Contact UT wall thickness measurement from an unmanned aerial platform — delivering the same A-scan quality and measurement accuracy as ground-level thickness gauging at elevated, access-restricted, or hazardous locations, without scaffolding, rope access, or personnel exposure to height.
Drone-mounted Ultrasonic Thickness
Gauging (UTG) combines the access capability of an unmanned aerial platform
with the measurement precision of contact UT thickness gauging — enabling wall
thickness measurement at elevated and access-restricted locations without the
access infrastructure that conventional elevated UT inspection demands.
A contact UT probe mounted on a
precision actuator deploys from the drone to make controlled contact with the
surface under inspection. Standard pulse-echo UT measurement is performed —
generating the same A-scan signal and delivering the same measurement accuracy
as ground-level thickness gauging — at locations that would otherwise require
full scaffold or rope access to reach. Couplant is applied from an onboard
reservoir, contact quality is monitored in real time, and readings that do not
meet the minimum contact quality threshold are flagged and repeated before the
drone advances to the next measurement point.
Drone UTG is a targeted
measurement technique — it delivers nominated inspection point coverage, not
full-surface scanning. It is most effectively deployed where corrosion
monitoring grids at elevation are required by the inspection plan, or where
visual drone inspection has identified areas of suspected wall loss requiring
thickness confirmation.
•
Elevated pressure vessel
shell thickness monitoring — without scaffolding
•
Flare stack and chimney
stack wall thickness survey
•
Storage tank shell upper
course thickness gauging
•
Structural steelwork
thickness monitoring at height — bridges, jetties, offshore structures
•
Offshore jacket leg and
brace thickness measurement
•
Boiler casing and pressure
part thickness survey at elevation
•
Periodic corrosion
monitoring grid measurements at elevated locations
•
ASME Section V — Article 4
(Ultrasonic Examination) — UT thickness measurement requirements applicable to
drone-delivered UT
•
API 510 — Pressure Vessel
Inspection Code — thickness measurement requirements and minimum thickness
criteria
•
API 570 — Piping Inspection
Code — thickness measurement requirements for elevated piping
•
API 653 — Tank Inspection —
shell thickness measurement requirements
•
CAAS / DGCA and national
aviation authority regulations — UAV operational requirements by country
•
Client and
operator-specific thickness monitoring programmes and minimum allowable
thickness criteria