A novel detection of weld defects by magneto-optical imaging under combined magnetic field

To overcome the shortcomings of existing magneto-optical imaging, such as the saturation of an image under a constant magnetic field and the ambiguity of an image under an alternating magnetic field, imaging using a combined magnetic field is presented in this research. Weld defect samples include a laser-cut groove, a wire-cut penetrating groove, a pit and a Z-shaped crack. Magneto-optical imaging experiments were carried out under different magnetic fields. Contour extraction and standard deviation calculations were carried out for all magneto-optical images and the maximum standard deviation of the laser-cut groove under an alternating magnetic field was 20.9, which was less than the maximum value of 37.4 under a combined magnetic field. The experimental results show that the contrast of a magneto-optical image obtained under the combined magnetic field is greater than that obtained under the alternating magnetic field for all defects. The proposed combined magnetic field could optimise the magneto-optical imaging effect for weld defects under the existing excitation method to a certain extent.