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	SwRI engineers used the MsS system to inspect a 24-inch outside diameter (OD) buried gas transmission line. Although the system can typically be used from an easily accessible location, underground pipelines require small areas to be excavated for access. The data sample below (click image to enlarge) illustrates the defects found in a 4.5-inch OD pipe filled with water.
	Weld graph. Click image to enlarge.
	Magnetostrictive sensor technology provides SwRI engineers with a rapid, cost-effective means of inspecting the structural integrity of steel pipes as well as developing methods to control vibration, noise, and dynamic impact response. The technique can be used to inspect several hundred feet of pipe from a single sensor location.

Cost-effective nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology continues to be developed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to inspect steel tubes and pipes in processing plants and power generating plants for the oil and gas industries. A technique using magnetostrictive sensors (MsS) provides a rapid, 100% volumetric inspection of tubes and pipes for corrosion defects and cracks.

The technique can inspect several hundred feet of pipe from a single sensor location. The sensor is noncontacting and thus does not require couplant, nor does it require removal of paint or coating from the pipe except for a few feet of insulation for sensor placement.

We have applied MsS to pipes as large as 60 inches in diameter. In the inspection mode, the usual defect detection sensitivity is approximately 2-3% of the total pipe wall cross section. In the monitoring mode, the defect detection sensitivity is approximately 1% of the total pipe wall cross section. The defects detected are usually localized corrosion or wall thinning.

Without MsS, examining these steel pipes and tubes often requires equipment shutdown and insulation removal, which is both time-consuming and expensive.

For more information about our nondestructive evaluation (NDE) capabilities, steel tube and pipe inspection using MsS^® technology, or how you can contract with SwRI, please contact Sergey A. Vinogradov, Ph.D., at sviogradov@swri.org or call (210) 522-3342.

ndesensors.swri.org

| Sensor Systems and Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Technology Department | Mechanical Engineering Division | SwRI Home |

Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a multidisciplinary, independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization with 11 technical divisions.

January 03, 2013