System and Method for Characterizing Ferromagnetic Material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019064115-A1
Application number	US-201816056750-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 7, 2018
Priority date	Jun 29, 2015
Publication date	Feb 28, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method using magnetic sensing to non-intrusively and non-destructively characterize ferromagnetic material within infrastructure. The system includes sensors for measuring magnetic field gradients from a standoff distance adjacent to ferromagnetic material. The method includes using the system to measure magnetic fields, determining magnetic field gradients measured by a sensor array, and comparing measured and modeled or historical magnetic field gradients at the same or similar positions to identify differences caused by a phenomenon in the ferromagnetic material, and, in a particular embodiment, to recognize defects and developing defects.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for characterizing a ferromagnetic material, comprising:
providing a plurality of magnetometers arranged in an at least one-dimensional array, the array being positionable at a standoff distance along a z axis from the ferromagnetic material and translatable along an x axis, perpendicular to the z axis, to a plurality of scan positions along the ferromagnetic material, wherein at least three magnetometers of the plurality of magnetometers are mutually spaced apart and disposed within the array along a first axis, perpendicular to the x and z axes; storing, in a memory, data representing a deterministic physics-based model for missing metal; for each scan position of the plurality of scan positions, calculating, by a processor, respective differences between a plurality of respective select pairs of the magnetometers, wherein at least one select pair of the plurality of respective select pairs of the magnetometers comprises two non-adjacent magnetometers of the at least three magnetometers disposed along the first axis, and each select pair of at least two other select pairs of the plurality of respective select pairs of the magnetometers comprises two adjacent magnetometers of the at least three magnetometers disposed along the first axis, and wherein each difference of the respective differences is calculated by dividing by a distance separating the respective select pair of magnetometers; and comparing, by the processor, respective differences between the plurality of respective select pairs of the magnetometers with the data representing the deterministic physics-based model for missing metal to identify metal missing from the ferromagnetic material.

Assignees

• Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc

Inventors

• Timmons Brian P
• Mangoubi Rami S
• Hoffman Zachary R
• Webb Franklyn R

Classifications

• G01N33/203

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01N33/20

  Metals · CPC title

• G01N27/83 Primary

  by investigating stray magnetic fields · CPC title

• G01N17/006

  of metals · CPC title

• G01N33/2025

  Gaseous constituents · CPC title