Acoustic method of monitoring the length, diameter and condition of the inner cavity of pipes

The article is devoted to the development of theoretical justification and practical implementation of the acoustic method of control of geometrical parameters of pipes as the main object of pipeline transport used in systems of production, transport and consumption of thermal energy. The method is based on the mathematical processing of the acoustic signal reflected from the open end of the pipe and allows to obtain information simultaneously about the length, diameter of the pipe with quality control of the inner cavity. The proposed algorithm for measuring the diameter extends the functionality of the measuring equipment and allows you to automatically calculate the phase shift of the acoustic signal when reflected from the open end of the pipe, thus fully automates the process of measuring the length of pipes of arbitrary diameter. Experimental studies carried out using the developed algorithm have shown that the relative error in measuring the length of the pipe length of 3 m was not more than 0.15%, the error in measuring the diameter of the pipe equal to 110 mm was not more than 7%.