A Fast Forward Simulation Scheme for Eddy Current Testing of Crack in a Structure of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Laminate

High frequency Eddy Current Testing (ECT) is one of the key non-destructive testing techniques for ensuring integrity of a structure of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) material. An efficient numerical simulator is indispensable to enhance the performance of quantitative ECT for CFRP structures from both point of view of probe optimization and defect sizing. In this paper, a fast forward simulation scheme based on the A-$\phi $ formulation and databases approach is proposed, implemented and experimentally validated for the rapid and high precision simulation of ECT signals due to defects in a CFRP plate by updating an FEM-BEM hybrid code for ECT problem. Comparison of numerical results of the present method with those of the conventional full FEM-BEM code and the experimental results for artificial cracks in CFRP laminate plates indicates that the proposed novel fast forward scheme can predict ECT signals over 300 times faster but without worsening numerical accuracy, which enables it to be applied to efficient reconstruction of cracks in CFRP plates and for probe optimization.