Preliminary Determination of the Optimal Parameters When Using an Ultrasonic Probe to Measure Cavern Geometry Where a Metal Borehole Pipe Is Present

In order to determine the optimal parameters when using an ultrasonic probe to measure cavern geometry when a metal borehole pipe is present, an investigation was firstly carried out on influence of a vertical metal plates with a thickness from 1 mm to 15 mm immersed in water on transmitted and reflected ultrasonic waves. The results obtained will be used as an indicator for the measurement of underground geometry in which the ultrasonic probe is placed inside a metal pipe lining a borehole. These studies were performed both by experiment and computer simulation. The results show that the wavelength of the incident ultrasonic signals should be equal to half the thickness of the metal plate or an integer times smaller than this thickness. When the thickness of the barrier is unknown, an ultrasonic signal with linear frequency modulation (LFM) should be used. Due to the reverberation of the ultrasonic waves inside the pipe for caverns filled with water, the distance from the transducer to the cavern wall can be measured if it is longer than three times of the pipe diameter. Frequency analysis of both the reflected and the transmitted waves enables an optimal frequency of the incident ultrasonic wave to be selected, which can be used in the measurement of cavern geometry in conditions in which the ultrasonic probe is inside a metal pipe.

Experimental verification of a TE01 mode converter to locate a crack in a metal pipe

In this study, a TE01 mode converter was developed to locate an axial crack on the inner surface of a metal pipe. Three-dimensional finite element simulation was conducted to evaluate the effect of inserted coaxial cables on the transmission characteristic of the mode converter. The result showed that the energy of TE mode microwaves leaned to transmit to one side when the cables penetrated with inclination. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the mode converter, experimental verification was conducted. The mode converter was fabricated based on the simulation result. Microwaves were emitted through the pipe wall of the converter to propagate on both sides (‘right side’ and ‘left side’) of a pipe with an artificial slit. Compared with the signals from each side, the reflection from the slit on the right side was more significant than that on the left side. This result is consistent with the numerical simulation result.

Estimate buried metal pipe length using PZT detected stress wave reflection

A roadway guardrail, as the driver’s last safety barrier, is an important part of a transportation system. The buried depth of the metal pipe directly determines the bearing capacity of the guardrail during an impact. It is important to estimate the buried depth during the inspection of a guardrail system. In this paper, we proposed an original method by integrating wavelet denoising, multiple self-correlation analysis (MSA) and energy spectrum analysis (ESA) to estimate the length of buried metal pipe based on the stress wave reflection. The stress wave is initiated by an impact on the exposed end of the buried pipe and stress wave reflection is detected by a PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) transducer. To execute the proposed method, firstly, Wavelet denoising is used to process the reflected stress wave signal to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Then, the MSA detects the major frequency of the reflected signal. At last, the ESA extracts the time interval between the reflected signal and the excitation signal with the help of Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) that acquires the frequency band where the reflected signal is located. Experimental verifications were carried out, and two different lengths of buried metal pipes are selected to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can accurately extract the length of buried metal pipes. The superiority of the proposed method over the traditional methods, such as Peak-Peak Discriminance (PPD) and Phase Analysis Method (PAM), is demonstrated by experimental comparative studies.