What Is Eddy Current Array (ECA)?
ECA is an advanced electromagnetic technique that detects surface and near-surface flaws in conductive materials. Multiple coils in an array probe scan large areas quickly, producing encoded C-scan images for accurate defect mapping.
Key Benefits
- Detects surface cracks, sub-surface corrosion, and wall loss
- Covers wide areas in one pass — much faster than single-coil ECT
- Provides traceable, high-resolution data with positional accuracy
- Works without chemicals (unlike MPI or PT)
- Probes can be rigid or flexible to suit different geometries
Applications
- Pipelines: external surface scanning for SCC, corrosion, and hard spots
- Welds: rapid screening of weld areas in pipes and tanks
- Tubes: efficient heat exchanger tube inspection (pitting, cracking, corrosion)
How It Works
ECA probes use multiplexing to activate coils in sequence, reducing interference and maximizing coverage. Each coil captures positional data, which is combined into a detailed defect map. Tools such as Spyne can scan up to 600 mm/s with 200 mm coverage per pass, detecting defects as small as 2 mm long × 1 mm deep.
