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

该研究项目将研究一种混合激光/浸入式换能器系统的开发，该系统适用于检测淡水管道以及其他水下结构。这项研究的目的是检测地下水管内墙上通常看不见的裂缝，这些裂缝会导致供水系统中断，给当地社区和企业造成广泛的困扰。裂缝检测概念是基于水下激光脉冲能够沿着管道的轴向和周向产生应力波的假设，这些应力波可以通过一系列浸入式传感器检测到。建议收集足够的数据，以提供沿管道长度的完整管道覆盖，以尽量减少误报/阴性。该项目将开发一种非开挖技术，其原型设计可用于水下航行器，从内部检查管道，而不会中断服务。实现这些目标的方法是利用从管道内部产生并检测到的引导超声波，采用非接触方法，并对产生和检测到的声波数据进行先进的数字信号处理，以检测管道内壁下的裂缝异常。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物的检测方法产生重大影响，因为拟议的从内部检测淡水管道的系统也可用于监测大型水下结构物。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。这项研究有望产生具有潜在市场机会的可专利技术。研究成果将通过在技术期刊上发表研究成果以及在国家和国际会议和专业会议上介绍来广泛传播。

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.