Investigation of guided wave propagation and attenuation in pipe buried in sand
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Leinov, E
Lowe, MJS
Cawley, P
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Long-range guided wave testing is a well-established method for detection of corrosion defects in pipelines. The method is currently used routinely for above ground pipelines in a variety of industries, e.g. petrochemical and energy. When the method is applied to pipes buried in soil, test ranges tend to be significantly compromised and unpredictable due to attenuation of the guided wave resulting from energy leakage into the embedding soil. The attenuation characteristics of guided wave propagation in an 8 in. pipe buried in sand are investigated using a laboratory full-scale experimental rig and model predictions. We report measurements of attenuation of the T(0,1) and L(0,2) guided wave modes over a range of sand conditions, including loose, compacted, mechanically compacted, water saturated and drained. Attenuation values are found to be in the range of 1.65–5.5 dB/m and 0.98–3.2 dB/m for the torsional and longitudinal modes, respectively, over the frequency of 11–34 kHz. The application of overburden pressure modifies the compaction of the sand and increases the attenuation. Mechanical compaction of the sand yields similar attenuation values to those obtained with applied overburden pressure. The attenuation decreases in the fully water-saturated sand, and increases in drained sand to values comparable with those obtained for compacted sand. Attenuation measurements are compared with Disperse software model predictions and confirm that the attenuation phenomenon in buried pipes is essentially governed by the bulk shear velocity in the sand. The attenuation behaviour of the torsional guided wave mode is found not to be captured by a uniform soil model; comparison with predictions obtained with the Disperse software suggest that this is likely to be due to a layer of sand adhering to the surface of the pipe.
Date Issued
2015-07-07
Date Acceptance
2015-02-23
Citation
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 2015, 347 (1), pp.96-114
ISSN
0022-460X
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
96
End Page
114
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Sound and Vibration
Volume
347
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000353197100007&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
EP/J01284X/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Acoustics
Engineering, Mechanical
Mechanics
Engineering
GRANULAR MARINE-SEDIMENTS
IRON WATER PIPES
ELASTIC-WAVES
UNCONSOLIDATED SANDS
ULTRASONIC-WAVES
AXISYMMETRICAL DEFECTS
VISCOELASTIC MATERIALS
SEISMIC VELOCITIES
HOLLOW CYLINDERS
SPEED DISPERSION
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2015-03-16