Development and validation of an automated non-destructive evaluation (NDE) approach for testing welded joints in plastic pipes

Abstract

A reliable non-destructive evaluation (NDE) approach is required for the inspection of different polyethylene (PE) pipe joints in various material grades and pipe sizes. In February 2010, a European (FP7)-funded project on the development and validation of an automated non-destructive evaluation (NDE) approach for testing welded joints in plastic pipes (TestPEP), involving 13 organisations from seven European countries, was started. Several individual tasks need to be solved before approaching the final solution. The challenging material properties of PE pipes, low speed of sound and high-frequency-dependent attenuation, must be overcome. A flexible scanner with probe and wedge holder incorporated must be adaptable for the variety of pipe joint configurations. Furthermore, a rugged flaw detector instrument will be developed, capable of performing the advanced procedures required for these materials. In this paper, the technical problem, industry needs and the proposed approach to the solution are stated. Initial results show the route for success in the project together with the proposed inspection system and inspection techniques.

Review on condition monitoring techniques for water pipelines

“…PE butt fusion joints have been investigated using phased array ultrasonic technique to detect flat bottom holes. Phased array technique has shown promising results to detect all sizes of flat bottom hols with high accuracy, except the area that is not within the coverage area of the technique [96].…”

Guided Wave Ultrasonic Testing for Crack Detection in Polyethylene Pipes: Laboratory Experiments and Numerical Modeling

“…By quantifying the crack growth rate and estimating the time to failure, these models aid in developing effective maintenance strategies of pipelines [23]. Despite repeated emphasis on the early detection of cracks in the literature, reported studies on crack detection in PE pipes have primarily concentrated on identifying cracks in welded regions [24,25]. Therefore, it is of interest for the research community to expand the existing methodologies for crack detection in non-welded regions of pipes.…”

Semiautomatic High Frequency Ultrasonic Testing System for Welded Plastic Pipes

“…The problems that occur with sound propagation through the material are related to the sound attenuation [5,6] especially at frequencies higher than 2,5 [MHz]. Several testing methods can be used: pulse-echo method, tandem method, 30 ○ -70 ○ -70 ○ with vertical transversal waves method, time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) method [7] and phased array (PAUT) method [8]. In industrial use there are still dissensions regarding the nature, dimension, spatial distribution or the defects density leading to the acceptance or rejection of the sample [9].…”