Assessment of plastic damage in high strength structural steel using electromagnetic technique

Abstract

ABSTRACT High strength structural (HSS) steels are widely used in many construction equipment and infrastructures. Currently, there is a substantial demand of Non-Destructive Testing of these steel structures. In this research, the electromagnetic technique was utilised to assess the plastic damage in a typical HSS steel (i.e. Q690 steel). The results showed that the magnetic hysteresis loop of this material changed apparently after the tensile deformation, and the relevant magnetic parameters such as coercivity, remanence, and maximum permeability were sensitive to the cumulative plastic strain. The results demonstrated that there is a good coherence between the plastic damage evolution and the magnetic parameters variation, which indicated that the electromagnetic technique is an effective method to assess the plastic damage of HSS steel.