Abstract
Sheet piles are significantly more prone to advanced corrosion rates due to accelerated low water corrosion. Current inspection and assessment techniques are costly, time-consuming and labour-intensive. Guided wave testing (GWT) has gained increased attention due to its capability of screening long distances; however, it has not been used previously to inspect the active zone in steel sheet piles. This paper focuses on the numerical modelling of wave propagation and defect detection in U-shaped piles to demonstrate the capabilities of GWT for the inspection of non-accessible areas of steel sheet piles. Two shear transducer arrays were designed, bearing high SH0 mode purity and directionality. A wave propagation comparison study concluded that the back wall reflection signal from the web of a U-pile was 11.5% higher than the respective signal from the plate, and the excitation signal in the flange, at 5.65 m and 7.12 m, was respectively 35% and 46% less than the excitation signal in the web at the same distance. Defect reflection, measured from five representative defect scenarios, ranged from 7.5 to 47% of the signal amplitude in the web of the pile and 5 to 32.5% in the flange of the pile.
Highlights
accelerated low water corrosion (ALWC) is a type of microbiologically induced corrosion (MIC) that arises due to the presence of sulphates in marine environments
This paper reports an investigation carried out using an advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) technique that uses ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) signals to inspect the full length of steel sheet piles
A 12 × 2 configuration and a 7 × 2 configuration shear transducer array were modelled for the inspection of the web and flange of a U-shaped steel sheet pile, respectively
Summary
Structural steel is the most widely used material of choice for the structures used in coastal and offshore locations. It offers many benefits, including durability and simplicity of fabrication, and facilitates relatively cost-effective solutions [1,2]. Structural steel offers many advantages, corrosion is a major problem for many industries, including the marine and offshore industry [3,4]. It is the main cause of deterioration for waterfront steel structures.
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