Pulsed electromagnetic methods for defect detection and characterisation

The magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method has very good defect detection and location capabilities, but defect sizing capabilities, especially for sub-surface defect characterisation, are limited. The pulsed magnetic flux leakage (PMFL) technique has recently been introduced and shown to have great potential for automated defect sizing for surface-breaking defects using time-frequency signal processing techniques, but sizing of sub-surface defects has proved problematic. In this paper, pulsed magnetic reluctance (PMR), a new electromagnetic (EM) non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique, is introduced and incorporated into a dual PMFL/PMR probe for the characterisation of surface and sub-surface defects in ferromagnetic materials. Experimental results from a comparison study of the two techniques using variety of defects analysed using time-frequency analysis show that the techniques offer complementary information, with PMFL providing defect location data and data for the characterisation of surface defects and PMR offering sub-surface defect characterisation capabilities. The work concludes that integration of these inspection techniques in the new pulsed EM probe can provide enhanced defect characterisation capabilities for flux leakage-based inspection systems using relatively simple time-frequency signal processing techniques.     

Experiment and simulation study of 3D magnetic field sensing for magnetic flux leakage defect characterisation

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) testing is widely used to detect and characterise defects in pipelines, rail tracks and other structures. The measurement of the two field components perpendicular to the test surface and parallel to the applied field in MFL systems is well established. However, it is rarely effective when the shapes of the specimens and defects with respect to the applied field are arbitrary. In order to overcome the pitfalls of traditional MFL measurement, measurement of the three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field is proposed. The study is undertaken using extensive finite element analysis (FEA) focussing on the 3D distribution of magnetic fields for defect characterisation and employing a high sensitivity 3-axis magnetic field sensor in experimental study. Several MFL tests were undertaken on steel samples, including a section of rail track. The experimental and FEA test results show that data from not only the x- and z-axes but also y-axis can give comprehensive positional information about defects in terms of shape and orientation, being especially advantageous where the defect is aligned close to parallel to the applied field. The work concludes that 3D magnetic field sensing could be used to improve the defect characterisation capabilities of existing MFL systems, especially where defects have irregular geometries.     

Velocity effect analysis of dynamic magnetization in high speed magnetic flux leakage inspection

The investigation described in this paper focuses on the velocity effect of dynamic magnetization and magnetic hysteresis due to rapid relative motion between magnetizer and measured specimens in high-speed magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection. Magnetization intensity and permeability of ferromagnetic materials along with the duration of dynamic magnetization process were analyzed. Alteration of the intensity and distribution of magnetic field leakage caused by permeability of specimen were investigated via theoretical analysis and finite-element method (FEM) combined with the actual high-speed MFL test. Following this, a specially designed experimental platform, in which motion velocity is within the range of 5 m/s–55 m/s, was employed to verify the velocity effect and probability of a high-speed MFL test. Preliminary results indicate that the MFL technique can achieve effective defect inspection at high speeds with the maximum inspection speed of about 200 km/h being verified under laboratory conditions.     

高速检测条件下缺陷钢轨涡流效应的仿真

由于高速漏磁检测下速度效应的存在,检测信号会发生畸变。根据漏磁检测中速度效应的基本原理可知,速度感应产生的涡流是直接影响漏磁检测信号的因素之一,而且其大小同速度及磁场强度成正比。因此文章根据高速检测的这一特点,建立了新的高速检测模型,对一系列运行在不同速度下有缺陷的钢轨模型进行了有限元仿真,并将该模型下的检测信号与经典漏磁模型的检测信号对比,进一步认识了涡流效应对检测信号的影响。     

高速漏磁检测方法的发展

漏磁检测法已成功应用于各类铁磁性材料的检测中,但当代生产技术的革新和新应用领域的出现对漏磁检测法的检测速度提出了新的挑战.高速漏磁检测的信号出现畸变,制约着检测速度的进一步提高.对此,众多研究人员对信号畸变的机理进行研究,发现磁化滞后效应是影响高速漏磁检测信号的主要因素.当高速运动的钢管通过磁化线圈时,涡流使得管壁内的...     

基于径向基函数神经网络的管道缺陷漏磁场分析

管道缺陷漏磁场的量化研究一直是个难题，提出了应用径向基函数（RBF）神经网络来对漏磁场插值计算和非线性逼近的必要性，建立了适合该问题的RBF网络模型，给出了学习算法，制作了常见的人工凹坑缺陷，并对其用该方法进行插值和漏磁场曲面重构。结果表明，该模型算法收敛速度快、自适应性强、所需数据量小、计算量少、拟和曲面效果好，能很好地反映缺陷漏磁场的分布，比其它插值方法更方便、有效，为管道缺陷检测量化提供了一种可行的方法。     

Characterisation of metal loss defects from magnetic flux leakage signals with discrete wavelet transform

Metal loss defects in a buried pipeline are detected by magnetic flux leakage technique. Characterisation of the defects and sentencing according to the severity is extremely important for organised maintenance of pipelines. In this paper we identify the parameters that characterise a defect and the features of magnetic flux leakage signal (MFL) that are affected by those parameters. We show that analysis of the MFL signal using wavelet transform scores over any other method of its kind and exposes the incompleteness of the other analysis techniques that have appeared in the literature, to date. A number of experiments were performed on a rotating drum test rig having defects of different shapes and sizes. The results from these experiments are presented and discussed in detail. Wavelet transform decomposition and reconstruction techniques were applied for denoising the raw data. We test the efficacy of discrete wavelet transform for denoising MFL signal and present a complete scheme of characterisation of defects from denoised MFL signal. We discuss the issue of defect classification and suggest that characterisation to specified accuracy, amounts to designing a classifier that assigns a defect into known classes whose shapes and sizes are defined a priory.     

A magnetic flux leakage method using a magnetoresistive sensor for nondestructive evaluation of spot welds

Spot welding is widely used for joining metal plates. However, a highly reliable monitoring method is needed to weld a robust structure. For this purpose, we developed a magnetic flux leakage (MFL) system using a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor for nondestructive spot-weld inspection. The magnetic flux is induced between two joined plates, and the magnetic flux leakage with a tangential component parallel to the plate surface is measured. A magnetic image at the spot-welding part is obtained by two-dimensional scanning. The connected diameter of the nugget and the maximum shear load are measured after the magnetic measurement to investigate their interrelationship. The results show that the nondestructive magnetic flux leakage test shows a good correlation with the destructive shear test.     

3D FEM analysis in magnetic flux leakage method

The magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method is currently the most commonly used pipeline inspection technique. In this paper, 3D FEM is used to analyze the MFL signals, a generalized potential formulation to the magnetostatic field MFL problem is discussed, typical 3D defects are accurately modeled and detail MFL signal in test surface are calculated by the method. The relation between defect parameters and MFL signals are also analyzed.     

Composite magnetic flux leakage detection method for pipelines using alternating magnetic field excitation

Pipelines are an important transportation medium for petroleum and chemical products, but defects in the pipelines can present hidden dangers and affect the safe operation of the pipeline. The traditional pipeline magnetic flux leakage (MFL) scanning technique generally adopts the axial magnetization mode, which has increased the difficulty in detection and the possibility of missed detection of axial cracks. In this paper, a new composite MFL method using alternating magnetic field excitation is proposed for the detection of cracks in pipelines. The alternating magnetic field is first superimposed on the MFL magnetization field, which will form a parallel eddy current field perpendicular to the magnetization direction in the pipeline wall. The defects in the pipeline not only cause the flux leakage of the magnetization field, but also lead to the disturbance of the circumferential eddy current field. The disturbance signals can be picked up through a secondary induced magnetic field. Because the magnetic field and the eddy current field are orthogonal, the presented method can implement synchronous detection in two orthogonal directions to avoid missed detection caused by the crack orientation. A series of physical experiments are carried out in this paper. The results show that two orthogonal detection signals can be separated by a simple low pass filter. Therefore, with only one scan, the new detector can obtain the defect characteristics in the axial and circumferential directions to overcome the blind spot problem seen in traditional MFL detectors.     

常压储罐罐底腐蚀的漏磁检测与失效分析

探讨了漏磁检测在常压储罐罐底腐蚀缺陷检测中的应用。利用FLOORMAP 2000罐底漏磁扫描仪对五个1000m^3以上的常压储罐进行现场检测，给出了罐底的腐蚀状况。漏磁检测、宏观检测和超声波测厚结果的对比分析证实了漏磁检测方法的可靠性，最后综合分析了引起储罐罐底腐蚀失效的主要原因。     

基于神经网络及数据融合的管道缺陷定量识别

分析了管道缺陷的特征参数与漏磁信号的关系，研究显示管道缺陷的深度和长度分别与漏磁信号的幅值和宽度呈近似线性关系。将实际漏磁信号预处理以消除传感器提离值不同带来的影响，然后用已训练好的BP神经网络进行了管道缺陷的定量识别，识别结果的误差〈10％，完全满足实际检测要求。分别用加权平均和自适应加权平均两种方法将轴向和径向漏磁信号进行信号级融合，融合后基于BP神经网络的缺陷定量识别的精度和可靠性得到了明显提高，其中加权平均法更优。     

钢轨漏磁检测的速度效应

随着铁路列车速度与运量的增加,对钢轨检测速度的要求也不断提高,原有静态条件下的缺陷识别方法需要加以改进。为此研究了钢轨漏磁检测的速度效应。首先通过公式推导,从理论上讨论了检测速度对漏磁信号的影响;然后以有限元方法为基础,在Ansoft软件中建立了研究模型,仿真分析了不同检测速度时的信号差异,总结得出了一些有意义的结论;最后以裂纹的深度和宽度检测为例,研究了检测速度对特征信号的影响规律。     

管道漏磁法检测的ANSYS仿真研究

采用有限元分析法对管道漏磁法检测的漏磁场理论进行了研究,通过有限元分析可以对各种情况下管道壁缺陷的漏磁情况进行仿真,弥补了磁偶极子模型解析法的局限性。还介绍了有限元分析软件ANSYS分析管道漏磁场的过程,并通过ANSYS分析研究了提离值对漏磁信号的影响,并进行了漏磁检测器磁化装置的优化设计。     

Experimental study to differentiate between top and bottom defects for MFL tank floor inspections

Defects due to corrosion can occur on top and bottom surfaces of a tank floor. The current magnetic flux leakage (MFL) tank inspection machines can detect and locate defects on both the top and bottom of a plate, but generally they are unable to differentiate between top and bottom. Further cleaning for visual inspections is needed to identify those defect that are on the top side and are thus more readily repaired. To avoid this additional inspection ideally the machine should be able to distinguish automatically between top and bottom surface corrosion. This paper presents experimental work specifically designed to asses the capability of current MFL based machines to distinguish defects located on the top and those on the bottom of the tank floor. Although some open literature suggests that such top or bottom classification might be possible, purpose designed experimental results presented here show that there is a very high similarity between signals belonging to top and bottom defects which suggests such discrimination is not viable using standard MFL based techniques.     

Characterization of texture and residual stress in a section of 610 mm pipeline steel

Gas pipelines are inspected for defects such as corrosion. The most commonly used nondestructive inspection tool uses the magnetic flux leakage (MFL) technique. The MFL signals depend on the magnetic behaviour of the pipe, which is sensitive to its microstructure and crystallographic texture as well as both residual and applied stresses. Here a section of commercial X70 pipeline is characterized using microstructural examination, X-ray diffraction (to determine crystallographic texture) and neutron diffraction (for residual stress measurement). The results correlate well with the manufacturing steps used for this type of pipe. Magnetic characterization is also performed using magnetic Barkhausen noise measurements, which reflect the magnetic anisotropy in the pipe and thus the MFL signal. These results do not correlate simply with crystallographic texture and residual strain results, but this is not unexpected given the complex nature of the material and its stress state.     

基于三维有限元的平行钢丝拉索断丝漏磁场仿真

随着桥梁检测技术的发展,漏磁检测技术开始应用于在役拉索检测。由于拉索自身结构复杂,拉索漏磁检测具有大直径和大提离的特点,导致背景磁场较强。利用有限元方法建立三维漏磁检测模型,通过将存在断丝缺陷的磁场信号与无缺陷的磁场信号求差,获得了真实漏磁场信号;研究了断丝断口宽度、埋藏深度等参数对检测信号的影响,给出了漏磁场随上述参数的变化曲线,从而为拉索漏磁检测信号的解释提供依据,为断丝量化分析奠定了基础。     

用金属磁记忆方法检测应力分布

金属磁记忆检测技术是无损检测领域的一门新兴学科，简要介绍了磁记忆的检测原理，并采用基于薄膜磁阻元件的一维弱磁测量系统对焊缝工件进行磁记忆检测，检测结果与盲目孔法应力分布检测结果有较好的一致性，表明磁记忆检测技术可应用于焊缝式应力分布检测。     

Effects of alignment of nearby corrosion pits on MFL

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) obtained during the inspection of oil and gas pipelines has been simulated using 3D finite element analysis. The interaction between nearby corrosion pits has been studied. It is found that the alignment of the pits has significant effects on the absolute values of MFL signals due to its affect on the magnetic flux density distribution.     

钢轨表面缺陷漏磁检测的三维磁场分析

漏磁检测技术通常测量垂直和平行于缺陷表面的漏磁场分量,来实现对缺陷的定量分析。然而,对于钢轨表面的复杂裂纹,传统的方法很难准确检测。为了克服这种检测方法存在的不足,采用三维磁场测量方法以及有限元法对缺陷漏磁场的三维分布情况进行了分析。在此基础上设计了一套适合钢轨表面缺陷检测的三维漏磁检测系统,并对人工缺陷样例进行了检测。结果表明,漏磁信号垂直分量包含重要的缺陷信息,特别是对于与钢轨走向不垂直的缺陷。