The defect depth evaluation based on the dual-sensor strategy: Resisting the lift-off disturbance in magnetic flux leakage testing

Abstract

The quantitative evaluation of defect information is the key issue in magnetic flux leakage (MFL) nondestructive testing on ferromagnetic materials. For the multi-sensor strategy with the same lift-off values, the arrayed layout of probes improves the testing efficiency, but the evaluation precision is still susceptible to the lift-off disturbance. This paper recommends a dual-sensor strategy with a given lift-off difference to resist the lift-off disturbance. Here, the reason for the possible overestimating and underestimating evaluation is clarified for the traditional single-sensor strategy using the magnetic dipole theory in MFL testing. In this paper, the effectiveness of the proposed dual-sensor strategy is demonstrated by comparison with the traditional single-sensor strategy. Analysis shows that the proposed dual-sensor strategy in MFL testing can overcome the lift-off disturbance and improve evaluation precision of the defect depth in cases with uncertain lift-off values. This study provides a path for the quantitative evaluation of MFL testing based on the dual-sensor strategy.