Objective:
Investigate the technical feasibility of extending the Antech active Ultrasonic Mode Imaging (UMI) system, developed for Nondestructive Test and Evaluation (NDT&E) of piping systems, to perform inspections of pipe elbows onboard Navy ships to identify areas of corrosion and wall thinning without removal of coatings and coverings.
Summary:
NDT&E methods used by the Naval shipyards, such as Ultrasonic Testing (UT) thickness measurements, are effective for inspecting ship piping for corrosion and associated wall thinning but are time consuming, costly, and cannot be performed until interferences and/or coatings or coverings (such as lagging) are removed. Antech Systems’ standard UMI guided wave ultrasound system measures the average thickness between a pulsing sensor and a receiving sensor. To find localized thinning from average thickness measurements, the average thickness beams between all the pulsers and receivers are then summed to develop a tomographic image. For a straight pipe, the pattern is simple and predictable. For an elbow, the beams between source and sensor are not straight lines due to the elbow curvature and require a custom Partial Differential Equation (PDE) solver to calculate the propagation path. A custom PDE solver will be used to determine optimal sensor spacings and placements to improve the scan detail in the outer radius of the elbow.
Key Deliverables / Benefits:
The project results will:
- allow rapid analysis of corrosion, thinning, and other defects in pipes without the need to remove pipe hangers, lagging, or insulation enabling the shipyards to more efficiently prioritize work for repairs during a maintenance interval; and
- significantly reduce the man-days associated with inspections of in-service ship piping for corrosion and wall thinning performed by shipyards and other maintenance activities.
Overview
Project Team:
- Antech Systems, Norfolk Naval Shipyard
YEAR:
- March 2026 – April 2027
NSRP ASE Investment:
- $8K | NSRP INVESTMENT: $200K
