Determining average wall thickness and wall-thickness variation of a liquid-carrying pipe
First Claim
1. A method for determining parameters of a liquid-carrying pipe, comprising:
- transmitting an elastic wave from a first point on the pipe;
detecting a signal generated by the elastic wave traveling along the pipe;
determining an average radius of the pipe from the detected signal;
determining an average inside diameter of the pipe from the detected signal; and
determining an average wall thickness of the pipe from the average radius and the average inside diameter of the pipe.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The average wall thickness and the wall-thickness variation of a liquid-carrying pipe are determined. An elastic wave is generated and is measured after traveling a distance along the pipe. From the received wave, the average radius of the pipe, the average inside diameter of the pipe, and the inside diameter variation of the pipe are determined. From the average radius of the pipe and the average inside diameter of the pipe, the average wall thickness of the pipe is determined. From the variations in the average radius of the pipe and the inside diameter variation of the pipe, the wall-thickness variation of the pipe is determined. To determine the average inside diameter of the pipe, the invention relies upon the coupling between the elastic wave modes propagating in the wall of the pipe and the modes propagating in the liquid within the pipe.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining parameters of a liquid-carrying pipe, comprising:
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transmitting an elastic wave from a first point on the pipe; detecting a signal generated by the elastic wave traveling along the pipe; determining an average radius of the pipe from the detected signal; determining an average inside diameter of the pipe from the detected signal; and determining an average wall thickness of the pipe from the average radius and the average inside diameter of the pipe. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for determining parameters of a liquid-carrying pipe, comprising:
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means for transmitting and receiving an elastic wave along the pipe; a converter for converting the received elastic wave to a detected signal; and a computer programmed with code segments comprising; code segments for determining an average radius of the pipe from the detected signal; code segments for determining an average inside diameter of the pipe from the detected signal; and code segments for determining an average wall thickness of the pipe from the average radius and the average inside diameter of the pipe. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable medium embodying code segments for determining parameters of a liquid-carrying pipe, comprising:
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code segments for determining an average radius of the pipe from a detected signal representative of a signal generated by an elastic wave traveling along the pipe; code segments for determining an average inside diameter of the pipe from the detected signal; and code segments for determining an average wall thickness of the pipe from the average radius and the average inside diameter of the pipe. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification