DEVELOPMENT OF A VIBRATION-BASED HEALTH MONITORING STRATEGY FOR ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE PIPELINES

Abstract

Ageing mechanical, civil, aerospace, marine and offshore structures require continuous and accurate assessment on their integrity to avoid potentially hazardous failures. To further facilitate this crucial demand, a new technical terminology, generally referred to as structural health monitoring (SHM) has been coined in three past decades. SHM involves deployment of a sensory network on such structures in order to gather useful data, such that processing and interpreting the data through specific algorithms would enable one to detect defects and anomalies within the structures. This dissertation presents the results of a series of efforts expended towards the refinement and enhancement of a vibration-based SHM technique, which was originated within our research group. In the adopted damage detection scheme, vibration data are gathered from structures via piezoelectric sensors. Data are processed by a robust signal processing approach, known as the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) in order to establish energy-based damage indices (EMD_EDIs). Interpretation of the damage indices enables detection of onset, location and advancement of defects within structures. A series of adjustments and modifications were devised and implemented to the application of the originally developed methodology, such that, besides increasing the methodology’s robustness and accuracy, they also facilitate a remote vibration-based SHM targeting onshore and offshore pipelines. The integrity of the method in detection of bolt-loosening in a bolted flange joint of a full-scale pipeline was verified through numerical simulations and experimental investigations. The source of a significant inconsistency reported in the previous trials was identified and resolved. Also, for the first time, the remote application of the technique was facilitated by incorporating an advanced wireless data acquisition system. Moreover, the application of the methodology was extended to detection of cracks in girth-welds of offshore pipelines. In this regard, a comprehensive discussion is first provided, which identifies the role of parameters that influence the accuracy of numerical modeling of the dynamic response of submerged structures. The experimental and numerical investigation following the aforementioned modeling efforts presents encouraging results in detection of an advancing notch in the girth-weld of a submerged pipe. The use of a piezoelectric-based excitation technique, incorporated for the first time in the application of the methodology would evidence the enhanced practicality and robustness of the approach. The study concludes with a successful detection of a real-life sharp propagating crack in a beam due to cyclic loadings.