A multiresolution approach for damage detection in fiber-reinforced polymer pipe systems

Many industries are increasingly relying on composite pipes for their known favorable characteristics of corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, and better insulation. The internal surface damage due to flow-accelerated erosion in pipeline systems poses a challenging problem that initiated a greater demand for reliable early detection methods. In this investigation, an efficient and accurate detection scheme of internal surface damage in a pipe system has been developed. The methodology relies on the measured vibration modal characteristics and is equally applicable to both steel and composite piping systems. The detection model is formulated using B-spline scaling function with their multi-resolution capabilities being invoked for zooming on the localized discontinuity caused by internal wall thinning. The developed scheme does not require the prior buildup of a database of modal shifts against the damage parameters. The numerical efficiency of the method is manifested by solving a decoupled linear system, for which all required matrices are calculated and stored only once. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the developed detection scheme.