High-Frequency Electromagnetic Induction Sensing of Nonmetallic Materials

Abstract

We introduce a frequency-domain electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument for detection and classification of objects with either high ( $\sigma > 10^{5}~\textrm {S/m}$ ) or intermediate ( $1 ) electrical conductivity. While high conductivity metallic targets exhibit a quadrature peak response for frequencies in a traditional EMI regime under 100 kHz, the response of intermediate conductivity objects manifests at higher frequencies, between 100 kHz and 15 MHz. Materials such as carbon fiber or conducting salt solutions exhibit conductivities in this intermediate range and are undetectable by traditional low-frequency EMI instruments. To detect these intermediate conductivity targets, we developed a high-frequency EMI (HFEMI) instrument with a frequency range extended to 15 MHz. The HFEMI instrument requires novel hardware considerations, coil design, and data processing schemes. Most importantly, the wire lengths of transmit and receive coils are shorter than those of traditional frequency EMI sensors, so that the phase on the transmit and receive coils is nearly constant. We present the hardware and software aspects of the HFEMI instrument along with preliminary data, demonstrating its ability to detect intermediate conductive objects.