APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING STRESS AND STRAIN IN PIPES, PRESSURE VESSELS, STRUCTURAL MEMBERS AND OTHER DEFORMABLE BODIES

摘要

A method and apparatus for measuring stress and strain associated with a pipe, a pressure vessel (12), a structural member or a deformable body having a concentration of defects or stress, using a laser beam (18 ) for illuminating a surface (14) being analyzed and an optical data scanner (20) for detecting a signal produced by a dotted structure formed by the light beam reflected from the illuminated surface. One signal is sensed from the surface (14) at reference conditions and subsequent signals are picked up from the surface (14) after deformation of the surface. The optical data scanner (20) sends the sensed signal to an image processor (98), which records the signals and relates the distorted image captured with the reference image, and then sends this information put in relation to a mini-computer (28) which performs mathematical analysis of the signal, to determine the stress and strain associated with the surface. The apparatus is constructed in one piece (34) and further comprises a digital display and web (30) and a TV monitor (26) and an electro-optical distance meter (23).