A novel magnetic flux leakage method based on the ferromagnetic lift-off layer with through groove

•The significant attenuation of the leakage magnetic field in the lift-off layer is considered.•The ferromagnetic lift-off layer with through groove can enhance the leakage magnetic field of the crack.•The principle relies on the mutual magnetization enhancement effect between the crack and the through groove. [Display omitted] In conventional magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection, a lift-off layer based on air or non-ferromagnetic wear-resistant material is employed to prevent magnetic sensors from wearing. However, the increase of the lift-off will lower the detection sensitivity and reduce the MFL signal amplitude. To address the issue, theoretical analysis was used to investigate the effect of the ferromagnetic lift-off layer on MFL detection in this study. Then, we put forward a new MFL detection method based on the ferromagnetic lift-off layer. A through groove is machined in the ferromagnetic lift-off layer, which creates an air gap below the sensor. The leakage magnetic field (LMF) generated by the through groove increases the local magnetization intensity around the crack on the sample, while the LMF generated by the crack increases the magnetization intensity surrounding the through groove of the lift-off layer. As a result, the magnetic sensor above the through groove detects a greater MFL signal. In addition, the effect of applied magnetization intensity, groove width, and lift-off layer thickness on the detection signal were explored by experiments. The practicality of the proposed method of detecting different size cracks of nearside and farside were studied. In summary, experiments show that the ferromagnetic steel sheet with a through groove strengthens the MFL signal of the nearside and farside cracks.