Investigation on ultrasonic guided waves propagation in elbow pipe

Pipeline plays an indispensable role in process industries, whose structural integrity is of great significance for the safe production. In this paper, the axial crack-like defects in 90° elbows are inspected by using the T (0, 1) mode guided waves. The detection sensitivity for different defect locations is firstly investigated by guided waves experimentally. The propagation of guided waves in the bent pipe is then simulated by using finite element method. The results show that the rates of T (0, 1) mode passing through elbow correlate strongly with the excitation frequency. Less mode conversion is generated at the frequency of 38 kHz when passing through the elbow, while most of energy converted into F (1, 2) mode at the frequency of 75 kHz. The crack in different locations of the elbow can affect the rates of mode conversion. It can be found that the crack in the middle of the elbow inhibits mode conversion and shares the highest detection sensitivity, while the crack in the extrados of elbow causes more mode conversion.