Simplified ultrasonic damage detection in fluid filled pipes

The location and extent of damage in a pipe can be remotely determined from weld and internal damage reflections using a single acoustic emitter/sensor pair. The use of normalised reflections yields single numbers enabling long distance data collection techniques such as wireless hopping. The attenuation is twice as high for opposite inner and outer fluids (whether air and water, or water and air) as compared to identical inner and outer fluids. The absolute recorded signals in the water-filled pipe are attenuated by a factor two compared to the empty pipe. The axial length of detection is reduced by a half. The reduction of >90% in sensors and the longer axial detection (>10× current state-of- the-art- technology) means that permanent fixed sensor pairs for whole pipelines are on the horizon of possibility. The greatest advantage is envisioned in submersed pipelines.