South Ural State University has developed an intelligent system for monitoring the corrosive wear of metal structures designed for use in challenging industrial conditions. The development was completed by a team of scientists led by Dmitry Shnaider as part of the Priority 2030 strategic academic leadership program.
The system is designed for long-term monitoring of wall thickness changes in pipelines, pressure vessels, and other critical equipment components at oil refineries, chemical plants, and energy facilities.
Relevance of the development
Corrosion and erosion wear remain among the main causes of accidents, unscheduled repairs, and downtime in industrial equipment. Monitoring objects operating at high temperatures and with pronounced surface roughness is particularly challenging. In such conditions, traditional ultrasonic testing methods often lose accuracy due to signal distortion and high level of noise.
Operating principle of the technology
The development is based on an ultrasonic signal processing method based on sliding cross-correlation with subdiscrete estimation of time shifts. The algorithm analyses ultrasonic pulse sequences, improving measurement stability in the presence of wave scattering and noise typical of rough surfaces.
The applied approach ensures sensitivity to thickness changes at the micron level, while the measurement error in laboratory and experimental conditions is approximately 10 µm, exceeding the accuracy of many traditional solutions used for testing in challenging industrial environments. The algorithm also takes into account the effect of temperature on the speed of ultrasound propagation in metal.
Hardware and software
Cross-platform software with a graphical interface has been developed for the system, designed for configuring measurement modes, testing algorithms, and visualizing data in near real time.
The hardware part is a stationary ultrasonic sensor designed for installation in the most stressed and corrosion-prone areas of equipment: welds, pipe bends, and connections. Stationary installation eliminates errors associated with repeated positioning of handheld instruments and generates reliable time series of data for wear analysis.
Operation at high-temperature sites
The possibility of applying the system at high-temperature sites (surface temperatures up to 600°C) is ensured by the special design of the ultrasonic waveguides, which transmit the signal from the monitoring zone to the measuring electronics. This design solution allows electronic components and power supplies to be located outside of extreme heat zones, maintaining measurement stability and improving equipment safety.
The measurement frequency can vary from several minutes to one hour, significantly exceeding the frequency of traditional periodic monitoring with portable instruments and enabling the detection of early signs of accelerated corrosive wear. Furthermore, the proposed solution eliminates the need for personnel to be in close proximity to hazardous equipment operating at high temperatures. This reduces production risks, improves industrial safety, and meets modern requirements for safe working conditions.
Integration and the Industrial Internet of Things
The development is designed for use in distributed monitoring systems and supports integration with the IIoTSense, the Industrial Internet of Things system developed at the university. This enables the transmission of measurement data to centralized analytical platforms, the possibility of remote monitoring of equipment conditions, and the use of predictive analytics technologies.
The use of energy-efficient and thermally stable components reduces operational risks and ensures long-term autonomous operation of the sensor in industrial production environments.
Readiness and plans
At the moment, a functional prototype of the electronic module has been developed and tested based on synthetic data and real metal samples. The tests confirmed the operability of the proposed method under high surface roughness and elevated noise levels.
The next stage is conducting pilot tests and refining the system to meet the requirements of specific industries.
Prospects of cooperation
"Our goal was not simply to create an import-substituting solution, but to develop a technology capable of ensuring higher measurement accuracy and stability in challenging operating conditions," notes Dmitry Shnaider, Head of the SUSU Laboratory of Industrial Automation and Internet of Things. "Today, we have scientific groundwork and a functional prototype, and we are open to collaborating with industrial partners for further refinement, testing, and implementation of the technology in real-world production conditions."
Fields of application
The development can be in demand at oil refineries, chemical plants, and energy facilities, in metallurgy, shipbuilding, transport infrastructure, and housing and utilities—anywhere where remote monitoring of metal structures and the transition to predictive equipment maintenance are required.
If you have any questions, please contact us at:
+7 (351) 267-92-86, 272-30-11, 272-31-64, press[at]susu[dot]ru shnaiderda[at]susu[dot]ru
The project is being implemented within the frameworks of the Priority-2030 grant, Agreement No. 075-15-2025-228