Non-invasive acceleration-based methodology for damage detection and assessment of water distribution system

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a pilot study and verification of concept of a novel methodology for damage detection and assessment of water distribution system. The unique feature of the proposed noninvasive methodology is the use of accelerometers installed on the pipe surface, instead of pressure sensors that are traditionally installed invasively. Experimental observations show that a sharp change in pressure is always accompanied by a sharp change of pipe surface acceleration at the corresponding locations along the pipe length. Therefore, water pressure-monitoring can be transformed into acceleration-monitoring of the pipe surface. The latter is a significantly more economical alternative due to the use of less expensive sensors such as MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) or other acceleration sensors. In this scenario, monitoring is made for Maximum Pipe Acceleration Gradient (MPAG) rather than Maximum Water Head Gradient (MWHG). This paper presents the results of a small-scale laboratory experiment that serves as the proof of concept of the proposed technology. The ultimate goal of this study is to improve upon the existing SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) by integrating the proposed non-invasive monitoring technique to ultimately develop the next generation SCADA system for water distribution systems.

Vibration Detection in Water Pipelines Leakage Using Wireless Three-Axis Accelerometer Sensor

“…Most researchers used the vibration data [5]- [8] to determine the location of the leak point on the water pipeline system. Two vibration sensors are positioned on the water pipeline and a cross correlation method is used to identify the location of the leaks.…”

“…Two vibration sensors are positioned on the water pipeline and a cross correlation method is used to identify the location of the leaks. Nevertheless, previous studies [5]- [8] have not applied the vibration technique to detect the conditions of the water pipeline and the sizes of the leaks. They only used the internal water pressure data to determine the conditions of the water pipeline whether leakage or no leakage.…”

Wake up MEMS for inertial sensors

“…Applications for wake up MEMS can be used for medical [2,3] and safety technology [4], the monitoring of smart cities [5] or agriculture processes [6]. Kobayashi et al.…”

Long-term monitoring of a cable stayed bridge using a SCADA system

“…4 In this paper, the performance of DuraMote system has been validated in terms of the application-driven system flexibility, subject to be confirmed by the deployment on a long-span cable-stayed bridge. The system was originally designed to detect the rupture of the pipes in water distribution systems 5 . However, the system can be reconfigured depending on the application requirements, so that it can be applicable to many other civil structural health monitoring.…”