WIDE BANDWIDTH GW PROBE FOR TUBE AND PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM

摘要

A tube inspection system that includes a guided-wave-transducer mechanism (GWTM) that is associated with a tube that is being inspected. The GWTM can have one ring with ‘N’ guided-wave transducers (GWTs) distributed thereon, and another ring with ‘M’ guided-wave transducers (GWTs) distributed thereon. A controller excites mechanical waves by the GWTs of the first ring that propagate in the wall of the tube being inspected and along its axis. The ‘M’ GWTs of the second ring obtain received mechanical waves and convert them to electronic signals. The ‘M’ electronic signals are processed to provide a measured signal in which a wanted mode is enhanced.

主权项

1. A method for inspecting the condition of a tube, the method comprising the actions of:
a. employing a guided-wave-transducer mechanism (GWTM) that is configured to be associated with a tube to be inspected, wherein the GWTM has a first ring having ‘N’ guided-wave transducers (GWTs) distributed along the first ring, and a second ring having ‘M’ guided-wave transducers (GWTs) distributed along the second ring; b. exciting mechanical waves by the GWTs of the first ring such that at least a portion of the mechanical waves propagates in the wall of the tube to be inspected and along an axis of the tube to be inspected; c. converting the mechanical waves, by each of the ‘M’ GWTs of the second ring, into an electronic signal that is transferred from each GWTs of the second ring toward a processor; d. processing, at the processor, the converted ‘M’ electronic signals for providing a measured signal in which a wanted mode is enhanced; e. wherein ‘N’ and ‘M’ are integer numbers equal or greater than two and are not equal to each other.