Development of Ultrasonic Guided Wave Transducer for Monitoring of High Temperature Pipelines.

Anurag Dhutti,Jamil Kanfoud,Saiful Asmin Tumin,Tat-Hean Gan,Wamadeva Balachandran

doi:10.3390/s19245443

Anurag Dhutti, Jamil Kanfoud + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s19245443

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Abstract

High-temperature (HT) ultrasonic transducers are of increasing interest for structural health monitoring (SHM) of structures operating in harsh environments. This article focuses on the development of an HT piezoelectric wafer active sensor (HT-PWAS) for SHM of HT pipelines using ultrasonic guided waves. The PWAS was fabricated using Y-cut gallium phosphate (GaPO4) to produce a torsional guided wave mode on pipes operating at temperatures up to 600 °C. A number of confidence-building tests on the PWAS were carried out. HT electromechanical impedance (EMI) spectroscopy was performed to characterise piezoelectric properties at elevated temperatures and over long periods of time (>1000 h). Laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) was used to verify the modes of vibration. A finite element model of GaPO4 PWAS was developed to model the electromechanical behaviour of the PWAS and the effect of increasing temperatures, and it was validated using EMI and LDV experimental data. This study demonstrates the application of GaPO4 for guided-wave SHM of pipelines and presents a model that can be used to evaluate different transducer designs for HT applications.

Highlights

There is an increasing emphasis on the development of structural health monitoring (SHM)systems using in situ sensors that can inform an operator about the health of their critical infrastructure, develop damage and estimate the remaining useful life
Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWASs) can be used for damage detection in three different ways: guided-wave ultrasonics [2], high-frequency modal sensing [3] and acoustic emission passive detection [4]
SHM applications for assets subjected to an extreme operational environment such as high temperature (HT) are in great demand to monitor critical components in gas turbines and nuclear power industry

Summary

Introduction

There is an increasing emphasis on the development of structural health monitoring (SHM)systems using in situ sensors that can inform an operator about the health of their critical infrastructure, develop damage and estimate the remaining useful life. Piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWASs) are increasingly used for many SHM applications, as they are lightweight, inexpensive and can be permanently installed on structures. They have been successfully demonstrated on various critical components and substructures in many industrial applications [1]. SHM applications for assets subjected to an extreme operational environment such as high temperature (HT) are in great demand to monitor critical components in gas turbines and nuclear power industry. This has led to rapid developments in the field of HT piezoelectric sensing. Surface acoustic wave sensors, ultrasonic transducers and pressure sensors for temperatures up to 1250 ◦ C have been reported [5]

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