The basic principle involves the use of a permanent magnet to magnetize the steel. In areas where there may be corrosion or a deformity in the metal structure, the magnetic field "leaks" from the steel, and an MFL detection device, which has a magnetic detector placed between the poles of the magnet, detects the leaking field.
The data of the leakage field is recorded and can be later analyzed to identify damaged areas and expectantly estimate the depth of metal loss. Any corrosion or pitting in steel or other metal structures, most commonly pipelines and storage tanks, can be picked out. The software, MATLAB, allows users to log, interpret and visualize collected data in intuitive graphical representations. We hope to present the data from sensors and display them in graphical, 2-D or 3-D, form to easily be able to identify structural flaws in ferromagnetic pipes.