Non-destructive evaluation of spiral-welded pipes using flexural guided waves

Abstract

Millions of miles of pipes are being used in both civil and industrial fields. Spiral-welded pipes, which are widely applied in fields such as drainage, architecture as well as oil and gas storage and transportation, are difficult to inspect due to their complex geometry. Guided waves have shown a great potential in Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) for such cases. Flexural guided waves that propagate at a helix angle relative to the axial direction of pipe, are the most appropriate modes for inspecting spiral-welded pipes. The classical Normal Mode Expansion method (NME) is adopted to disseminate the forced response and perturbation analysis of a steel pipe with respect to a time delay circular loading. A time delay circular array transducer (TDCAT) is proposed for the purpose of exciting pure flexural mode in pipes. Pure flexural mode can be excited when the time delay parameter is specifically designed. The theoretical prediction is verified by finite element numerical evaluation and spiral-welded pipe inspection experiment.