Methods of using nondestructive material inspection systems

A method of utilizing a nondestructive evaluation method to inspect a steel material comprising at least one hysteretic ferromagnetic material and/or at least one nonhysteretic material to identify one or more material conditions and/or one or more inhomogeneities in steel material, the method comprising the steps of:

• interrogating the hysteretic ferromagnetic material and/or the nonhysteretic material with an input time varying magnetic field;
• scanning the steel material and detecting a magnetic response and/or acoustic response over time from the hysteretic ferromagnetic material and/or the nonhysteretic material;
• determining a time dependent nonlinear characteristic of the received magnetic response and/or acoustic response;
• and
• correlating the time dependent nonlinear characteristic of the received magnetic response and/or acoustic response to the one or more material conditions and/or one or more inhomogeneities in steel material,
• wherein said one or more material conditions and/or one or more inhomogeneities in steel material comprises one selected from the group consisting of a hardness of the steel material, a grade or a type of the steel material, a presence of a material phase in the steel material, a presence of a hard spot in the steel material, a presence of metal loss or cracks in the steel material, a presence of a defect in the steel material, and any combination thereof.