Pulsed remote field technique used for nondestructive inspection of ferromagnetic tube

Abstract

Remote field eddy current (RFEC) technique is an effective method for measurement of ferromagnetic tube. However, traditional RFEC is unable to differentiate the internal and external defect and the probe has a long length. Pulsed eddy current techniques excite the induction coil with a pulsed waveform and have the richness of frequency harmonics. The wideband excitation is thought to be a potential in providing more information about the flaw. In this paper, pulsed RFEC technique is used to inspect ferromagnetic tube. The finite element analysis and experiment method is used to give a thorough analysis of the influence effect with the variations of the system parameters. Results show that this technique effectively combines the advantages of RFEC and pulsed excitation, which not only acquires more inspection information, including measurements of inner diameter of tubes, internal and external defects, but also reduces the length of probe and power consumption. The agreement between simulation and experiment shows that the present method is correct.