Ultrasonic inline inspection of a cement-based drinking water pipeline

The integrity of the drinking water infrastructure deteriorates with time. Monitoring the condition of the drinking water mains can enhance the remaining operational lifetime assessment of the network. In this research a method to translate ultrasonic signals to degradation levels from an inline inspection in a cement-based drinking water pipeline is proposed. The data was obtained from an inspection performed in a Dutch drinking main section. The data is processed in two major steps. Firstly, the parameters that provide the condition of the cement are extracted. Secondly, images of the degradation within the pipes of the inspected trajectory were generated. The main contributions in this paper are (i) the estimation of relative degradation levels of a cement-based pipeline based on the ultrasonic pulse-echo technique and (ii) the upscaling of the processing method in an automated manner for visualization of the degraded condition. Lastly, a sensitivity study of the parameters relevant to the determination of the degraded depth has been performed. The speed of sound in cement is the most relevant parameter to consider. Estimating absolute degradation levels needs further study.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hernandez Delgadillo, Hector, Geelen, Caspar, Kakes, Rutger, Loendersloot, Richard, Yntema, Doekle, Tinga, Tiedo, Akkerman, Remko
Format: Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:English
Subjects:Cement-based pipeline, Data processing, Degradation, Inline inspection,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/ultrasonic-inline-inspection-of-a-cement-based-drinking-water-pip
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