Ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9632062-B2
Application number	US-201414483797-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2014
Priority date	Sep 12, 2013
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

An ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus includes: a plurality of ultrasonic transceivers discretely disposed on a pipe wall of a pipe; and a control unit configured to control the plurality of ultrasonic transceivers and detect a generation point of damage caused in the pipe based on an ultrasonic signal exchanged between the ultrasonic transceivers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus comprising:
a plurality of ultrasonic transceivers comprising at least a first transceiver, a second transceiver and a third transceiver, each discretely disposed on a pipe wall of a pipe at different positions along an axial length of the pipe; and
a control unit configured to (a) control the plurality of ultrasonic transceivers and (b) detect a generation point of damage caused in the pipe based on an ultrasonic signal transmitted by the first transceiver and received by at least said first, second and third ultrasonic transceivers, wherein
the control unit is configured to measure a size of the damage caused in the pipe based on the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the first transceiver and received by each of said at least first, second and third ultrasonic transceivers,
the control unit has operation modes including:
a search mode wherein an interval of transmitting ultrasonic pulses is set relatively long relative to a measurement mode, the search mode being adapted to detect a point of the damage and the approximate size of the damage; and
the measurement mode adapted to accurately measure the size of the damage, the measurement mode allowing an ultrasonic pulse with an amplitude and a transmission interval for required accuracy to be transmitted, and

the control unit is configured to maintain the operation mode to be the search mode when the size of the damage measured in the search mode is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold.

2. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to detect a generation point of the damage caused in the pipe based on time after the ultrasonic wave is output from said first ultrasonic transceiver and before a reflection wave from the damage is received by each of said at least first, second and third ultrasonic transceiver.

3. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to measure the size of the damage caused in the pipe based on an amplitude of the reflection wave from the damage as received by each of said at least first, second and third ultrasonic transceivers.

4. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to switch the operation mode from the search mode to the measurement mode when the size of the damage measured in the search mode is greater than the predetermined threshold.

5. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to switch the operation mode from the measurement mode to the search mode when the size of the damage measured in the measurement mode is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold.

6. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to execute both the search mode and the measurement mode when a plurality of damages with different sizes is detected.

7. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to sequentially switch the ultrasonic transceivers that become the first transceiver and transmit the ultrasonic waves.

8. The ultrasonic pipe measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ultrasonic transceivers are configured to transmit the ultrasonic waves with different frequencies.

Assignees

• Yokogawa Electric Corp

Inventors

• Tanaka Yoshiaki
• Miyazawa Kazunori
• Kamada Ken'Ichi
• Kato Satoshi
• Ishii Yosuke
• Fujita Sho
• Akisada Yukiyo
• Okabe Nobuo
• Tanaka Hiroaki
• Terao Minako

Classifications

• G01N2291/2634

  cylindrical from outside · CPC title

• G01N29/07

  by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N17/00

  Investigating resistance of materials to the weather, to corrosion, or to light · CPC title

• G01N2291/0289

  Internal structure, e.g. defects, grain size, texture · CPC title

• G01N2291/015

  Attenuation, scattering · CPC title