Damage Detection and Localisation in Buried Pipelines using Entropy in Information Theory

In recent years, entropy measures, and more specifically, spectral entropy have emerged as an efficient method for the damage assessment of both mechanical systems and civil structures. In the present work, entropy measures are applied as a damage-sensitive feature for the real-time structural health monitoring of buried pipelines. The management of these underground Fluids Distribution Systems (FDSs) is critical for supplying clean water, oil, gas, and other goods. However, the health state of these systems tends to deteriorate over time so that they become more vulnerable to leaks or catastrophic failure events. Maintenance surveys and visual inspections are expensive and labour-intensive, due to the difficulties in accessing buried pipelines. Thus, Vibration-Based Inspection (VBI) techniques and continuous monitoring would be perfectly suited for the task. The approach is validated numerically on the soil-structure models of a typical pipeline structure (i.e. Steel Pipes - SPs).