Complex Magnetic Permeability Evaluation of Steel Fibers Using Eddy Current NDE and Inverse Problem Methods

This paper presents a simple approach for evaluating the complex magnetic permeability of the steel fibers used in concrete according to frequency. The approach utilises the eddy current non-destructive evaluation method, where the electrical impedance is measured using a precision LCR meter and computed using a magneto-harmonic model solved in Py-FEMM software. Initially, the electrical conductivity of the steel fiber is measured using a two-contact DC method. Then, the inverse problem method is applied to identify the complex magnetic permeability. This is achieved by iteratively minimising the difference between the calculated and measured impedances using a simplex optimization algorithm. The proposed approach offers a non-contact, non-destructive, fast, and efficient procedure to evaluate the complex permeability. The obtained results provide valuable insights into evaluating the distribution of steel fibers in concrete. © 2023, Electromagnetics Academy. All rights reserved.