A NEW MAGNETO-OPTIC BASED FLAW IMAGING DEVICE FOR UNDERWATERAPPLICATION

THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS INTENDEDTO DEMONSTRATE THE BASIC FEASIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING AND OPTIMIZING A NEW MAGNETO-OPTIC 'SANDWICH' DEVICE INTENDED FOR DIRECT VISUALIZATION OF FLAWSIN FERROUS MATERIALS (STEEL) IN A MARINE ENVIRONMENT. THE DEVICE IS BASED IN THE PROPERTY OF SOME MAGNETO-OPTIC GARNETFILMS TO ROTATE THE PLANES OF POLARIZATION OF AN INCIDENT, LINEARLY POLARIZED LIGHT WAVE (FARADAY MAGNETO-OPTIC EFFECT). SUCH A DEVICE (IN THE 'SANDWICH' FORM) CAN BE HAND-HELD OROPERATED BY AN AUTOMATED SUBMERSIBLE. OWING TO THE ANTICIPA TED CAPABILITY OF SUCH DEVICES TO OBSERVE THE MAGNETIC ANOMALIES OF FLAWS THROUGH CONSIDERABLE THICKNESS OF BIO FOULING (UP TO 1/4 INCH) THIS TECHNIQUE DOES NOT REQUIRE CLEARING OF SURFACES BEFORE INSPECTION. FOR THESE REASONS, IT SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERABLE VALUE AS AN INSPECTION TOOL IN AWIDE VARIETY OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTS, ESPECIALLY IN FLOATING OFFSHORE OIL PLATFORMS AND RELATED INSPECTION TOOL IN A WIDEOFFSHORE OIL PLATFORMS AND RELATED INSPECTION PROBLEMS.