A flexible film type EMAT for inspection of small diameter pipe

Pipe structures are widely applied in industries, and different kinds of defects may occur in the structures during their long-time service. For non-destructive testing of defects in pipes of small diameter, it has to be conducted from the inner side of the pipe when there is no space for detection from the outside or the geometry of the outside tube surface is too complicated. In this work, a flexible film type Electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) probe with a dual coil configuration is developed. The new probe is flexible and can be inserted into the pipe for inspection. First, the feasibility of the new probe was studied through numerical simulation. Then the feasibility of the proposed flexible EMAT for detection of wall thinning in small diameter pipe was verified experimentally. It was found that the new EMAT method is suitable for the detection of wall thinning defects for small pipes.