Surface Eddy Current: Find Weld Cracks Through Paint and Coatings, No Surface Prep Required.
What it is
The Surface Eddy Current uses tangential eddy current array (TECA) technology to detect and size cracks along carbon steel butt welds, reading through paint and protective coatings, so there’s no surface preparation step before scanning starts. Its spring-loaded fingers flex to the weld reinforcement profile, covering the reinforcement, toe, and heat-affected zone in a single pass.
This is a different kind of coverage to the AUT/corrosion mapping payload, which builds a full-area thickness map across a zone. Surface Eddy Current is built specifically for weld line crack detection, sizing depth and length along the weld itself, which is the standard requirement for pressure vessel and refinery weld inspection cycles.
How it works
01
Mount to the robot
A custom-engineered mount attaches the Surface Eddy Current securely to the robot’s front, positioning it for consistent, direct contact with the weld line as the robot travels steadily along the inspected surface.
02
Conform and contact
The probe’s spring-loaded fingers flex to the weld reinforcement profile, maintaining contact across the reinforcement, toe, and heat-affected zone without needing coating removal first.
03
Scan the weld
The TECA array scans along the weld at up to 600 mm/s, with a built-in encoder tracking position as it travels.
04
Locate and size defects
eadings are processed into automatic crack length and depth readings, with 2D/3D C-scans for defect review.
Surface Eddy Current/Crack Detection
Overview
The Surface Eddy Current probe is manufactured by Eddyfi Technologies. We mount it onto our climbing robot’s payload interface, so TECA-based weld crack detection can run on vertical and overhead surfaces without rope access or scaffolding. The exact mount and control configuration is scoped per project.
Use case
- Butt weld crack detection on pressure vessels, storage tanks, and piping girth and longitudinal welds
- Weld inspection on coated carbon steel, without stripping paint or protective coatings first
- Refinery and process plant turnarounds, where fast, repeatable crack sizing helps reduce downtime
- Complementing or replacing manual MT on welds where speed and coating penetration matter most
Benefits
01
No coating removal
Scans directly through paint and protective coatings, cutting the surface prep step other methods require.
02
Faster than MT
High-speed scanning up to 600 mm/s, without the consumables and setup time of magnetic particle testing.
03
Full weld zone in one pass
Reinforcement, toe, and heat-affected zone covered together, rather than requiring separate setups per zone.
04
Positioned and repeatable
Built-in encoder tracks location along the weld, so results can be referenced back to an exact position.
05
Suited to safety-critical welds
Accurate depth and length sizing, on demand, for the welds where a missed or unsized crack carries the highest consequence, the joints you can least afford to get wrong.
06
Mounted on the same platform
Like our other payloads, Surface Eddy Current is carried by our robots rather than a technician on rope access, extending weld inspection to vertical and overhead structures.
Full-area coverage vs. sampling
| Criteria | Manual MT | Surface Eddy Current |
|---|---|---|
| Surface prep | Often requires coating removal | 3D internal structure of concrete, thickness, rebar layers, voids, delaminations, and cracks |
| Speed | Slower, manual process per section | HB2 & HB3 |
| Output | Visual indication, technician-judged | MIRA (up to 32 channels, up to 3 m depth) or PUNDIT (up to 8 channels, up to 2 m depth, AI/AR-assisted) |
| Record | Limited, dependent on technician notes | Internal structural assessment of walls, columns, and large vertical concrete surfaces from single-sided access |
| Consumables | Required (magnetic particles, developer) | Static Camera or Half-cell, for a full surface-condition and subsurface-condition record |
| Best suited to | Where MT is the established/required method | Static Camera or Half-cell, for a full surface-condition and subsurface-condition record |
Frequently asked questions
Do you manufacture the Surface Eddy Current ?
No, Surface Eddy Current is manufactured by Eddyfi Technologies. We integrate it as a mounted payload on our robotic platform, engineering the interface and control so it can operate on vertical and overhead surfaces without a technician present.
Does Surface Eddy Current replace magnetic particle testing (MT) entirely?
It’s built as a faster, cleaner alternative for carbon steel weld crack detection. Whether it satisfies your specific inspection standard or client requirement is worth discussing during scoping, we’ll be direct about where it fits and where it doesn’t.
What depth of crack can Surface Eddy Current detect?
Up to 7 mm, measured without removing coatings first.
Can Surface Eddy Current be mounted on your climbing robot for vertical or overhead surfaces?
Yes, that’s the core reason we integrate it. It’s mounted the same way our other payloads are, letting weld inspection run on surfaces that would otherwise need rope access or scaffolding.
Need weld crack detection without stripping coatings first?
Tell us about the weld, vessel, or structure you need inspected, and we’ll be straightforward about whether Surface Eddy Current is the right fit and what’s achievable today.
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