Detection of Outer Wall Defects on Steel Pipe Using an Encircling Rotating Electromagnetic Field Eddy Current (RoFEC) Technique

Abstract

In recent years, the rotating electromagnetic field eddy current (RoFEC) testing technique has attracted widespread attention due to its various advantages for inspecting tubular structures. However, most of the related work was focused on detecting inner wall defects on metal pipes using feed-through probes, which are often not applicable for outer wall defect detection. This work pushes forward the encircling RoFEC technique and demonstrates its feasibility for detecting outer wall defects. First, the basic principle of the encircling RoFEC technique is introduced. A three-dimensional finite element (FE) model was built in COMSOL to analyse the distribution of the rotating electromagnetic field and study the interaction between the defects and eddy currents. The axial component of the resultant magnetic field due to defects was selected as a characteristic signal and obtained from the FE models to study the factors, including pipe tilt, defect circumferential location, defect orientation and defect size, that influence the detection performance. An encircling RoFEC system using a probe with six excitation windings and a single bobbin pickup coil was constructed and used to inspect a steel pipe with one axial and one circumferential defect. The obtained voltage signal due to defects can form a Lissajous pattern in the impedance plane and be used for defect evaluation. The results showed that the encircling RoFEC technique can detect outer wall defects of both orientations and determine the circumferential location of the defect.