

Diagnosis of Internal Defect of a Pipe by Mechanoluminescent Sensor
Abstract
A novel technique has been developed to get the stress distribution by the mechanoluminescent (ML) sensor which can emits light in response to dynamic deformation [1, 2]. Using the ML sensor, we have realized a safety monitoring system for the bridges, buildings, tunnels, etc. successfully. A defect in a pressurized pipe was detected by mechanoluminescent (ML) sensor. In this paper, the hoop strain distribution on the outer surface of a defective pipe was obtained by ML intensity measurement and strain gage measurement. Additionally, a FEM calculation was also performed and compared with the experimental results. The hoop strain distribution obtained from the ML intensity agreed well with that obtained from the strain gage measurement and the FEM calculation. These results indicate that the location and depth of the defect in a pipe can be estimated by the ML sensor.
Keywords
Mechanoluminescence, Strain Distribution, Pipe Wall Thinning, Internal DefectText