A versatile inspection system for pipe structure using ultrasonic waves propagation imager

Abstract

Pipe structure is vulnerable to many types of damage, such as flow-accelerated corrosion, crack, and in the case of multi-layers pipe, debonding damage. A versatile damage inspection system is needed, where it must be easily used for variety types of pipeline, must have the capability to detect many types of damage, as well as must be able to carry out inspection in the working condition of the pipe system. In this paper, we present the Ultrasonic Propagation Imager (UPI) that demonstrated to meet those demands. The UPI system consists of a high speed Q-switched laser, a high speed scanning mirror, a DAQ system, and a changeable sensing system depends on applications. Advanced signal processing using ultrasonic wavenumber imaging algorithm and energy mapping were applied for damage detection of the pipe structures.