Premium
Detecting breaks in prestressing pipe wire
Author(s) -
Atherton David L.,
Morton Keith,
Mergelas Brian J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2000.tb08972.x
Subject(s) - eddy current testing , pipeline transport , bar (unit) , eddy current , prestressed concrete , structural engineering , cylinder , nondestructive testing , water pipe , canalisation , engineering , forensic engineering , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering , geology , piping , medicine , oceanography , inlet , radiology
A new electromagnetic technique for inspecting prestressed concrete pressure pipe enables nonintrusive inspection for even single broken prestressing wires. Prestressed concrete pressure pipe (CPP) is in widespread use throughout Canada and the United States, with a total of some 19,000 mi (30,000 km) of pipe in use in North America's major water utilities. Many of these lines are more than 50 years old, and half are expected to need repair or replacement over the next 20 years. To selectively maintain these lines and avoid costs from catastrophic pipe failures, utilities needed an inspection technique that was highly sensitive, reliable, effective, and economical. An innovative electromagnetic technique, based on the remote field eddy current (RFEC) inspection technique, has been developed that allows nonintrusive inspection of prestressed CPP. Full‐scale testing conducted on embedded cylinder pipes and bar‐wrapped pipelines demonstrated the new RFEC technique's sensitivity to both single and multiple breaks in prestressing wire.