Modelling and evaluation of HF‐RFID signal propagation characterisations under material properties variation

Abstract

Previous electromagnetic (EM) wave-based approaches to evaluate material physical properties are focused on applications of GHz and THz. High-frequency radio-frequency identification (HF-RFID, 13.56 MHz) is low-cost and mostly used as communication solution. Material properties variation can be affected by damage (such as defects or fatigue). In this study, the authors present a preliminary study that applies HF-RFID on non-destructive testing and evaluation. The evaluation model of HF-RFID signal propagation characterisations under material EM properties variation is demonstrated. Simulations and experiments for oil debris monitoring and metal surface defect detection are demonstrated and simulations are in good agreement with experiment results. (i) In oil debris monitoring experiment, as the debris amount in the 25 ml breaker increases from 0.0 to 2.0 g, penetration signal decreases by 7.8% and reflected signal increases by 174.3%. (ii) In metal surface defect experiment, as the defect size increases from 1 to 5 mm, reflected signal decreases by 1.0%. The authors’ work also presents a blueprint for non-destructive testing method using other high-frequency devices.