Profile

Edouard Demaldent received the PhD degree in applied mathematics in 2009. Since then, he has been working on high order boundary and finite element methods for the modelling of electromagnetic and ultrasonic non-destructive testing at CEA List, France. Since 2020, he has headed the acoustic modelling and simulation laboratory.

Abstract

Eddy Current and Ultrasound Modelling Principles

The role of simulation to assist in analysis and to demonstrate the performance of non-destructive testing processes is well established, and various software solutions are today available. The strengthening of 3D numerical approaches such as the finite element method now allows access to new configurations, sometimes beyond the limits of the fast, semi-analytical models that have already been operational for a long time. Meanwhile, the needs have evolved over the years with the demand for influence analysis of an increasing number of input parameters to deal with the uncertainties of the inspection. Thus, modelling simplification based on an idealization of the working hypotheses remains critical to achieve high computing performance required to create a simulated database. Therefore, the challenge is to find a balance between genericity and idealization of the models to ensure the best compromise between the fidelity of the simulated signal and the fastness of the computation. In this presentation we will come back to these general issues and illustrate them through two typical assesments of nuclear power plants: the inspection of steam generator tubes by eddy current and of welds by ultrasounds. The strategy for developing new simulation tools dedicated to these applications in the CIVA platform will serve as a framework. Especially, the technical advances made by CEA List within the framework of the first work package of the H2020 Advise project for the ultrasonic modeling by high order finite elements of a weld bead described at the macroscopic scale will be briefly introduced.