The impact of magnetostriction on the transduction of normal bias field EMATs

A very typical and important application of Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs) is the inspection of ferritic steels with normal bias field transducers. In this case, a controversy has arisen in the literature, as some older studies have indicated the Lorentz force as the main transduction mechanism, while more recent research has claimed that magnetostriction can be two order or magnitudes larger than the Lorentz effect. This is not merely an academic issue, as depending on which physical phenomena dominates, the performance of EMATs on different steel grades might significantly vary and the design of the transducer could be optimized accordingly. This paper analyzes in depth two main assumptions made in the more recent studies, highlighting some inconsistencies. A previously experimentally validated Finite Element model, is used to test the controversial assumptions. It is demonstrated that the mechanical boundary conditions were not modelled correctly leading to a gross overestimation of the role of magnetostriction. The main conclusion is that the magnetostriction force is typically not order of magnitudes larger than the Lorentz force; actually the Lorentz force is the larger transduction effect in non-oxidized ferromagnetic steels, and magnetostriction is only a fraction of it. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.