Electrical Resistance-Based Characterization of Carbon Steel Using Controlled Current Injection and Parameter...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Physics

Background:

• Electrical resistance is a key property for characterizing carbon steels, influenced by various factors like composition and temperature.
• Accurate electrical characterization is crucial for understanding material properties and ensuring quality control in steel applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an experimental methodology for electrical resistance-based characterization of AISI 1045 carbon steel.
• To compare the effectiveness of a least-squares resistance estimator against a mean-based estimator.
• To establish a reproducible framework for low-resistance characterization of metallic specimens.

Main Methods:

• Utilized controlled current injection and a four-terminal measurement configuration.
• Integrated DC-modulated excitation, synchronized voltage-current acquisition, and signal preprocessing.
• Employed offline resistance estimation using Python 3 scripts and a least-squares formulation.

Main Results:

• The least-squares estimator yielded highly repeatable resistance values (443.43–445.55 μΩ) with low dispersion.
• Resistivity values derived from least-squares estimation (1.823–2.263 × 10⁻⁷ Ω·m) aligned with theoretical values for AISI 1045 steel.
• The least-squares method demonstrated superior precision and reproducibility compared to the mean-based estimator.

Conclusions:

• Controlled current injection, four-terminal sensing, and least-squares estimation provide a reproducible framework for carbon steel characterization.
• The methodology is adaptable for various metallic specimens, steel grades, and experimental conditions.
• This approach enhances the ability to characterize materials based on their electrical resistance properties.