The invention relates to an acoustic sensor system (1) for detecting a defect (2) of a pipeline wall (3), having: at least one transmitter unit (4) which is configured to emit ultrasound in the direction of a pipeline wall (3) and detect an ultrasound echo reflected by the pipeline wall (3); and a control unit (5) which is connected to the at least one transmitter unit (4) for signaling purposes and which is configured to detect a defect (2) of the pipeline wall (3) using a present change in he ultrasound echo. The invention additionally relates to an in-line inspection device comprising the sensor system (1), to a method for detecting a defect (2) in a pipeline wall (3), to a computer program, to a data carrier signal, and to a data storage unit.

An ultrasonic penetrometer may include an enclosure, an ultrasonic sensor, and a rod. The enclosure may include a channel having a first end and a second end. The ultrasonic sensor may be provided at the first end of the channel and may be configured to generate an ultrasound signal through the second end of the channel. An output from the ultrasound sensor may be used to determine a thickness or stiffness of sediment. The rod may have a proximal end facing the ultrasonic sensor and a distal end opposite the proximal end. The rod may be configured to move relative to the enclosure. The distal end may be configured to contact the sediment. The enclosure may be configured to be fluid-tight relative to an exterior of the enclosure such that the generated ultrasound signal travels in a single medium.

A method of testing for thickness loss in a metal wall is disclosed. The method includes mounting a first and a second ultrasonic transducer to the metal such that the transducers are in ultrasonic communication along a beam line and moving the first and second ultrasonic transducers along a scan line. A series of composites of received signal measurements are obtained by, at multiple locations along the scan line, using the first ultrasonic transducer to transmit ultrasonic signals through the metal wall along the beam line at a plurality of transmission angles and obtaining composites of received signal amplitudes by combining signal amplitudes measured by the second ultrasonic transducer. The series of composites are input into a predetermined relationship to obtain a thickness profile indicative of a proportion of remaining wall thickness. The predetermined relationship is experimentally obtained to characterize a given metal wall of nominal thickness.

A method for ultrasonic inspection of composite parts includes providing a composite part to be inspected with a plurality of layers, determining the runtime and/or attenuation of an ultrasonic signal propagating through the composite part to be inspected, providing the runtime and/or attenuation of the ultrasonic signal propagating through a reference composite part, subtracting the runtime and/or attenuation of the ultrasonic signal in the reference composite part from the runtime and/or attenuation of the ultrasonic signal in the composite part to be inspected, or vice versa, and determining from the result of the subtraction one or more missing and/or additional layers in the inspected composite part. The difference of the runtime and/or attenuation of the ultrasonic signal in the inspected composite part relative to the reference composite part, and/or the difference of the thickness between the composite part and the reference part, is/are visualized.

An ultrasound transmitting and receiving device that can determine whether a contact state between a probe and a bolt is normal without relying on the skill of an operator is provided. The ultrasound transmitting and receiving device includes a probe control unit, an auxiliary storage device, and a contact state determination unit. The probe control unit causes a probe to transmit ultrasound to a bolt, and causes the probe to receive an echo of the transmitted ultrasound. The auxiliary storage device stores one or more pieces of comparison data to be compared with echo data indicating the echo received by the probe. The contact state determination unit compares the echo data with the comparison data, and determines a contact state between the probe and the bolt based on a comparison result.

A measuring device for non-mechanical-contact measurement of a layer, the measuring device including a light source operative to generate a pulse adapted to interact with the layer so as to generate a thermal wave in a gas medium present adjacent the layer. The thermal wave causes an acoustic signal to be generated. The measuring device further includes a detector adapted to detect a first signal responsive to the acoustic signal, the detector not being in mechanical contact with the layer. The first signal is representative of the measured layer.

Quality control of a periodic structure is performed using the damping rate of acoustic waves generated in the periodic structure. In this technique, an excitation light beam illuminates the first layer in the periodic structure to excite an acoustic wave. Possible irregularities in the periodic structure can scatter the acoustic wave, thereby increasing the damping rate of the acoustic wave. A sequence of probe light beams illuminates the periodic structure to measure the acoustic wave as a function of time to generated a temporal signal representing the damping rate of the acoustic signal. The acquired damping rate is employed to evaluate the quality of the periodic structure.

A method of monitoring both liner wear and charge impact in an industrial mill uses a sensor mounted on an elongated element deployed through a shell into a liner of the mill. The elongated element wears at a same rate as the liner under conditions within the shell. Liner wear is related to a reduction in length of the elongated element as measured by travel time of an ultrasound wave, while location and strength of charge impact is related to change in amplitude of vibrations caused by the charge impact. Liner wear measurement can be improved by using shear ultrasound waves instead of conventional longitudinal ultrasound waves. A mill monitoring apparatus has a means for acquiring ultrasonic waves and audible sound waves using the same digitizer; a means for determining the angular position of the monitoring apparatus; and a means for supplying electric power to the apparatus.

According to one embodiment, a data processing device receives welding device data from a welding device. The welding device makes a joined body by joining a plurality of parts. The welding device data includes a welding device ID for identifying the welding device. The data processing device receives inspection data. The inspection data includes position data and angle data. The position data is of a position of a weld portion of the joined body. The position data are calculated from a result of a probe of the joined body. The probe uses an ultrasonic wave. The angle data is of an angle of the weld portion. The data processing device associates the inspection data with the welding device data.

A device of determining pipes includes a memory unit, a processing unit and a communication interface, wherein the processing unit is connected to the memory unit and the communication interface. The memory unit has stored pipe names, reference pipe outside diameter values and orders of the pipe names corresponding to the reference pipe outside diameter values. The processing unit receives an outside diameter measuring data of a pipe, compares the outside diameter measuring data with the reference pipe outside diameter values, selects the pipe name corresponding to the reference pipe outside diameter value same as the outside diameter measuring data, and generates at least one the pipe name that matches the outside diameter measuring data according to the selected order of the pipe name. The communication interface outputs the pipe name that matches the outside diameter measuring data.