Magnetic Charge Model for Leakage Signals from Surface Defects in Ferromagnetic Material

A novel three-dimensional theoretical model of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) is proposed in this paper based on the magnetic dipole model. The magnetic dipole model assumes that a ferromagnetic specimen with defects is exposed to a uniform external magnetic field that causes a uniform magnetization around the defect surface. Under this assumption, the MFL can be regarded as arising from magnetic charges on the defect surface. Previous theoretical models were mostly used to analyze simple crack defects such as cylindrical and rectangular cracks. In this paper, we developed a magnetic dipole model for more complex defect shapes such as circular truncated holes, conical holes, elliptical holes, and double-curve-shaped crack holes to complement the existing defect shapes. Experimental results and comparisons with previous models demonstrate that the proposed model provides a better approximation of complex defect shapes.