Most fluid-filled storage tanks are constructed of mild steel plate. A method for measuring the thickness of corroded steel plates, in-situ, using ultrasonic spectral tracking is described. Measurements
using pulse-echo time-of-flight and this spectral tracking technique are compared. The plate used in the measurements was a section of a steel plate from an oil storage tank that had been failed (as opposed or
"passed") during an inspection and was removed. The plate that was scanned had areas that are described as 'lightly' corroded (no apparent thickness loss or scaling) to 'heavily' corroded (much apparent thickness loss and/or much scaling). The nominal thickness of the steel plate was 0.25 inches (6.3 mm). Pulse-echo measurements were made at 15 MHz and 5 MHz and the spectral tracking measurements were made using a 1 MHz center frequency, dual, annular element, ultrasonic transducer.
It was possible to measure the thickness at almost all locations of the steel plate using the spectral tracking technique, whereas, it was not possible to do so using a pulse-echo method. The ultrasonic
wavelength was too long to utilize 1 MHz or 2.25 MHz for pulse-echo measurements, as echo resolution was not possible at these lower frequencies.