Modeling internal defects in conductive materials using electric potential measurements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64804/9wkhqz81Keywords:
electric potential, Laplace's equation, finite-difference method, numerical modeling, non-destructive testing, equipotential lines, equipotentials, electric field visualizations, electric field mappingAbstract
In this project, a numerical model was developed to study how electric potential behaves inside a conductive material and how internal defects can affect its electrical response. The material was represented as a two-dimensional grid, where each grid corresponds to an electric potential. Using basic principles of electrical conduction, the system was modeled under steady-state conditions and solved numerically using a finite-difference approach to Laplace’s equation. Boundary conditions were applied by setting one side of the grid to a high potential while the other sides were grounded. After getting a steady-state solution, an internal defect was introduced by blocking a small region of the grid to simulate an insulating flaw. The resulting potential distributions were compared before and after the defect was added. The results showed that the presence of an internal defect caused noticeable changes in the potential pattern. These findings suggest that electrical measurements taken at the surface of a conductive object can give information about internal features, which supports the use of electrical methods or non-destructive testing.
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Data and code are available at https://github.com/devangel77b/426davalur-lab10
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