Abstract
The ability to detect early signs of failure in buried pipe infrastructure is necessary to facilitate the continued use of ageing infrastructure for delivery of society’s essential services and move beyond disruptive and expensive reactive maintenance and repair. This paper reports detailed experiments on the use of in-pipe ultrasound techniques for assessment of ground conditions around buried plastic pipes. Two sets of ultrasonic experiment on the soil conditions are presented: (1) existence, shape, and dimension of void, and (2) water content in the soil. The ultrasound technique is shown to be capable for detecting water filled voids and assessing the soil support, critical early indicators of failure. The technique requires water as the transmission media hence is naturally suited to application in operational water distribution systems. The work represents an important advance in in-pipe condition assessment of plastic pipes, demonstrates the practical capability of the ultrasound technique, which is critical for progression towards proactive maintenance, offering cost and service improvements.
Highlights
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A 50-year service time is expected for these plastic pipes, but a large number of burst occurrences have been reported, for smaller diameter mains [4]
The aim of this study is to validate the use of in-pipe ultrasound techniques for assessment of ground conditions, provide a practical solution for the pipe inspection
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Pressurized pipes transport large volumes of some of the world’s most precious and vital resources, whether that is oil, gas or drinking water. In the past 40 years, a new generation of low cost and highly durable polymeric materials, such as polyethylene, have been extensively used in pressurized pipe systems due to good temperature, chemical and abrasion resistance, low cost, and fast installation. Of the new pipes being installed in the US, approximately 39% are PVC [1] while over 70% of Finland’s water supply infrastructure is plastic [2]. A 50-year service time is expected for these plastic pipes, but a large number of burst occurrences have been reported, for smaller diameter mains [4]
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