Design of Intelligent Drifting Ball for Pressure Pipeline Inner Inspection Using Ultrasonic Technique

Abstract

There are often corrosion and scaling on the inner wall of industrial pressure pipes. The spherical detector for pipeline internal inspection was proposed in the paper. The detector could be rolled with the fluid movement and collected a variety of information along the way by equipped with sensors such as ultrasonic probes. The presence and precise positioning of defects could be determined. The mechanical structure is the carrier of the spherical detector. One of the characteristics of spherical detector is that a number of probes are arranged on the spherical surface. In order to realize the above structure design, an algorithm for generating probe position was studied, and the probe is placed on the spherical shell by using this algorithm. The experimental results show that the mechanical structure has stable motion attitude. And the detector has good sealing performance, pressure resistance and internal structure layout. The research results of paper lay a foundation for the precise positioning of defects, and have important significance for ensuring the safe operation of pressure pipelines.