Implementation and evaluation of an autonomous airborne ultrasound inspection system
Implementation and evaluation of an autonomous airborne ultrasound inspection system
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DOI：
10.1080/10589759.2021.1889546
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发表时间：
2021-02-26
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Pierce, Gareth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zhang, Dayi;Watson, Robert;Pierce, Gareth
无人机(UAV)的机动性在部署大规模资产的远程无损检测(NDT)检查时具有显著优势。超声波检测主要是一种基于接触式的无损检测方法，可以通过增强的内部完整性信息远程监控工业资产的结构健康状况。本文介绍了一种配备超声波测厚载荷的自主无人机系统的实现。该系统旨在对非磁性设施和工业基础设施进行超声波检测，这些设施和工业基础设施的表面粘合无法通过磁性实现。该系统在实验室环境中运行，可自动将换能器放置在垂直安装的未涂漆的铝样上，无需人工干预即可完成超声波厚度测量。机载激光扫描仪提供无人机对准和相对于样品表面法线向量的距离误差测量。在检查标称厚度为12.92 mm的铝样区域时，无人机系统显示了0.03 mm的测量误差。在这一过程中，飞行器位置误差的标准偏差被记录为低于63.26毫米，并伴随着相对于低于2.71度的表面法线矢量的角度对准误差。无人机布放检测的精度，包括测厚精度和位置精度，取决于很多因素。在此基础上，对传感器对准约束、电气噪声和无人机稳定性进行了研究和讨论。这篇论文的发现可能会为未来关于基础设施和工业设施的自主机载超声波检测的研究提供参考。
The mobility of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) offers significant benefits when deploying remote Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) inspections of large-scale assets. Ultrasonic inspection is primarily a contact-based NDT method, that grants the opportunity to remotely monitor the structural health of an industrial asset with enhanced internal integrity information. Presented in this paper is an implementation of an autonomous UAV system, equipped with an ultrasonic thickness measurement payload. This system is designed to conduct ultrasonic inspections of non-magnetic facilities and industrial infrastructure where surface adhesion cannot be achieved magnetically. Operating within a laboratory environment, this system autonomously positioned the transducer on a vertically mounted, unpainted, aluminium sample and completed an ultrasonic thickness measurement without manual intervention. An onboard laser scanner provided instantaneous UAV alignment and standoff error measurements versus the sample's surface normal vector. While inspecting a region of the aluminium sample with 12.92 mm nominal thickness, the UAV system demonstrated a measurement error of 0.03 mm. During this process, the standard deviation of the craft's positional error was recorded to be below 63.26 mm, accompanied by an angular alignment error versus the surface normal vector of below 2.71 degrees. The accuracy of the UAV deployed inspection, including thickness measurement accuracy and positional accuracy, depends on many factors. As such, transducer alignment constraints, electrical noise and UAV stability are investigated and discussed. Findings from this paper may be taken to inform future research regarding autonomous airborne ultrasonic inspection of constructed infrastructure and industrial facilities.