Pipeline Damage Detection Using Piezoceramic Transducers: Numerical Analyses with Experimental Validation

This paper aims to set up a finite element model using piezoelectric elements to realize pipeline structure damage identification analysis. Ultrasonic guided wave propagation characteristics and damage identification of pipeline structures are analyzed by the ABAQUS software. The pulse-echo method using an L(0, 2) mode impulse guided wave with a central frequency of 70 kHz is applied to evaluate different size circumferential cracks. An experiment was performed for the validation of the numerical analysis results. Both of the results show that the proposed FEM model with piezoelectric elements can efficiently reveal the dynamic behaviors, which can be used in much more precise numerical simulations than the equivalent dynamic displacement loading method.