Possibilities of Thermal Nondestructive Testing of Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sucker Rods and Pump Compressor Pipes in the Oil Industry

The results of experimental studies on detection of defects such as cracks and impact damages in glass-reinforced plastic pump compressor pipes (GRP PCP) and glass-reinforced plastic sucker rods (GRP SR) using a thermal nondestructive testing method involving combined ultrasonic and optical stimulation are presented. It is demonstrated that ultrasonic infrared thermographic testing is appropriate for detecting cracks, especially “kissing” ones, whereas traditional thermal inspection based on optical heating is more suitable for identifying delamination and thinning. The efficiency of the inspection depends on the size of the ultrasonic stimulation zone with sufficient power (approximately 0.8 m in this study). During optical heating procedures, the testing productivity depends on the size of the heated area and the field of view of the thermal imager and can reach several square meters per hour.