Case Study: Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung achieves accurate magnetic-flux-leakage flaw characterization and reduced testing time with COMSOL Multiphysics

Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung - Customer Case Study

Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung faced the challenge of accurately evaluating hidden defects in very large, thick-walled steel pipes using magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection: sensors detect leaks easily near the surface, but interpreting signal shape, size and relevance of flaws is difficult and creating many test pipes for calibration would be time-consuming and expensive. To address this, the team turned to Comsol, using the COMSOL Multiphysics AC/DC Module together with MATLAB parameterization to simulate the inspection system and predict how different notch geometries affect measured signals.

Comsol’s solution combined 2D and full 3D FEM models with an impedance boundary condition to capture the skin effect without modeling the full conductor volume, reducing the problem from a potential ~20 million DOFs to about 1.7 million DOFs. The simulations accurately matched measured data from test pipes (very good correlation), enabled arbitrary-notch studies and let Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung build a reference framework for signal interpretation while avoiding costly, numerous test samples—only one multi-notch test pipe was measured for validation.

Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung

Oliver Nemitz

Researcher