Customer – Impact Solutions
Country – United Kingdom
In any pipeline system, the weakest point is the weld. Joint quality greatly affects the overall safety of the pipeline system, and if not properly checked, failures can lead to significant monetary losses and long downtimes. One of the most popular methods of joining plastic pipes in the field is the butt fusion process. But whether using electrofusion or butt fusion welding techniques, operators must properly perform quality checks of the welds to avoid future failures.
Currently, operators use visual examination and pressure testing to check the quality of joints, but these methods do not offer any assurance about long-term performance. Proper quality checks and continuous monitoring after pipe installation helps to avoid long downtimes and decreases rework or replacement costs. The availability of a cost-effective and accurate nondestructive test method of monitoring a plastic pipe weld condition is important.
Our customer, Impact Solutions, developed a simple-to-use, patented, cost-effective, and highly accurate method of nondestructive inspection based on A-scan ultrasonic technology. The idea behind the new method is in the analysis of ultrasound waves propagating through the weld substrate. Impact Solutions approached us to help develop a software application to build an inspection system based on the new method. The inspection system consists of an ultrasonic sensor, a transceiver, and a software application. In cooperation with Impact Solutions we developed a software application, which is responsible for the control and data acquisition from the ultrasonic transceiver, real-time data analysis, provision of inspection results, and creating a report based on the test results.