Development of a virtual PIPE test rig for testing acoustic correlators for leak detection in buried water pipes

• Grant number: 17/16953-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2017
• End date: March 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanics of Solids
• Agreement: SABESP
• Principal Investigator: Michael John Brennan
• Grantee: Mauricio Kiotsune Iwanaga
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS)

Abstract

According to previously works, acoustic correlators have been used more than 30 years to detect and locate leaks from water pipes, since leakage from buried water distribution pipelines is a global problem. Although they work well for metallic pipes there are some issues with plastic pipes because the leak noise which propagates along these pipes are subject to high rates of attenuation, which makes the problem of water leak detection more challenging. However, the use of correlators is not straight forward since it's necessary to carry on tests in a distribution pipeline with a simulated leak, which can be very expensive and time-consuming. Therefore it's possible to simulate the dynamic behavior of a buried water pipe using a system which contains very similar vibro-acoustic characteristics as the actual problem. This can be achieved by using a specific actuator that is able to create a signal similar to the noise which comes from the leak. In previously works, a virtual pipe test-rig was developed by coupling the filtering properties of the pipe with the generated signal coming from an actuator which is, in this case, a loudspeaker. The input and output signal were measured using two sensors that in turn can be accelerometers or geophones. Then, the peak in the correlation function between the signals was used to determine the difference in propagation times between the leak and these sensors. However, because the dynamic characteristics of the loudspeakers, the frequency range is limited between 20 and 80 Hz due to the actuator's resonance. In practical situations, it'd more accurate to estimate cross-correlation function and time delay if this frequency bandwidth were larger. So, in order to have resonance frequencies as high as possible, it's intended to use in this work a stiff actuator as a shaker.However since a shaker acts as a second order low-pass filter, its displacement is no longer proportional to the input current above its resonance frequency. In other words, the dynamics of a shaker can influence the response signal of the system which will be detected by the sensors. This is the main characteristic that motivates this work which consists in the development of a compensator for the shaker dynamics, including a theoretical model that represents the dynamic behavior of a buried water pipe with a leak. After refining the model considering the compensator trough experiments on the virtual pipe test rig, the effect of the soil will be considered on the model. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

IWANAGA, M. K.; BRENNAN, M. J.; ALMEIDA, F. C. L.; SCUSSEL, O.; CEZAR, S. O.. A laboratory-based leak noise simulator for buried water pipes. APPLIED ACOUSTICS, v. 185, JAN 1 2022. (17/16953-8, 17/14432-0)

IWANAGA, M. K.; BRENNAN, M. J.; TANG, B.; SCUSSEL, O.; ALMEIDA, F. C. L.. ome features of the acceleration impulse response functio. MECCANICA, v. 56, n. 1, JAN 2021. (17/16953-8, 17/14432-0)

ALMEIDA, F. C. L.; BRENNAN, M. J.; DE LIMA, F. KROLL; IWANAGA, M. K.; SCUSSEL, O.. Using a geophone as an actuator to estimate the velocity of leak noise propagation in buried water pipes. APPLIED ACOUSTICS, v. 184, DEC 15 2021. (17/14432-0, 16/01733-0, 17/16953-8)

IWANAGA, M. K.; BRENNAN, M. J.; TANG, B.; SCUSSEL, O.; ALMEIDA, F. C. L.. Some features of the acceleration impulse response function. MECCANICA, v. 56, n. 1, p. 9-pg., 2021-01-04. (17/14432-0, 17/16953-8)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

IWANAGA, Mauricio Kiotsune. Development of a virtual pipe test rig for testing acoustic correlators for leak detection in buried water pipes. 2019. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Engenharia. Ilha Solteira Ilha Solteira.