Apparatus and method of detecting defects in boiler tubes

A probe for inspecting boiler tubes for structural defects, comprising:

• a rigid housing;
• a plurality of exciter units producing an alternating magnetic field when driven by an alternating current source, the magnetic field passing through the boiler tube walls and coupled with the boiler tube walls to induce the creation of eddy currents which in turn generate their own magnetic fields, the exciter units arrayed in the housing to correspond to the physical configuration of the boiler tubes;
• and
• a plurality of detector units configured to detect the magnetic field generated by the eddy currents that are induced in the boiler tube walls by the magnetic field generated by the exciter units, the detector units arrayed in the housing to correspond to the physical configuration of the boiler tubes, the detector units detecting the configuration and strength of the magnetic field generated by the eddy currents that are induced in the boiler tube walls by the magnetic field generated by the exciter units.