Wireless Sensors with Advanced Detection and Prognostic Capabilities for Corrosion Health Management

Thin film galvanic sensors provide feedback on corrisivity via current and charge accumulation. They do not provide direct feedback on material loss. By combining these sensors with guided wave corrosion sensors, galvanic activity can be directly related to material loss via guided wave data. As a result, corrosivity can be directly related to corrosion. Galvanic thin film sensors have there limitations. For instance, they detect local corrosion activity. While one area may be subject to significant corrosion activity, an adjacent area may experience significantly less activity. This type of false alarm my call for unnecessary maintenance action. As a result, the following question arises. How do maintenance personnel perform large area corrosion health monitoring using galvanic sensors with minimal false alarms. The answer is by combining thin film galvanic sensors with guided wave corrosion sensors. When considerable localized corrosivity occurs, the galvanic sensors trigger the guided wave sensor to take data on the entire structure. By using the galvanic sensors to trigger the guided wave sensor, the extent of corrosion in terms of both area and depth can be obtained.