Improving Joint Integrity and Assessment for Non-Metallic Materials

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• Natural Gas Distribution
• Leak Detection
• Weld/Fabrication Defects

Main Objective

The objective of the proposed project is to expand an ongoing industry project to develop inspection technology for an automated butt fusion inspection instrument to a technology that will inspect any heat fusion or electro-fusion joint such as socket, saddle, elbow, tee, and service line joints.

Public Abstract

The objective of this project is to develop nondestructive ultrasonic methods for inspecting nonmetallic fusion joints, in particular polyethylene (PE) joints. PE is the predominant pipe used in gas distribution systems. Visual inspection of PE joints works in most cases, but does not guarantee integrity. The industry project, "Ultrasonic Inspection of Fusion Welds on Polyethylene (PE) Mains," sponsored by the OTD, is developing an affordable, easy-to-use (go/no-go) prototype for inspecting butt fusion joints. This project expands that effort to include development of the method to all types of fusion joints � socket, tee, elbow, etc. � for both heat fusion joints and electro-fusion joints. One approach scans an array of two or three sensors around the joint. Data fusion then combines the information from all scans and accepts or rejects the joint. A second approach places as many sensors as needed around the joint in a fixed array and pulses them one at a time. Synthetic aperture focusing software � the technology behind side-looking radar �then combines all the received signals into a sharp image that is used to accept or reject the joint.

Quarterly Status Reports

4th Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

DOTpublicpageQ4July2008.pdf (16,493 bytes) [View] [Download/Save...]

1st Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

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2nd Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

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3rd Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

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5th Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

DTPH56-07-T-000001Q5October2008_Public.pdf (44,737 bytes) [View] [Download/Save...]

6th Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

DTPH56-07-T-000001Q6Jan2009_Public.pdf (36,958 bytes) [View] [Download/Save...]

7th Quarterly Status Report - Public Page

DTPH56-07-T-000001Q7Apr2009_Public.pdf (54,582 bytes) [View] [Download/Save...]