A novel algorithm for pipeline displacement and bending strain of in-line inspection based on inertia measurement technology

Abstract

The in-line inspection tool with Inertial Measurement Unit tool is becoming a routine and important practice for many pipeline companies and is effective for whole-line bending strain measurement. However, the measurements of Inertial Measurement Unit tool are always affected by noises and errors, which are caused by inherent inaccuracies and deficiencies of the experimental techniques and measuring devices. For the calculations of the bending strain, the results are very sensitive to the noises and errors. A filtering algorithm based on cubic spline interpolation was proposed for Inertial Measurement Unit data processing to eliminate noises and errors for bending strain, and the effectiveness is validated through the pipeline field test. The results showed that the average pipeline displacement deviation declined 13.82% in the three tests, and the bending strain error reduced from 0.037% to 0.014%. The proposed method effectively improves the inspection accuracy and provides an effective method for pipeline displacement and strain inspection, which ensures the safe operation of the pipeline.