A Method for Improving SNR of Drill Pipe Leakage Flux Testing Signals by Means of Magnetic Concentrating Effect

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) technique is generally considered as an efficient and effective nondestructive testing method, which has been widely used in the drill pipe detection in oil field. This paper aims at studying the magnetic concentrating effect, and proposing a method of gathering the MFL by means of magnetic concentrating device. Electromagnetic finite-element analysis shows that pipe MFL signals centralize near defects obviously and the leakage signals detected by Hall elements enhance greatly as magnetic concentrating structure can collect useful magnetic component. A drill pipe MFL experiment confirms the analysis results that the probe with magnetic concentrating device could obviously improve SNR of MFL signals, increase measuring the width of defects and reduce the requirements of liftoff value. Therefore, it is of great help to improve pipe leakage flux testing sensitivity.