Method and system for non-destructive evaluation of conducting structures

Abstract

Method and system for non-destructive evaluation for a conducting structure by measuring the electrical impulse response thereof including applying a PRBS test input signal to the conducting structure, detecting an output signal from the conducting structure and processing the data to assess the condition of the conducting structure via changes in the electrical impulse response and to locate any defects along the conducting structure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention pertains to methods and systems for evaluating the structural integrity of electrically conductive structures and, more particularly, to such methods and systems wherein the electrical impulse response of the structure is measured after a test input signal is applied in order to assess the integrity of the structure and the presence, severity and location of any defects. [0002] The prior art, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,667 to Roth et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,060 to Poussart et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,446 to Blaess, U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,699 to Boenning, U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,949 to Boenning et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,221 to Blaess, U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,212 to Ariweilar et al and U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,880 to Bomet et al and British Patent No. 1,160,271 to Booth et al, discloses the use of periodic-random, noise and pseudo-random binary sequence test input signals for measuring transfer functions of systems under test, and / or...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] In accordance with another aspect, the present invention uses a test signal of a frequency sufficiently high that the wavelength of the test signal and, thus, the skin depth of the propagating energy, is small and, further, uses a very wideband high frequency signal so that there is great spectral richness in the test signal.

[0009] An additional aspect of the present invention is to permit testing of elongated conducting structures, such as cables, wires, piping and structural members, with input and output points at the same end of the conducting structure thereby providing ease of installation and testing and reducing the output signals required for analysis as compared with the case where the input and output points are at opposite ends of the conducting structure.

[0011] Some of the advantages of the present invention over the prior art include use of the present invention for testing any structure which is conducting to any extent at high frequencies such as, for example, wiring, piping, fencing and circuitry, use of the present invention for testing chlorine level and pH level in water and other fluids, use of the present invention for testing for fluid leaks, such as of water and hydraulic fluids, use of test signal frequencies of a few MHz to hundreds of MHz, requiring simple, low cost hardware. Because of the high frequency of the test signals, the test signals can easily be separated from normal power frequencies (such as 60 MHz or 400 Hz) by using a simple passive filter thereby enabling built-in, on-line testing of electrical power wiring.

Problems solved by technology

An integrator is used to measure the average value of the impulse response; and, accordingly, the Booth et al system has the disadvantage of not being feasibly implemented for high frequency test signals.

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