Flexible piezopolymer ultrasonic guided wave arrays

• Published in: IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 1212 - 1217
• Main Authors: Hay, T.R., Rose, J.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.06.2006; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Acoustics; Amplitudes; Arrays; Chemical elements; Defects; Elasticity; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Gas pipelines; General equipment and techniques; Inspection; Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy; Magnetostriction; Physics; Piezoelectric ceramics; Piezoelectric materials; Pipe; Pipelines; Polymers - chemistry; Pulp manufacturing; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Simulation; Steel pipes; Testing; Transducers; Ultrasonic transducer arrays; Ultrasonic transducers; Ultrasonics; Ultrasonics, quantum acoustics, and physical effects of sound; Gas liquid; Piezoelectric sensor; Magnetostriction; Response amplitude; Guided wave; Spacing; Steel; Carbon; Magnetostrictive device; Axial symmetry; Piezoelectric ceramics; Magnetic measurement; Ultrasonic control; Acoustic arrays; Acoustic antenna; Ultrasonic transducer; Magnetoelastic effect; Transducer network
• DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2006.1642520
• ISSN: 0885-3010

Ultrasonic guided wave technology is being applied to a variety of gas and liquid transmission pipeline inspection applications. There are a variety of promising transduction techniques used to excite longitudinal, torsional, and flexural modes in pipe. Some of the more common methods include electromagnetic-acoustic, magnetostrictive, and piezoceramic array transducers. The objective of the work presented in this paper was to develop an array design that is simpler to manufacture and attach to pipelines compared to the current piezoceramic design. The design considerations for a flexible piezopolymer-based array are discussed in this paper along with the basic principles behind the selection of the array element width and spacing. The performance of a piezoceramic and piezopolymer array, with identical element spacing and width, are compared at four different frequencies. Tests were undertaken on a carbon steel pipe with a simulated defect. Evaluation of the different arrays was performed in terms of the defect response, in terms of amplitude, of the lower-order axisymmetric modes. It is shown that while the piezopolymer array provides comparable sensitivity to the piezoceramic array, the amplitude of the signals reflected from the simulated defect are 30 dB lower compared to those generated using the piezoceramic array.