Tunnel-magnetoresistive-based Pulsed Eddy Current Probe for Inspection of Corrosion under Insulation

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 1244; no. 1; pp. 12006 - 12015
• Main Authors: Mohamed, Mohamoud Hussein, Sophian, Ali, Sulaiman, Nadzril, Adesta, Erry Yulian Triblas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.06.2022
• Subjects: Aluminum; Coils; Corrosion; Eddy current testing; Eddy currents; Ferromagnetism; Gas pipes; Inspection; Insulation; Low carbon steels; Magnetoresistivity; Metal sheets; Nondestructive testing; Sensors; Steel plates; Structural failure; System effectiveness; Thickness; Tunnel magnetoresistance
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/1244/1/012006

Abstract The problem of corrosion in the industrial oil and gas pipes has been one of the major contributors in catastrophic structural failures. Among the various types of corrosion, corrosion under insulation (CUI) has been known to cause serious problems. Pulsed eddy current (PEC) non-destructive testing has shown its effectiveness in detecting hidden CUI. Most PEC systems have been developed by using an inductive coil as their sensing device, while some use a magnetic sensor which potentially offers better resolution. A new probe design based on a solid-state Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) is presented. TMR sensors offer higher sensitivities compared to other commercially available sensors. The performance of the probe is evaluated by using ferromagnetic mild steel plates that have thicknesses in the range of 8mm to 12mm at different stand-offs with a thin aluminium sheet under the probe. The different thicknesses represent different corrosion levels, while the stand-offs and thin aluminium sheet are to mimic the insulation of different thicknesses and the cladding in the real pipeline structure. The results show an overall mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.19 mm, which is better than our existing Hall-device-based PEC probe.