Acoustic emission source location for steel pipe and pipeline applications: the role of arrival time estimation: The role of arrival time estimation

M. Shehadeh, J. A. Steel, R. L. Reuben*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Acoustic emission (AE) can be generated by a number of different fault conditions in pipes, including localized fluid-mechanical disturbances, such as local impingement or erosion, growing fatigue cracks or crack face rubbing, external impacts and leaks, each of which may have its own temporal and frequency characteristics. In this paper, a linear array of sensors is applied with the ultimate aim of locating and reconstituting the time-domain and frequencydomain signatures of AE sources in pipes. Experiments have been carried out with a simulated source on sections of line pipe and process pipe using a linear array. The acquired signals have two identifiable components and methods are demonstrated for separating these components automatically and determining their group velocities. A range of techniques, including a wavelet transform technique, a cross-correlation technique, and a filtering and thresholding technique are applied to obtain arrival times for various modes of the signal. Finally, methods are proposed for giving automatic source location in large length-diameter ratios with an accuracy of better than 5 per cent. © IMechE 2006.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-133
Number of pages13
JournalProceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part E: Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering
Volume220
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2006

Keywords

  • Acoustic emission
  • Cross-correlation
  • Energy
  • Long steel pipe
  • Threshold
  • Wavelet analysis

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