Characterization of heat-treated bearing rings via measurement of electromagnetic properties for pulsed eddy current evaluation

Nondestructive evaluation of heat-treated bearing rings is a critical technique for quality control in industries. However, there are few reports addressing the complex mapping between hardness and electromagnetic properties due to the intricate changes in the microstructure. This paper proposes a dual-method approach, combining magnetic saturation eddy current techniques and Barkhausen noise reconstruction hysteresis loop techniques, to independently establish the relationship between hardness and electromagnetic properties. The results show that the electrical properties of unqualified specimens are significantly higher than those of other specimens, with qualified specimens have slightly higher properties than untreated ones. Additionally, an inverse relationship between hardness and magnetic properties is observed. Based on the obtained electromagnetic parameters, a pulsed eddy current hardness detection simulation model is established, which has the potential to improve purely data-driven methods for hardness detection in deep learning.