The poor conversion efficiency and obvious lift-off effect of the electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) are commonly known to be problems for its practical application. For the purpose of enhancing the performance of EMATs, numerical simulations were performed in order to analyze the effect of various parameters. The results indicate that only the magnet-to-coil distance can effectively enhance the conversion efficiency and weaken the lift-off effect at the same time. When the magnet-to-coil distance is 2 mm, the lift-off effect will continue to be weakened as the magnet-to-coil distance increases, whereas the decrease of the lift-off effect is inconspicuous and the conversion efficiency starts to decline at this time. Therefore, to get the best performance of this specific EMAT, the suitable magnet-to-coil distance is 2 mm. The experiment effectively verifies the improvement of EMATs with a magnet-to-coil distance of 2 mm.
Keywords: EMAT; conversion efficiency; lift-off effect; magnet-to-coil distance.