The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 14, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1998
Hegeon Kwun, San Antonio, TX (US);
Keith A Bartels, San Antonio, TX (US);
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (US);
Abstract
The average wall thickness and the wall-thickness variation of a liquid-carrying pipe are determined. An elastic wave is generated and is measured after traveling a distance along the pipe. From the received wave, the average radius of the pipe, the average inside diameter of the pipe, and the inside diameter variation of the pipe are determined. From the average radius of the pipe and the average inside diameter of the pipe, the average wall thickness of the pipe is determined. From the variations in the average radius of the pipe and the inside diameter variation of the pipe, the wall-thickness variation of the pipe is determined. To determine the average inside diameter of the pipe, the invention relies upon the coupling between the elastic wave modes propagating in the wall of the pipe and the modes propagating in the liquid within the pipe.