Papers by Keyword: On-Line Health Monitoring

Abstract: This study was aimed at developing an effective method and a system for on-line health monitoring of pipes in nuclear power plants by using ultrasonic guided waves. For this purpose we developed a multi-channel ultrasonic guided wave system for a long-range inspection of pipes and a few techniques which can effectively find defects in pipes. To validate the developed system we performed a series of experiments and analyzed the results.

Abstract: This paper considers the use of on-line structural health monitoring in advanced nuclear power systems such as IRIS. The motivation for the on-line health monitoring is to prevent routine maintenance from interrupting long-term continuous reactor operation. However, the outcome of the on-line monitoring implementation has a broader impact, and amounts to a paradigm shift in maintenance strategy from outage-based maintenance to continuous real-time monitoring of operational and structural integrity. Indeed, on-line health monitoring data will provide a foundation for diagnostics and prognostics (i.e., predictive) capabilities that will detect component degradation prior to failure, thus allowing for proactive rather than reactive maintenance strategies. Specifically, this paper briefly reports on our studies on (1) on-line monitoring strategy and its benefits, (2) candidate reactor components where on-line monitoring provides maximum benefits, (3) applicable on-line NDE sensor methodologies and conceptual sensor designs, and (4) model-based sensor performance estimations.

Abstract: This paper presents a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique for detecting damages on a jointed steel plate on the basis of the time of flight and wavelet coefficient, obtained from wavelet transforms of Lamb wave signals. Probabilistic neural networks (PNNs) and support vector machines (SVMs) were applied for pattern classification. In this study, the applicability of the PNNs and SVMs was investigated for the damages in and out of the Lamb wave path. It has been found that the present methods are very efficient in detecting the damages simulated by the loose bolts on the jointed steel plate.

Abstract: The wave function expansion method is engaged for the theoretical derivations to study the effect of material parameters perturbations on the resonance acoustic scattering behavior of 1-3 piezoelectric composites. Numerical examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the analysis. Results obtained are meaningful for the non-destructive evaluation of 1-3 piezoelectric composites.