Apparatus for testing shaped surfaces by employing eddy currents

摘要

Eddy current inspection of a contoured surface (14) of a workpiece (12) is performed by forming a backing piece (18) of flexible, resiliently yieldable material with a contoured exterior surface (26) conforming in shape to the workpiece contoured surface (14). The backing piece is preferably cast in place so as to conform to the workpiece contoured surface. A flexible eddy current array probe (20) is attached to the contoured exterior surface (26) of the backing piece (18) such that the probe (20) faces the contoured surface (14) of the workpiece (12) to be inspected when the backing piece (18) is disposed adjacent to the workpiece (12). The backing piece (18) is then expanded volumetrically by inserting at least one shim (32) into a slot (28) in the backing piece (18) to provide sufficient contact pressure between the probe (20) and the workpiece contoured surface (14) to enable the inspection of the workpiece contoured surface to be performed.