Advanced Electromagnetic Technique (AET)
Defects don’t wait for your shutdown, and your inspection method shouldn’t either.
IRC Engineering’s Advanced Electromagnetic Techniques (AET) use electromagnetic fields to detect and size surface and near-surface defects quickly, often through coatings and with minimal surface preparation, so you get answers without long downtime.
Conventional Inspection Slows Your Plant Down
Traditional methods often demand heavy surface preparation, coating removal, or extended shutdowns before an inspector can even begin. That means higher cost, more scaffolding and access work, and inspection schedules that fight with production. Advanced Electromagnetic Techniques were developed to cut through this. They give accurate defect data with far less preparation and disruption.
How Advanced Electromagnetic Techniques Work
An AET probe generates a controlled electromagnetic field in the conductive test material. Any crack, corrosion, or change in wall condition disturbs that field in a measurable way. Sensitive sensors pick up the disturbance, and the system converts it into data that shows where a defect is and how serious it is. Because the technique relies on electromagnetic fields rather than direct contact or couplant, it can work through paint and protective coatings and reduces the need for cleaning to bare metal.
Why AET Is the Right Choice
Minimal surface preparation
Works through coatings, so there is no need to grind or blast to bare metal
Fast inspection speed
Covers welds, tubes, and large surfaces quickly
Reliable defect detection and sizing
Identifies surface-breaking cracks and wall loss with useful length and depth information
No couplant or consumables
Cleaner, simpler, and safer on site
Digital records
Inspection data is stored for reporting, trending, and repeat comparison
Reduced downtime
Many inspections can be completed with less access work and shorter shutdown windows
Where We Apply It
Welds, piping, pressure vessels, storage tanks, heat exchanger tubing, and structural components across refineries, petrochemical plants, power generation facilities, and offshore and heavy industrial assets, anywhere fast, dependable defect detection matters and full surface preparation isn’t practical.
Need to inspect without shutting down or stripping surfaces?
Contact IRC Engineering to discuss the right electromagnetic technique for your assets.
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