Long range guided waves for detecting holes in pipelines

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of low frequency (less than 10 kHz) guided waves for structural health monitoring (SHM) against third party intrusion into long pipelines is investigated. A guided wave (GW) is sent along a pipeline and its reflection is used to detect the presence of a drilled hole or a branch connected to the pipeline. Finite element (FE) analysis was conducted on 305 mm (12 inch) outside diameter, 12 mm wall thickness mild steel pipe. The effects of pipe diameter and thickness on the GW propagation characteristics are illustrated. It is shown that the use of low frequencies have a lower attenuation and therefore are suitable for long range propagation. It is shown that GWs have the potential to detect holes over 100s of meters of pipeline