Nondestructive Inspection of Steel Plates By Using Magnetic Absorption Robot and SH EMAT

With the widespread use of steel structures such as petroleum storage tanks, metal bridges, and ships, the demand for periodic inspections has steadily risen. Addressing the safety risks associated with manually carrying inspection equipment to elevated locations, this paper proposes a non-destructive testing method for steel plates utilizing a magnetic adsorption robot and SH-EMAT. Equipped with electromagnetic acoustic transducers, the robot is remotely controlled to conduct inspections at designated locations. Employing permanent magnetic wheels ensures ample adsorption force for the entire robot. The electromechanical control system is meticulously designed, and the electromagnetic acoustic transducers are tailored by the compact robot. Energy consumption experiments under various operating modes and slot defect detection experiments on a metal plate were conducted. The results demonstrate the robot's capability to navigate vertically on a steel plate and effectively detect slot defects exceeding 1mm in depth. These findings validate the feasibility and significance of employing a magnetically adsorptive robot with electromagnetic acoustic transducers for steel plate defect detection.