A permanently installed guided wave system for pipe monitoring

Andrea Galvagni; Peter Cawley

doi:10.1117/12.919899

18 April 2012 A permanently installed guided wave system for pipe monitoring

Andrea Galvagni, Peter Cawley

Proceedings Volume 8348, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2012; 83480B (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.919899
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Ultrasonic guided waves are routinely used to inspect pipes. The advantage of this technique is that it enables a fullyvolumetric screening of several metres of pipe from a single transducer location, resulting in substantial time and cost savings. However, it suffers from limitations such as relatively low damage sensitivity and difficulties in dealing with intricate pipe networks; furthermore, for a pipe that is buried, submerged or high up in a plant, access to even a single point can be prohibitively expensive. The use of permanently attached sensors can overcome these limitations since access needs to be obtained only once during installation and they enable the use of baseline subtraction, so that any reading from a sensor can be compared to previous readings. This paper discusses the advantages of baseline subtraction and the challenge of compensating for signal changes due to effects other than the growth of damage. It is shown that the use of baseline subtraction allows significant damage sensitivity improvements, particularly in the vicinity of large reflectors. Data from four years of field experience is backed up by accelerated laboratory testing.

Citation Download Citation

Andrea Galvagni and Peter Cawley "A permanently installed guided wave system for pipe monitoring", Proc. SPIE 8348, Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems 2012, 83480B (18 April 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.919899

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