The new technology uses a new type of guided wave technology, known as qualitative short range (QSR), which provides pipe wall thickness measurements in unreachable areas.
The original long-range guide wave technology was developed by GUL founder and CEO David Alleyne more than 20 years ago to screen large sections of pipe for changes, and is used worldwide for a variety of applications, including buried sections of road crossings or insulated pipelines.
If changes are found and more detailed inspection is required, the QSR eliminates the need to remove obstacles to conduct direct testing on the pipe wall.
“Often the places you really need to measure are in positions that you can’t reach directly and up to now, there has been no technology available to do this,” said Mr Alleyne.
“It is a major problem and all sorts of solutions have been proposed, but they can only give an estimate and are not a reliable way to measure thickness.
“QSR allows you to rapidly scan wall thickness and provides an accurate measurement.
“Long-range guided wave technique was designed as a screening system for use with insulated pipes, however it is now widely used as a way to test buried pipes and for more general inspections.
“QSR has been developed as a scanning and mapping tool, with the areas behind pipe supports in mind, however it could be used to map any type of system corrosion.
“Like the long-wave technique, we believe it is a breakthrough technology and expect it will find much wider applications,” he said.
Mr Alleyne will speak about QSR at the Materials Testing 2017 Exhibition in Telford, UK at 2pm on 6 September 2017.
For more information visit the Guided Ultrasonics website.
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