Enhancement of signal amplitude of surface wave EMATs based on 3-D simulation analysis and orthogonal test method

The amplitude of an ultrasonic signal generated by electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) is typically low when compared to those generated by contacting transducers, which restricts the application of EMATs in the fields of nondestructive testing and nondestructive evaluation. The transmission process of a surface wave EMAT is studied, based on a previously established 3-D model, with the aim of enhancing the amplitude of ultrasonic waves generated by the EMAT. The effect of changing various EMAT parameters on the surface wave is investigated, by utilizing the orthogonal test method. Results indicate that after optimization, the signal amplitude of the EMAT has increased by 25.2%.     

Enhancement of ultrasonic signal using a new design of Rayleigh-wave electromagnetic acoustic transducer

The main disadvantage of electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) is their inefficiency in generating ultrasound. A new design of Rayleigh-wave EMAT is proposed with improved ultrasonic generation efficiency on non-ferromagnetic materials. The new EMAT's magnet is narrower than the meander-line coil used in the transducer and the coil itself has an uneven distribution of conductors. The principle of the new design is informed by finite element simulations, which show that the EMAT generates Rayleigh waves more efficiently by taking advantage of both horizontal and vertical magnetic fields of the magnet simultaneously. Experimental measurements verify that the maximum amplitude of the ultrasonic signal generated by the new design of EMAT working under a pulse-echo configuration has been enhanced by 90%, when compared to conventional designs.     

电磁超声传感器检测不同材质钢管的试验研究

通过试验确定了不同材质钢管的磁致伸缩曲线，得到了不同材质钢管缺陷检测的电磁超声传感器（EMAT）直流电磁铁的励磁电流与超声波幅值的关系，确定了最佳励磁电流，并得出其变化规律与磁致伸缩曲线变化趋势一致的结论。为电磁超声传感器设计和开发提供了依据。     

用于无损检测的电磁超声换能器研究进展

电磁超声换能器(EMAT)是一种通过电磁耦合方法产生和接收超声波的换能器。由于EMAT具有非接触性、无需耦合剂等优点,受到广大无损检测与评估工作者的广泛关注。从物理原理出发,介绍了EMAT过程数学建模、装置设计以及工程应用等方面的研究现状,并对其发展趋势作出了展望。     

Frequency dependent directivity of periodic permanent magnet electromagnetic acoustic transducers

Beam steering has been achieved using shear horizontal waves generated using a periodic permanent magnet (PPM) electromagnetic transducer (EMAT). Unlike phased arrays, where steering is achieved by carefully controlling the firing of individual elements, the spatial periodicity of the PPM EMAT is ultilised to steer the beam whilst exciting all elements simultaneously. Due to the periodic nature of the array, the interference of individual waves from each of the elements creates a highly frequency dependent angle of propagation, allowing the directivity to be changed by simply varying the frequency of the input signal. Simultaneous excitation precludes the need for complicated and expensive phased array hardware. A frequency domain model is developed so that the beam characteristics, such as steering angle and beam width, can be calculated, allowing for investigation into the beam steering qualities of the PPM transducer. Broadband pulsed generation is also demonstrated, showing how a wave is generated over a large range of angles, meaning a large area can be covered with a single pulse. Interesting properties of this wave, such as a variation of frequency as a function of angle, and how this can be useful, are also discussed.     

In-situ monitoring of ultrasonic attenuation during rotating bending fatigue of carbon steel with electromagnetic acoustic resonance

Using electromagnetic acoustic resonance (EMAR), we studied the evolution of the surface-shear-wave attenuation and phase velocity during rotating bending fatigue of a 0.45% C steel. In the EMAR method, we used a magnetostrictively-coupled electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) for the contactless measurements of the axial shear wave that is a surface-shear wave, propagating in a cylinder-specimen circumference direction with the axial polarization. The attenuation coefficient always showed sharp peaks around 90% of the fatigue life, independent of the fatigue-stress amplitude. In addition to the ultrasonic measurements, we made crack-growth observations using replicas and measured recovery of attenuation and velocity after stopping the cyclic loading just before and after the peak. From these results, we concluded that the evolution of the ultrasonic properties is caused by a drastic change in dislocation mobility being accompanied by the crack growth.     

电磁超声技术在焊缝检测中的应用

电磁超声技术利用洛伦兹力或磁致伸缩原理在金属或磁性材料中激发出超声波,它是一种超声无损检测新技术。相对于其他无损检测技术而言,电磁超声具有所有的超声检测的优势。声波的激发发生在材料的表面而不是在传感器内部。所以它与传统的基于压电换能器的超声检测相比,具有无需耦合剂、可非接触、可适用于超低温或超高温环境、有利于工业自动化以及可方便有效地实现横波检测及导波检测等优势。Innerspec Technologies公司致力于电磁超声技术的研发和应用,在近十几年中开发了150多台工业在线电磁超声检测系统,广泛应用于钢铁、汽车制造、石油天然气管道和压力容器等领域。作为一种超声波技术,电磁超声可以应用于各种厚度测量、缺陷检测以及材料表征。举例讨论了电磁超声在焊缝检测中的应用。第一个应用是利用导波对激光拼焊板的检测。第二个应用是电阻焊钢管的在线检测。利用沿着周向传播的超声导波对焊缝进行检测,克服了由于焊缝位置偏转对传统超声焊缝检测设备带来的困难。第三个应用是水平横波以及多通道电磁超声相控阵技术实现奥氏体不锈钢焊缝的检测。     

A hybrid nondestructive testing method of pulsed eddy current testing and electromagnetic acoustic transducer techniques for simultaneous surface and volumetric defects inspection

In this paper, a hybrid nondestructive testing (NDT) method combining with the pulsed eddy current testing (PECT) method and the electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) method has been proposed and validated through numerical simulations and experiments. First, a numerical code is developed for the simulation of hybrid EMAT/PECT signals based on the developed EMAT and PECT code. Second, based on the numerical simulation, the influences of the eddy current induced by the excitation coil and the eddy current due to the velocity effect of the ultrasonic wave are compared and analyzed. In addition, the features of the EMAT and the PECT signals are analyzed respectively. Third, several signal separation and extraction methods are proposed on the basis of the spectral analysis and filtering strategies for extracting EMAT and PECT signals from the mixed signals of the hybrid EMAT/PECT method and their validity are evaluated through experiments. Finally, hybrid EMAT/PECT experiments are conducted and three types of defects (surface defects, bottom thinning defects, composite defects) in an aluminum plate and a SUS304 plate are successfully detected at the same time using the proposed hybrid NDT method and the signal feature parameters. Based on the numerical and experimental results, the proposed hybrid PECT/EMAT NDT method is demonstrated both high detectability and high efficiency for detecting surface and volumetric defects at the same time.     

Modeling of transducer fields in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials using Gaussian beam superposition

This article describes a three-dimensional Gaussian beam model for calculating transducer-generated ultrasonic wave fields in inhomogeneous anisotropic media. The model is based on a formulation presented recently for homogeneous anisotropic materials. The inhomogeneity is modeled by dividing the material into several homogeneous layers, the approach accounting for the propagation through the various layers and the reflection/refraction processes at the interfaces. It thus calculates ultrasonic field patterns, including proper amplitude information and allows a quick evaluation of the sound fields. Application of the model in view of ultrasonic nondestructive testing of layered composite material and of austenitic steel components is addressed. In the latter case, examples are given for various weldment structures, wherein ultrasonic inspection using commercial angle beam transducers is of interest.     

电磁超声的数值模拟方法

电磁超声检测技术由于无需媒介以及与被测物体非接触,不但可提高检测效率,而且可将超声检测技术的应用扩展到高温、高速和在线检测。根据电磁超声传感器的工作原理,建立了基于有限元的电磁超声无损检测数值分析方法,开发了相应的计算程序,验证了其有效性。应用开发的电磁超声数值模拟程序,研究了不同激励方式对电磁超声波的影响,得到了相应超声波在均匀各向同性金属介质中的传播过程。该计算方法和程序为实际电磁超声检测中缺陷的定量和探头优化提供了手段。     

考虑电磁机械耦合效应的电磁超声数值模拟方法

提出了考虑速度效应电磁机械耦合的电磁超声数值模拟方法,并开发了相应的程序。该方法在控制方程中导入了速度诱发电场项,并采用退化向量位法(Ar)进行涡流场数值模拟和采用有限元及逐步积分方法进行超声波计算。数值模拟所得EMAT信号和超声波传播过程均证实了本方法和程序的有效性。为了确定耦合效应的影响,对考虑耦合和忽略耦合两种情况分别在不同条件下进行了数值模拟。通过比较振动幅值和洛伦兹力的模拟结果,证实耦合效应对EMAT数值模拟结果影响并不显著。     

中厚板EMAT无损探伤的特点

介绍了基于电磁效应的中厚板EMAT(电磁超声波换能器)探伤装置的基本原理和主要技术特点,并与传统的基于压电效应的PET(压电超声换能器)自动探伤装置进行了比较分析。EMAT自动探伤装置具备检测钢板温度范围广、无需耦合介质、探伤速度快和抗干扰性强等优点,未来在中厚板行业将具有良好发展前景。     

外场处理在焊接中的应用与进展

本文主要介绍了国内外磁搅拌技术、氩弧处理技术、爆炸处理技术、高能束表面熔凝处理,逆焊接加热技术、超声波处理技术等外场处理技术在焊接中的应用与进展,并提出利用电／磁脉冲处理焊缝金融的新途径。     

Efficient detection of delamination in multilayered structures using ultrasonic guided wave EMATs

This paper presents an efficient method for the detection of delamination using a combined technology of ultrasonic guided wave and electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT). The material for inspection studied in this paper is a three-layered brass/copper/brass metal composite for coin stocks. We first observed a cyclic behavior of wave sensitivity to delamination width in the experiment. This observation is then confirmed with finite element simulation. We found out that the cyclic behavior is related to the phase velocity of the converted wave modes in the two subsystems after delamination. To compensate for the cyclic behavior, two wave modes are used in an industrial inspection system to ensure effective detection of delamination in the composite sample. The inspection speed achieved with this EMAT inspection system is 1.8 m²/s.     

基于FPGA的轮对踏面电磁超声在线检测系统

为了提高我国当前列车轮对的检测效率,设计了一种基于FPGA的列车轮对踏面电磁超声在线检测系统。该系统将电磁超声检测技术与FPGA应用技术相结合,采用基于FPGA的可编程片上系统技术,实现了电磁超声信号发射／接收、数据采集、微弱信号检测以及存储显示等,充分发挥了FPGA在运算速度和设计灵活性上的优势。试验表明,系统具有较高的检测精度和检测效率,可在列车运行速度〈20km／h时成功检测出轮对踏面上深度〉2mm的人工缺陷。     

基于电磁超声表面波干涉增强的钢板表面检测

电磁超声检测在具有非接触优势的同时,存在换能效率低、信号噪声大的不足。利用电磁超声无需耦合剂对声波传播无干扰的特点,研究了基于声波干涉增强的钢板表面缺陷超声检测方法。在制作了一种用于扫查检测的电磁超声表面波传感器的基础上,搭建了相应的试验平台,对钢板表面人工刻槽进行了检测。试验结果表明:当传感器与刻槽满足一定的位置关系时,超声信号将增强10%~20%。利用此现象进行缺陷评判,可避免分析相对较弱的缺陷回波,为电磁超声检测技术的应用提供了一种新方法。     

电磁超声高温测厚原理及应用案例

电磁超声是超声波无损检测的一个分支。该技术利用电磁场的相互作用,在被测材料表面产生超声波。因此,电磁超声无损检测过程无需使用耦合剂,并且支持非接触检测。不停工情况下的在役管道以及其他压力容器的剩余壁厚测量是当今无损检测领域的一个研究热点。在常温管道测量方面,使用传统的压电超声可以比较精确地测量管道的剩余壁厚。但是,在高温管道测量方面,目前高温耦合剂还是存在易于挥发、效果不稳定的缺点,而且价格昂贵,不利于实际应用。文章介绍了电磁超声测厚的基本原理、电磁超声厚度测量的仪器设备、探头及其使用范围。结合高温管道测厚的实际应用案例,对电磁超声测厚应用进行了阐述、分析和总结。最后得出,电磁超声由于无需接触、不需要耦合剂等特点,对材料的高温测厚具有独特的优势。     

Stress corrosion cracking detection using non-contact ultrasonic techniques

In this work a method is presented for detecting and locating stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in stainless steel pipe samples. The method combines laser generation and either laser or electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) detection, scanning the generation point across the sample surface. Using laser-generated ultrasonic waves that interact with the cracks, and performing time–frequency analysis techniques to examine changes in the generated wavemodes, surface plots that clearly resolve the spatial extent and geometric alignment of the cracks are created and presented here. The method is demonstrated using components removed from service after exhibiting SCC.     

纵扭复合超声端面铣削表面微结构建模与试验研究

目的 对纵扭复合超声端面铣削加工表面微结构进行预测,以优化加工参数。方法 对纵扭复合超声端面铣削进行运动学分析,并在其基础上建立三维运动轨迹方程。对刀尖轨迹仿真,且研究该运动方式下的加工特性。通过对切削刃和工件离散化建立纵扭复合超声端面铣削表面微结构理论模型,并利用MATLAB进行三维表面仿真。对TC4钛合金进行超声振动切削试验。结果 理论仿真和切削试验结果均表明超声纵扭端面铣削时,随振幅的增加,由振动引起的表面微观结构特征愈加明显。扭纵幅值比增大时,加工表面微观结构凹坑效应弱化,At/Al=0.55时,加工表面呈条形片状微观结构。振动频率和主轴转速会影响表面微观结构单元的疏密程度。结论 加工表面微结构的生成与振动频率、振幅、扭纵复制比、切削速度等加工参数相关,铣削实验得到的加工表面变化趋势与表面理论模型吻合,该表面模型能够优化超声加工参数。     

一种优化激发电磁超声Lamb波的方法

超声Lamb波的频散特性和多模式特性导致回波信号复杂难于分辨。为了解决该问题,结合电磁超声换能器(EMAT)的主要设计参数和Lamb波的特征方程,推导电磁超声Lamb波的激发方程和激发曲线。通过选取电磁超声Lamb波在激发曲线上的工作点以削弱多模式和频散现象,进而提出了一种优化激发电磁超声Lamb波的方法。采用该方法分析了零模式Lamb波在工程应用中的有效性,并进行了试验验证。