GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE RE WEAR MONITORING

• US 20140026667A1
• Filed: 07/30/2013
• Published: 01/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cidra Corporate Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cidra Corporate Services, Inc.
• Inventors: FERNALD, Mark R., BAILEY, Timothy J., Van der Spek, Alex M., DAVIS, Michael A., O'KEEFE, Christian Victor, MARON, Robert J., VIEGA, John V.
• Granted Patent: US 9,366,653 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/622
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 17/02 for measuring thickness
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/04 Analysing solids using acoustic emission techniques G01N29/14
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/2437 Piezoelectric probes

Abstract

Apparatus for determining a thickness of a wall of a pipe, featuring a signal processing module configured to respond to signaling containing information about traveling stress waves transmitted to and reflected back from a wall of a pipe by a sensor band that includes a series, ring or array having multiple transducers circumferentially arranged and mounted around, and attached to or clamped onto, an outside wall of the pipe; determine a profile of a thickness of the wall of the pipe corresponding to circumferential locations of the multiple transducers based on the signaling received from the sensor band, and the provides corresponding signaling containing information about the profile of the thickness of the wall of the pipe; and another module configured to receive the corresponding signaling and provide a visual indication of either data or a graph of the thickness of the wall of the pipe.

Claims

1-43. -43. (canceled)

44. Apparatus for determining a thickness of a wall of a pipe, characterised in that the apparatus comprises:

a signal processing module configured to respond to signaling containing information about traveling stress waves transmitted to and reflected back from a wall of a pipe by a sensor band that includes a series, ring or array having multiple transducers circumferentially arranged and mounted around, and attached to or clamped onto, an outside wall of the pipe;

determine a profile of a thickness of the wall of the pipe corresponding to circumferential locations of the multiple transducers based on the signaling received from the sensor band, and the provides corresponding signaling containing information about the profile of the thickness of the wall of the pipe; and

another module configured to receive the corresponding signaling and provide a visual indication of either data or a graph of the thickness of the wall of the pipe.

45. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module is configured at one location and said another module is configured at some other remote location in relation to the signal processing module.

46. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the graph is a polar plot that provides the thickness of the wall of the pipe as a function of the angular distance from a set reference point of the pipe.

47. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module makes the determination based at least partly on an amount of time at least one traveling stress wave propagates through the wall of the pipe, based at least partly on the time a traveling stress wave travels to and is reflected back from an inner wall of the pipe.

48. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module provides an input signal to the multiple transducers.

49. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein at least one transducer propagates a respective traveling stress wave through the wall of the pipe.

50. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the apparatus comprises the sensor band that includes the series, ring or array of the multiple transducers that are permanently or semi-permanently mounted around, attached to or clamped onto, the outside wall of the pipe.

51. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein each of the multiple transducers responds to an input signal from the signal processing module and provides a respective traveling stress wave that is propagated through the wall of the pipe.

52. Apparatus according to claim 51, wherein each of the multiple transducers responds to a respective traveling stress wave reflected off an inner surface of the wall of the pipe and returned back to a respective one of the multiple transducers, and provides a respective output signal containing information about the same that can be used to determine the thickness of the wall of the pipe.

53. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module is configured to determine an absolute thickness of the wall of the pipe.

54. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module is configured to determine a relative thickness of the wall of the pipe, based at least partly on a pipe wall thickness trend that includes at least one comparison of the thickness of the wall of the pipe performed at two different periods of time.

55. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module determines an interpolation of the thickness of the wall of the pipe between one or more pairs of sensor points in the series, ring or array of the multiple transducers.

56. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the multiple transducers comprise piezoelectric elements.

57. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the multiple transducers are equally spaced circumferentially around the outside wall of the pipe so as to provide a complete profile of the thickness of the wall of the pipe.

58. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein at least one transducer is an ultrasonic signal transmitter and receiver that receives an input signal from the signal processing module, and provides the signaling containing information about the traveling stress waves transmitted to and reflected back from the wall of the pipe.

59. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein one or more of the multiple transducers is a dual transducer, having one transducer to receive an input signal from the signal processing module and transmit at least one traveling stress wave to the wall of the pipe, and having another transducer to provide the signaling containing information about the at least one traveling stress wave reflected back from the wall of the pipe.

60. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the apparatus comprises a compression band arranged to compress the sensor band against the wall of the pipe.

61. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the profile is a complete profile corresponding to the multiple transducers circumferentially arranged around the outside wall of the pipe.

63. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module determines a future pipe condition prediction by an extrapolation technique, based at least partly determining a calculated wear model or profile using some combination of a least-square polynomial extrapolation and Fourier component extrapolation.

64. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the signal processing module determines a lifetime schedule or a rotation schedule for the pipe, based at least partly on either when or at which angle the pipe should be rotated so as to distribute substantially equally the wear of the pipe around the inner wall of the pipe.

65. Apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the apparatus comprises one or more orientation or rotation sensors, each responding to its orientation in relation to its displacement on the pipe and to provide an orientation signal containing information about the same.

66. Apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the one or more orientation or rotation sensors provides the orientation signal back to the signal processing module.

67. Apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the signal processing module is configured to receive the orientation signaling containing information about an angular position of at least one orientation sensor arranged on the pipe.

68. Apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the signal processing module is configured to receive and use the orientation signaling to calculate variable wear rates at different positions on the pipe, based at least partly on the fact that heavier materials tend to travel along the bottom of the pipe and induce greater wear in that location.

69. Apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the one or more orientation or rotation sensors comprise at least two orientation or rotation sensors spaced along the sensor band and around the pipe to provide orientation data.

70. Apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the signal processing module is configured to receive and use the orientation signaling to predict a pipe future condition, based at least partly on the orientation signal received.