Long Range Ultrasonic Guided Wave Techniques for Inspection of Pipes

Conventional non-destructive techniques for inspection of the weld in pipelines require significant test time and high cost. Ultrasonic guided waves have been widely studied and successfully applied to various non-destructive tests with advantage of the long-range inspection. In this paper, a study on the application of ultrasonic guided waves to the long-range inspection of the pipeline is presented using a long-range guided wave inspection system, Wavemaker SE16, GUL. The characteristics and setup of the long-range guided wave inspection system and experimental results in pipes of with various diameter are introduced. The experimental results in mock-up pipes with cluster type detects show that the minimum detectable wall thickness reduction with this guided wave system is in the pipe cross section area. And the wall thickness reduction of in cross section area can be detected when actual detection level is used. Therefore, the applicability of the guided wave systeme to long-range inspection of wall thickness reduction in pipes is verified.