• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1044-1053
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• 2022

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a diagnostic technique to evaluate the physical integrity of cable and finds application in leak detection and localization of piping system. In this study, a cable-shaped leak detection sensor was proposed using the TDR technique for monitoring leakage detection of ship's engine room seawater piping system. The cable sensor was developed using a twisted pair arrangement and wound by an absorbent material. The availability and performance of the sensor for leak detection and localization were evaluated on a lab-scale pipeline set up. The developed sensor was installed onto the pipes and flanges of the lab-scale set up and various TDR waveforms were acquired and analyzed according to the dif erent variables including the number of twists and sheath thickness. The result indicated that the twisted cable sensor was able to produce clear and smooth signal as compared to the TDR sensor with a parallel arrangement. The optimal number of twist was determined to be above 10 per the unit length. The optimal diameter of sheath thickness that results in the desired sensitivity was determined to be ranging from 80% up to 120% of the diameter of the conductor. The linear regression analysis for estimation of leak localization was carried out to estimate the location of the leakage, and the result was a determination coefficient of 0.9998, indicating a positive relationship with the actual leakage point. The proposed TDR based leak detection method appears to be an effective method for monitoring leakage of ship's seawater piping system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.347-352
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• 2015

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is widely used for wire failure detection. It transmits a pulse that is reflected at the boundaries of different characteristic impedances. By analyzing the reflected signal, TDR makes it possible to locate the failure. In this study, TDR was used to detect the water leakage at a pipe joint. A wire attached to the pipe surface was soaked by water when a leak occurred, which affected the characteristic impedance of the wet part, resulting in a change in the reflected signal. To infer the leakage from the TDR signal, we first developed a finite difference time domain-based forward model that provided the output of the TDR signal given the configuration of the transmission line. Then, by solving the inverse problem, the locations of the leaks were found.