Abstract: Pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes in service often suffer from the wire breakage problems, it may cause pipe burst accidents and is a threat on the safety and service stability of the long-distance water conveyance projects. Based on the remote field eddy current-inductance coupling effect, the electromagnetic method can be used to detect and locate the broken zone of pre-stressed steel wire. This paper tries to apply the axisymmetric finite element method to simulate the propagation of the extreme low frequency electromagnetic wave from inside to outside of a pipe. Then the coupling effect of the eddy field in the thin steel cylinder and the windings of the pre-stressed steel wires is discussed and the relationship between the distribution of the magnetic induction intensity and related phase close to the inner pipe wall and number of broken wires is concluded, supplying the preliminary theoretical basis for the wire breakage detection of the pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe.