Detection of outer wall defects on steel pipe using an encircling Rotating electromagnetic Field Eddy Current (RFEC) technique

Yin, Xiaokang (author), Gu, Zhuoyong (author), Wang, Wei (author), Zhang, Xiaorui (author), Yuan, Xin'an (author), Li, Wei (author), Chen, Guoming (author)

In recent years, the Rotating electromagnetic Field Eddy Current (RFEC) testing technique has attracted widespread attention due to its various advantages for the inspection of tubular structures. However, most of the related work were focused on the detection of inner wall defects on metal pipes using feed-through probes, which are often not applicable for outer wall defect detection. This work proposed an encircling RFEC technique and demonstrated its feasibility on the detection of outer wall defects. First, the basic principle of the encircling RFEC technique is introduced. Three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) model was built in COMSOL to analyze 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 defect 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 RFEC system using a probe with six excitation windings and a single bobbin pick-up coil was constructed and used to inspect a steel pipe with one axial and one circumferential defect. The obtained voltage signal due to defect can form a Lissajous pattern in the impedance plane and can be used for defect evaluation. The results showed that the proposed encircling RFEC technique is capable of detecting outer wall defects of both orientations, and determining the circumferential location of the defect.

• Language: English
• Keywords: non-destructive testing, rotating electromagnetic field, finite element, influencing factors
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: Str. 27-38
• Numbering: Vol. 68, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-134713
• UDC: 620.179.1:519.6
• ISSN on article: 0039-2480
• DOI: 10.5545/sv-jme.2021.7288
• COBISS.SI-ID: 95239683
• Publication date in RUL: 27.01.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Strojniški vestnik
• Shortened title: Stroj. vestn.
• Publisher: Zveza strojnih inženirjev in tehnikov Slovenije [etc.], = Association of Mechanical Engineers and Technicians of Slovenia [etc.
• ISSN: 0039-2480
• COBISS.SI-ID: 762116

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 06.12.2021
• Applies to: Accepted for publication

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Odkrivanje napak na zunanji steni jeklenih cevi s tehniko testiranja z vrtinčnimi tokovi, ki nastanejo pod vplivom vrtilnega magnetnega polja (RoFEC)
• Keywords: neporušne preiskave, vrtilno elektromagnetno polje, vrtinčni tok, modeliranje s končnimi elementi, vplivni dejavniki, instrumenti, mesto napake