Hazard Mitigation of Water Mains by Means of Immersed Active/Passive Inspection Systems

这项研究计划将研究发展一套混合激光/水浸式传感器系统，适用于检查食水管及其他水下结构。该研究旨在检测地下管道内壁上通常不可见的裂缝，这些裂缝会导致供水系统中断，给当地社区和企业带来广泛的困扰。裂纹检测的概念是基于这样的假设，即水下激光脉冲能够沿管道的轴向和周向沿着方向产生应力波，该应力波可以被专用于检测这些应力波的浸入式换能器阵列检测到。建议收集足够的数据，以提供沿管道长度沿着的完整管道覆盖，从而最大限度地减少误报/漏报。 该项目将开发一种非开挖技术，设计一种原型，可用于水下航行器，从内部检查管道，而不会中断服务。这些目标应通过使用从管道内部产生和检测的引导超声波来实现，使用非接触方法和对所产生和检测的波数据的高级数字信号处理来检测管道内壁下方的裂纹异常。 除了研究结果对科学界的重要性外，拟议的研究将对民用和军用水下结构的检测方法产生重大影响，因为拟议用于从内部检查淡水总管的系统也可以用于监测大型水下结构。这项研究将为参与该项目的学生提供多学科和先进的教育和培训。这项研究预计将导致一项具有潜在市场机会的专利技术。研究结果将通过在技术期刊上发表研究结果和在国家和国际会议及专业会议上介绍而广泛传播。

This research project will study the development of a hybrid laser/immersion transducers system suitable for inspecting fresh water mains as well as other underwater structures. The research aims to detect normally invisible cracks on the interior walls of the underground mains that initiate disruptions in the water supply systems causing widespread distress in local communities and businesses. The crack detection concept is based on the hypothesis that underwater laser pulses are able to generate stress waves along the axial and the circumferential directions of the pipe that can be detected by an array of immersion transducers devoted to the detection of these stress waves. It is proposed to collect adequate data to provide full pipeline coverage along the pipe length to minimize false positives/negatives. The project will develop a trenchless technology with the design of a prototype that may be used on an underwater vehicle to inspect pipes from the inside without service disruption. These goals shall be accomplished by using guided ultrasonic waves generated and detected from inside the pipe using non contact methods and advanced digital signal processing of the generated and detected wave data to detect crack anomalies underneath the interior walls of the pipes. Besides the importance of the research results to the scientific community, the proposed research will have a significant impact on the inspection approaches that are used for underwater structures in civil and military applications as the system proposed to inspect freshwater mains from the inside can be also employed to monitor large underwater structures. This research will provide multidisciplinary and advanced education and training to students participating in the project. The research is expected to lead to a patentable technology with potential marketing opportunities. The research results will be broadly disseminated through publication of research results in technical journals and through the presentation at national and international conferences and professional meetings.