PROCESSING | PIPE INSPECTION AND STANDARDS
Right: Aquatherm is using a Warp 100 system from Inoex to monitor three-layer composite PP pipe
triangulation to inspect products such as pipes and profiles. The company says it can detect lumps, gels, pits, slits and other surface defects – and perform the same functions as conventional laser micrometers, lump and neckdown detectors and camera-based systems. Manufacturing personnel can later review the defects in 3D for deeper analysis. The system can perform 360° in-process inspection, regardless of product orientation in the measurement field.
“FlawSense is a high-performance inspection system that uses the most advanced laser triangula- tion technology and is more accurate and capable than conventional inspection systems,” said Chad Walker, product manager at LaserLinc. LaserLinc says that traditional systems typically
offer limited measurement points per sensor, are unable to measure the full contour of the product or see false positives due to the presence of text and labels. FlawSense digitises thousands of individual measurement points around the contour of the product to reveal the smallest surface anomalies. It then produces a 3D point cloud image that can be manipulated for further analysis. The system can detect surface defects down to 5 microns – and claims 10 times better resolution than camera-based systems. The system is suited for inspecting high-value
products such as high-pressure hose for automo- bile and aerospace applications.
Buried pipe detection Researchers at CNRS in France have developed a method to find buried polyethylene (PE) pipes using an acoustic method. Locating buried PE pipes is important for network managers, said the researchers. Their study – pub- lished in the journal Sensors – focuses on an acoustic method that vibrates the pipe and observes the signal with a receiver placed at ground level. The method provides an estimate of the path of the pipe but gives no information on its depth. However, the researchers have developed a multi-sensor method – incorporating a so-called GasTracker tool – that allows depth estimation while also being non-invasive and non-destructive. It also requires no specific information on the propagation medium. The sensors are positioned perpendicular to the
pipe. The researchers developed a new algorithm (an ‘estimator’) to estimate the depth and the propagation velocity in the medium, which is an important variable in the problem, they said. This estimator is based on the Music algorithm
28 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | October 2023
and is adapted to the researchers’ choice of model- ling. In their paper, two models of travel times in typical situations are presented. The first represents the case where all sensors can be placed inside the trench – at ground level – in which the pipe is buried. The second represents the case where sensors are placed inside and outside the trench. The travel time models aim to provide a fast
result to allow the method to be used by those out in the field. In future – using more sensors – the researchers
aim to keep evolving their model – such as by considering other propagation media, such as the layer of sand surrounding the pipe or the layer of tar covering the ground. “This aims to produce a model closer to real situ-
ations that provide the fastest possible result to be able to apply the method in the field in real-time,” they wrote in the paper.
Finding leaks Researchers at Gujarat Technological University in India have devised a way to detect leaks in the water distribution network – using a real-time wireless sensor and machine learning algorithm. The researchers devised a laboratory experi- mental model using wireless sensors (for real-time data collection) to monitor changes in pressure and flow under different leakage scenarios. Modifying the laboratory model was done by considering a loop network of distribution pipes – rather than the simple experimental model. The model was validated in EPANET software.
The machine-learning algorithm – along with a validation approach called K-fold – has been used to locate leakage and was compared with a number of other algorithms.
www.pipeandprofile.com
IMAGE: INOEX
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