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.

Disclosed is a method for measuring a deviation angle of a fatigue microcrack based on nonlinear ultrasound, comprising: preliminarily positioning a fatigue microcrack to obtain a center of the microcrack; selecting a horizontal positive direction, and defining an orientation angle; drawing a positive circumference on a surface of a metal plate, and selecting a fixed interval angle; placing an excitation sensor and a receiving sensor on the drawn positive circumference according to the orientation angle; ultrasonically testing each group of ultrasonic sensing paths, and recording time domain waveform signals formed by each group of ultrasonic sensing paths; converting each group of time domain waveform signals into a corresponding frequency domain graph, extracting an ultrasonic fundamental wave signal amplitude and a second harmonic waveform amplitude, and calculating a relative nonlinear coefficient; drawing an orientation angle-relative nonlinear coefficient polar coordinate graph; and determining a deviation angle of the microcrack.

An AE-signal detecting device for an abrasive wheel includes: an AE sensor which outputs an AE signal upon receipt of an elastic wave generated in an annular abrasive wheel sandwiched between a fixed flange fixed to a rotating shaft and a movable flange provided capable of getting closer to/separating from the fixed flange; a transmission circuit portion which wirelessly transmits the AE signal output from the AE sensor; and a reception circuit portion which receives the AE signal transmitted wirelessly, wherein the AE sensor is disposed on the movable flange or the fixed flange, detects the elastic wave transmitted from the abrasive wheel, and outputs the AE signal.

A method for automatic diagnosis of a mechanical system of a group of mechanical systems sharing mechanical characteristics includes obtaining data relating to a vibration. The vibration-related data is acquired by a portable communications device configured to communicate with a remote processor. The processor automatically diagnoses the mechanical system by applying a relationship to the obtained vibration-related data. The relationship is based on sets of vibration-related data previously obtained from the mechanical systems. Each set of vibration-related data relates to vibrations of a mechanical system. The relationship is further based on sets of operation data previously obtained for mechanical systems of the group. Each set of operation data indicates a previous state of operation of a mechanical system. Each of the previous states of operation is associated with at least one of the previously obtained sets of vibration-related data.

A method for automatic diagnosis of a mechanical system of a group of mechanical systems sharing mechanical characteristics includes obtaining data relating to a vibration. The vibration-related data is acquired by a portable communications device configured to communicate with a remote processor. The processor automatically diagnoses the mechanical system by applying a relationship to the obtained vibration-related data. The relationship is based on sets of vibration-related data previously obtained from the mechanical systems. Each set of vibration-related data relates to vibrations of a mechanical system. The relationship is further based on sets of operation data previously obtained for mechanical systems of the group. Each set of operation data indicates a previous state of operation of a mechanical system. Each of the previous states of operation is associated with at least one of the previously obtained sets of vibration-related data.

A rotating machine abnormality detection device of an embodiment includes a non-contact acoustic emission sensor, an analyzer, and a diagnoser. The non-contact acoustic emission sensor, arranged at a position spaced away by a predetermined distance from a measurement target acting as a rotating member or a measurement target rotatably supporting the rotating member, is configured to detect acoustic emission that occurs during rotation of the measurement target or the rotating member supported by the measurement target and propagates in an atmosphere. The analyzer is configured to perform time-frequency analysis on a detection signal of the non-contact acoustic emission sensor. The diagnoser is configured to detect occurrence of a rotation abnormality when a frequency component equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value is present in a predetermined frequency band, based on an analysis result of the analyzer.

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 of determining wear/degradation levels of a consumable assembly of a welding/plasma torch may utilize a controlled sound signal in order to determine an acoustic profile or full spectral audio analysis dataset of the consumable assembly that facilitate the identification of patterns that correlate to certain wear/degradation levels of the consumable assembly. The full spectral audio analysis dataset may be obtained by subjecting a given consumable assembly to a controlled sound signal between operations and as the consumable assembly degrades over time. The full spectral audio analysis may serve as a wear/degradation profile over the life of the given consumable assembly. With a full dataset known for a particular consumable assembly model, an acoustic profile of another consumable assembly of the same model may be obtained and compared to the full dataset in order to identify the wear/degradation level of the tested consumable assembly.

A method of determining wear/degradation levels of a consumable assembly of a welding/plasma torch may utilize a controlled sound signal in order to determine an acoustic profile or full spectral audio analysis dataset of the consumable assembly that facilitate the identification of patterns that correlate to certain wear/degradation levels of the consumable assembly. The full spectral audio analysis dataset may be obtained by subjecting a given consumable assembly to a controlled sound signal between operations and as the consumable assembly degrades over time. The full spectral audio analysis may serve as a wear/degradation profile over the life of the given consumable assembly. With a full dataset known for a particular consumable assembly model, an acoustic profile of another consumable assembly of the same model may be obtained and compared to the full dataset in order to identify the wear/degradation level of the tested consumable assembly.

In a measuring arrangement for determining properties of a material to be extruded while an extrusion process is being carried out in an extruder, at least one extruder screw is rotatably mounted in a tubular guide in a barrel and is connected to a rotary drive. Material to be extruded is fed to the tubular guide at one end and is removed as finish-extruded material at an oppositely arranged discharge. Arranged at measuring positions at predeterminable defined intervals on the wall of the tubular guide along the longitudinal axis of the extruder screw are multiple first sound transducers, which are designed for the detection of sound waves that are generated during the extrusion process by the extrusion process as process noises and/or are emitted by a second sound transducer, arranged at one end of the tubular guide, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the extruder screw and into the material to be extruded that is conveyed through a mixing chamber present in the tubular guide.