Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study discusses the characteristics of a mode converter to generate microwaves in the TE₀₁ mode for the long-range inspection of pipes. Numerical analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the pipe diameter and the number of coaxial cables inserted into the pipe on the efficiency of converting microwaves from the coaxial TEM mode to the circular TE₀₁ mode. The results reveal that the most efficient frequency range for TE₀₁ mode propagation strongly depends on the number of cables and pipe diameter. Subsequent experiments were performed using brass pipes with a length of 5 m and diameters of 39.0 and 74.0 mm. The results of these experiments are consistent with the results of the numerical analysis: the pipe with a diameter of 39.0 mm showed a clear signal from an axial slit 1.5 m away from the mode converter and the pipe with a diameter of 74.0 mm showed almost no difference between signals with or without the slit.

Keywords

Nondestructive testing axial cracks TE modes metal pipe time of flight

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Nishiguchi

Inada

Takahashi

Ogawa

Inagaki

Ohira

Iwahara

and Yamazaki

, A review: Japanese pipe wall thinning management based on JSME rules and recent R&D studies performed to enhance the rules, E-Journal of Advanced Maintenance 2 (2010), 14–24.

Hashizume

shibata

and Yuki

, Crack detection method using electromagnetic waves, International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics 20 (2004), 171–178.

Liu

L.S.

and Ju

, A high efficiency nondestructive method for remote detection and quantitative evaluation of pipe wall thinning using microwaves, NDT&E International 44 (2011), 106–110.

Liu

L.S.

Chen

M.J.

and Fang

D.N.

, Application of microwaves for nondestructive and high-efficiency detection of wall thinning locations in a long-distance metal pipe, Material Transactions 52(11) (2011), 2091–2097.

Bejjavarapu

S.M.

and Simonetti

, An experimental model for guided microwave backscattering from wet insulation in pipelines, Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation 33(4) (2014), 583–596.

Sakai

Yusa

and Hashizume

, Nondestructive evaluation of wall thinning inside a pipe using the reflection of microwaves with the aid of signal processing, Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation 27 (2012), 171–184.

Sasaki

Katagiri

Yusa

and Hashizume

, Experimental verification of long-range microwave pipe inspection using straight pipes with length of 19–26.5 m, NDT & E International 96 (2018), 47–57.

Sasaki

Liu

Yusa

and Hashizume

, Optimizing microwave excitation probe for general application in NDT of wall thinning in metal pipe of arbitrary diameter, NDT & E International 70 (2015), 53–59.

Katagiri

Sasaki

Yusa

and Hashizume

, Development of long-range inspection using TE mode microwaves for detecting axial cracks, Transactions of the JSME 84 (2018), doi:10.1299/transjsme.17-00375.

10.

Katagiri

Sasaki

Yusa

and Hashizume

, Non-destructive testing using microwave in TE mode for detecting axial cracks in a metal pipe, Studies in Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics 42 (2017), 106–112.

Proposal of a TEM to TE 01 mode converter for a microwave nondestructive inspection of axial flaws appearing on the inner surface of a pipe with an arbitrary diameter

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References