanical balance. Magnetic in the end of the balance support sets up eddy currents in a metal plate attached to the end of the arm.

Eddy currents can also be used as a effective braking force in rapid transit train cars. Elecrtomagnets on the train near the train’s rails are turned on creating eddy currents the rails. As an added side effect, the magnitude of the dissipation of energy is a function of the speed of the train – the change in flux – so that as the trains slows so does the retarding force, producing a smooth stop. Another advantage is that there are no pads to were out.

Eddy currents are undesirable in transformers. A metal core is used in the transformer to increase the flux. Unfortunately, the eddy currents produced in the metal core increase the energy lost. By constructing the metal core of alternating layers of conducting and nonconducting materials, the size of the induced loop are reduced thereby reducing the energy lost. The buzz you often hear when you are near a transformer substation is the due to alternating layers vibrating against each other.

Transformer

Yet another interesting use of the Eddy current drag force effect is found in the electric meter that measures the amount of electricity being used in your house. In the lower portion of each meter is a thin aluminum disk that is always revolving. That disk is moving in a magnetic field so that there is always an eddy current trying to slow the disk down. This makes the meter more accurate.

Eddy currents can kill you during a lighting storm. You do not have to be struck directly to be killed. If you actually are directly struck by a lighting bolt, you would be obliterated. Most people who die are usually only near the lighting strike. If you are standing next to, but not touching a metal pole that is struck by lighting the induced eddy currents in your body which is mostly salty water - good conductor - can also fry you as the sudden flow of charge (on the order of 10,000 Amps) rushes down the metal pole creates large induced magnetic field around it that is changing with time. It is this changing field which induces the eddy currents in your body.