Method and system of measuring material loss from a solid structure

Abstract

A method is described for measuring an amount of loss of material thickness from a solid structure in which acoustic waves can propagate. The structure is in operation in contact with substances susceptible to changing a thickness of the structure. A system operable to implement the method is also described. The system comprises acoustic transducers arranged in operation in contact with a surface of the solid structure. The system comprises a processing unit operable to drive one or more of the transducers to excite acoustic signals in a wall of the structure. The acoustic signals travel a distance within the structure and are received at the transducers to generate corresponding received signals for the processing unit to process and analyze. The analysis enables a degree of material loss from the structure to be computed and then optionally displayed on a display unit. The acoustic signals correspond to various modes and the processing unit () is operable to isolate signal components in the received signals, which provide a more reliable indication of the degree of material loss from the structure.