Optimized Unilateral Magnetic Resonance Sensor with Constant Gradient and Its Applications on Composite Insulators

Abstract In this study, an optimized unilateral magnetic resonance sensor with a three-magnet array is presented for assessing the aging of composite insulators in power grids. The sensor's optimization involved enhancing the static magnetic field strength and the homogeneity of the RF field while maintaining a constant gradient in the direction of the vertical sensor surface and maximizing homogeneity in the horizontal direction. The center layer of the target area is positioned 4 mm from the coil's upper surface, resulting in a magnetic field strength of 139.74 mT at the center point of the area, with a gradient of 2.318 T/m and a corresponding hydrogen atomic nuclear magnetic resonance frequency of 5.95 MHz. The magnetic field uniformity over a 10 mm × 10 mm range on the plane is 0.75%. The sensor measures 120 mm × 130.5 mm × 76 mm and weighs 7.5 kg. Employing the optimized sensor, magnetic resonance assessment experiments were conducted on composite insulator samples utilizing the CPMG (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill) pulse sequence. The T2 distribution provides visualizations of the T2 decay in insulator samples with different degrees of aging.