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.

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 apparatus and a computer implemented method for determining material quality of a component, the method comprising: receiving ultrasonic scan data for a plurality of scanned components; maintaining the scan data within a data storage system; determining historical data associated with multiple parameters based on the scan data of the data storage system; generating a testing model using the historical data, wherein the testing model is configured to define multiple quality ranges for each parameter; scanning a component using at least one ultrasonic probe to provide component data; and determining quality information of the component using the testing model and the component data.

An apparatus and a computer implemented method for determining material quality of a component, the method comprising: receiving ultrasonic scan data for a plurality of scanned components; maintaining the scan data within a data storage system; determining historical data associated with multiple parameters based on the scan data of the data storage system; generating a testing model using the historical data, wherein the testing model is configured to define multiple quality ranges for each parameter; scanning a component using at least one ultrasonic probe to provide component data; and determining quality information of the component using the testing model and the component data.

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 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 includes receiving data characterizing a first acoustic signal reflected by a first defect in a target object, and a first depth of the first defect relative to a surface of the target object. The first acoustic signal is detected by a detector located at a first location on the surface of the target object. The method also includes assigning a defect color to the received data based on an amplitude value associated with the first acoustic signal and one or more of a first predetermined threshold value and a second predetermined threshold value associated with the first depth. The method further includes rendering, in a graphical user interface display space, a first visual representation of the first acoustic signal in a graph including a first axis indicative of target object defect depth and a second axis indicative of amplitudes of acoustic signals detected by the detector. The first visual representation of the first acoustic signal includes the assigned defect color.

The invention relates to an acoustic sensor system (1) for detecting the wall thickness (WT1, WT2) of a material layer (2) of a pipeline wall (3), having at least one transmitter unit (4), which is configured to emit ultrasound in the direction of a material layer (2) and detect an ultrasound echo reflected by the material layer (2), and a control unit (5), which is connected to the at least one transmitter unit (4) for signaling purposes and is configured to detect the wall thickness (WT1, WT2) of the material layer (2) using the ultrasound echo. The invention additionally relates to an in-line inspection device comprising the sensor system (1), to a method for detecting the wall thickness (WT1, WT2) of a material layer (2) of a pipeline wall (3), to a computer program, to a data carrier signal, and to a data storage unit.

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.

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.