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5 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:
Shimin Zhang
Shuhai Liu
22 PUBLICATIONS 4 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Xiaoxiao Zhu
China University of Petroleum
8 PUBLICATIONS 7 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 9 April 2015
Received in revised form
15 June 2015
Accepted 16 June 2015
Available online xxx
Leakages are the major cause of in-service natural gas and oil pipeline accidents, and many factors, such
as corrosion, can lead to leakages. The feeler pig is one of the most typical contact-testing tools in oil and
gas pipelines. In this paper, the probe dynamic behaviour of the feeler pig in detecting internal corrosion
has been investigated using a handmade inspecting system. The dynamic characteristics of the probe are
different in the uphill section and the downhill section, and the trajectory of the probe is asymmetric. A
bouncing phenomenon was found in the outlet region of the corrosion. The experimental results indicated that both the speed and the spring pre-tightening elastic force are closely related to the inspection
precision. The research in this paper provides guidance for studying the inspection precision of the feeler
pig.
2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords:
Pipeline
Feeler pig
Dynamic behaviour
Corrosion
Detection precision
1. Introduction
Pipelines function as blood vessels to bring such necessities as
oil and natural gas, and they are considered to be the most favoured
mode of transportation of gas and liquid in large quantities
(Kishawy and Gabbar, 2010; Tolmasquim et al., 2008; Xiaoxiao Zhu
et al., 2014; Esmaeilzadeh et al., 2009; Nguyen et al., 2001a, b). With
the long timelines employed, the problem of pipeline ageing is
becoming more and more serious, and pipelines aging greatly
promotes defects. Among pipeline defects, corrosion is the critical
factor affecting the service life of pipelines (Teixeira et al., 2008;
Cosham et al., 2007; Podgorbunskikh et al., 2008; Choi et al.,
2003). According to statistics by the US National Transportation
Safety Board, 59% of pipeline accidents are caused by corrosion.
According to the former Soviet Union pipeline accident statistics,
during 1981e1987, 1210 accidents happened in the 240,000 km
pipeline. Among these, accidents caused by corrosion were 45.1% of
the total accidents (Tiratsoo, 1992). Therefore, regular pipeline inspection is signicant, not only prolonging pipeline life but also
greatly reducing the loss caused by accidents (Cosham et al., 2007;
Choi et al., 2003; Kim et al., 2003a, b).
At present, many internal inspection technologies can be used to
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zsm1976748@126.com (S. Zhang).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2015.06.033
1875-5100/ 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
230
L0
List of symbols
ax0
ay0
ax1
ay1
.
an0
at0
an1
.
.
.
at1
Dh
k
l
n
t0
t1
x0
x1
x
x0
Dx
y1
EkY1
EkY1
F
F0
H
the
L1
the
the
the
Da
The changing spring length corresponding to a
changing angle Da
The distance of the barycenter moving along the
vertical direction
Kinetic energy of the probe along the Y direction
during the bouncing of the probe
Kinetic energy of the probe along the negative Y
direction during the bouncing of the probe
The spring pre-tightening force
The spring force corresponding to a changing angle Da
The distance between the xed bracket and the rotary
table
V
Vx0
Vy0
Vt0
Vx1
Vy1
Vt1
We
a
Da
_
d0
d1
D4
u0
u1
231
Fig. 2. (a) The diagram of the experimental device. (b) The diagram of the inspection
unit.
inspection probe in direct contact with the wall transfers the variable angle value to the angle encoder as it sweeps across the wall
surface.
The schematic diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave
surface is shown in Fig. 4. Through analysing the geometric relationship in Fig. 4, formula (1) can be obtained. If the value of a
could not meet formula (1), the probe is not able to detect the
concave surface completely. The object of study in this paper is a
feeler pig, which applies to pipelines 355 mm in diameter.
Therefore, according to the requirements of the ability of the pig to
go through curved pipelines, the installation height of the probe H
is 61 mm, and, considering the probe strength, the diameter of the
inspection probe is 3 mm. Through analysing the geometrical
relationship of Fig. 4, the relationship between a and Da can be
obtained, as shown in formula (2). In the experiment, the depth of
the corrosion Dh is 6 mm. Therefore, the relationship between a
and Da can be obtained, as shown in Fig. 5. If the depth of the
corrosion is identical, the bigger the value of Da is, the higher the
detection precision will be. Consequently, when the a meets
formula (1), the smaller the value of a is, the higher the detection
precision will be. Therefore, the value of a is 40.3 , and the length
of probe is 80 mm.
232
length of probe l is the radius of the arc PSo . The slope of the line
QM meets formula (3). This paper mainly studies the process of the
probe sweeps across the corrosion, so the shape of the simulated
corrosion should not access the largest area that the probe is able to
detect. In this experiment, the length and depth of the simulated
corrosion are 48 mm and 6 mm, respectively, and the shape of the
corrosion is similar to an arc to ensure that the corrosion is included
in the largest area that the probe is able to detect. Consequently, in
the experiment, the process of the probe sweeps across the
corrosion can be recorded completely.
kQM tan a 90
(3)
D4 360 n=3600
_
z l$D4
(4)
(5)
a arccos
H
H
arccos
l
H Dh
0
(1)
1
Dh H
1
B
B
C
C
Da arcsin@ qA arcsin@ qA
2
H$ 1 tan a
H$ 1 tan a2
(2)
As shown in Fig. 6, when the length of the corrosion along the
axial direction S is conrmed, the geometric relationship OMP is the
largest area that the probe is able to detect. O is the centre, and the
(a) Keeping the pre-tightening elastic force constant, the velocity of the probe movement varies from 1 m/s to 8 m/s, and
then the experimental results are analysed.
(b) Keeping the velocity constant, the pre-tightening elastic
force varies from 9 N to 15 N, and then the experimental
results are analysed.
3. Results and discussion
The experimental results are shown in Figs. 7e9. Through analysing these results, the following phenomenon were found.
3.1. The trajectory asymmetry
As shown in Fig. 7, when the probe swept across the concave
Fig. 4. The schematic diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave surface.
233
Fig. 5. The relationship graph between a and Da. The depth of the corrosion is 6 mm.
Fig. 7. The experimental results diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave
surface. The speed is 2.5 m/s.
surface, it will pass the downhill section and uphill section in turns.
The schematic diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave
surface is shown in Fig. 4. Through analysing the geometric relationship in Fig. 4, formula (6) can be obtained.
(6)
234
motion around the xed bracket with angular velocity u. During the
process, the linear motion cannot generate acceleration. Nevertheless, the circular motion is a variable acceleration motion and
.
will become two types of accelerations: normal acceleration an and
.
tangential acceleration at . Because the ve forces working on the
probe are constantly changing, the kinematic parameters are also
variable.
As shown in Fig. 9, during the process of the probe sweeping
across the concave surface, the barycenter of the probe P moves
from P0 to P1. As described earlier, the movement of the probe includes two types of motion: parallel motion and rotational motion.
Based on the different coordinate systems, there are two types of
kinematic parameters to describe the movement process. From the
geometric relationship in Fig. 9, the formulas (7e11) can be
obtained.
x0
Dh
HcosDa tan a sinDa 1
tana Da=2
tana Da=2
Vx0
(12)
Vy0
(13)
(7)
u0
(14)
(15)
L0 S=2
(8)
Vt0
L1 S=2
(9)
ax0
t0 S=2V
t1 S=2V
(10)
ay0
(11)
(17)
(
an0
)2
p
2VDa tana Da=2
l
S tana Da=2 2HcosDa l$tan a sinDa 1
(18)
d0
at0
(20)
In the same way, Fig. 13 shows the process of the probe swept
across the uphill sections. Based on the geometric relationship and
dynamic equation, formulas (21e29) can be obtained.
Vx1
(21)
Vy1
(22)
u1
(23)
Vt1
(24)
235
Fig. 10. The experimental results diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave surface with different speeds. The value of spring pre-tightening elastic force is 12 N.
)2
p
2VDa tana Da=2
l
S tana Da=2 2HcosDa tan a sinDa 1
(27)
(29)
236
Fig. 11. The experimental results diagram of the probe sweeps across the concave surface with different spring pre-tightening elastic forces. The speed varies from 5 m/s to 7 m/s.
Fig. 12. The process that the probe swept across the concave surface in the downhill
sections.
Fig. 13. The process that the probe swept across the concave surface in the uphill
sections.
average velocity of the probe along the Y direction Vy1 will also
increase. Similarly, with increasing velocity V, the average acceleration of the probe along the Y direction ay1 will also increase. Based
on the law of energy conservation, formula (30) can be obtained.
Analysing formula (30) shows that with increasing Vy1 , the value of
the spring deformation will increase and the height of the probe
bouncing will also increase. Consequently, because of the velocity
and acceleration, when the probe sweeps to the exit area of the
concave surface, the probe will continue moving along the
circumferential direction, causing the bounce phenomenon.
237
Fig. 14. The process of the probe moves in the bouncing area.
1 2
mv
2 y1
1
We kDx2
2
Eky Q We
Eky
1
(30)
Ek Q Ek
(31)
x0
q
4ax sinDa=2cosa Da=2 x2 4a2 sinDa=22
(32)
Fig. 15. (a) The schematic diagram of the changing spring length. (b). The schematic
diagram of the changing spring length in the concave surface area. (c). The schematic
diagram of the changing spring length in the bouncing area.
And then:
Dx x x0 ; F0 F kDx
(33)
q
F0 F k x x2 4a2 sinDa=22 4ax sinDa=2cosa Da=2
(34)
238
q
x0 4ax sinDa=2cosa Da=2 x2 4a2 sinDa=22
(35)
Dx x0 x; F0 F kDx
(36)
q
F0 F k
4ax sinDa=2cosa Da=2 x2 4a2 sinDa=22 x
(37)
Acknowledgements
Formula (34) shows that every changing angle corresponds
toDa a force F0. In the concave surface area, the elastic force is
inversely proportional to the changing angle Da. Therefore, the
spring force, in the downhill section, varies from large to small,
and in the uphill section, from small to large. The force of the
spring in the uphill section is symmetrical to that in the downhill
section.
Similarly, formula (37) shows that when the probe moves to
the bouncing area, the spring force is proportional to the angle
Da. As the changing angle Da increases, the elastic force also
increases.
As the earlier experimental results described, increasing the
spring pre-tightening force decreases the bouncing amplitude.
Formula (37) shows that, in the bouncing area, once the pretightening elastic force is larger, then the force in every position
will be larger. When the speed in the exit area is identical, the
momentum theorem shows that if the pre-tightening force of the
spring is larger, the bouncing time will be shorter. Consequently,
the bouncing amplitude will inevitably be smaller.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, the probe dynamic behaviour of feeler pigs in
detecting internal corrosion has been investigated using a homebuilt inspection system. The probe dynamic characteristics when
the feeler pig sweeps in the uphill section and in the downhill
section are different, and the trajectory of the movement is asymmetric. The asymmetric phenomenon is caused by the detection
device structure, and it will always exist, regardless of the speed
and spring pre-tightening forces. Through changing the speed, a
bouncing phenomenon was found in the outlet region of the
corrosion. When the spring pre-tightening remains constant, as the
speed increases, the bouncing amplitude will increase, and when
the speed reaches a certain point, twice bouncing will appear.
When the speed remains constant, as the spring pre-tightening
force increases, the bouncing amplitude will decrease. Analysing
the experimental results showed that the velocity and spring pretightening force are closely related to the detection precision. To
better understand the relationship between the probe dynamic
behaviour and the detection precision, a theoretical model of the
process that the probe swept across the concave surface was built.
Analysing the theoretical model revealed that the greater the probe
velocity is, the greater the detection error will be. Similarly, the
smaller the spring pre-tightening force is, the greater the detection
error will be.
As described earlier, to improve the feeler pig inspection precision, the process of the probe swept across the concave surface
239