Study on the Detection of Defects in Steel Plate Welds with θ Eddy Current Probe

Abstract

The evaluation of weld defects plays an important role in ensuring the safety of equipment, but due to the unevenness of the weld itself, the use of conventional eddy current probes to detect weld defects can be affected by the lifting effect, so this paper introduces a new type of θ eddy current probe for the evaluation of steel plate weld defects. Firstly, using COMSOL simulation software, a model of the probe and the steel plate weld is constructed, and the effect of changes in excitation coil height and thickness as well as detection coil height and thickness on the detection sensitivity of the probe is fully investigated, and the optimum probe size is calculated by combining the results of simulation and optimisation analysis. Finally, the experimental platform is built and the test results show that the new θ eddy current probe has a good suppression effect on the lifting effect caused by the different width and depth of the weld seam and the lifting effect caused by the unevenness of the surface of the weld seam.