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

这项研究项目将研究开发一种适用于检测食水管和其他水下构筑物的激光/浸没传感器混合系统。这项研究旨在发现地下总管道内壁上通常看不见的裂缝，这些裂缝会导致供水系统中断，导致当地社区和企业普遍陷入困境。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着管道的轴向和周向产生应力波，该应力波可以由专门用于检测这些应力波的浸入式换能器阵列来检测。建议收集足够的数据，以提供沿管道长度的完整管道覆盖，以将假阳性/阴性降至最低。该项目将开发一种非开挖技术，设计一种原型，可用于水下机器人，在不中断服务的情况下从内部检查管道。这些目标应通过使用非接触方法从管道内部产生和检测的导波来实现，并对产生和检测的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，拟议的研究还将对用于民用和军用水下结构物的检查方法产生重大影响，因为拟议的从内部检查淡水总管道的系统也可以用于监视大型水下结构物。这项研究将为参与该项目的学生提供多学科的高级教育和培训。这项研究有望带来一项具有潜在市场机会的专利技术。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.