The conditions for the emission of acoustic energy into the pipeline environment and the reception of reflected signals from inconsistencies in dry acoustic contact cause certain dimensions of the actual contact area between the transducers and the pipe surface. The basic approaches to the determination of the actual area of dry acoustic contact between the surfaces of the piezoelectric transducer and the pipe are formulated under the influence of constant static force of pressing the surfaces in low-frequency flaw detection using ultrasonic directional waves. Expressions have been proposed to determine the area of actual acoustic contact for single and numerical micro projections of the pipe surface. The principle of quality control of balancing of acoustic antenna piezoelectric transducers in modern systems of low-frequency diagnostics of the technical state of longitudinal pipelines by ultrasonic directed waves is described. It is revealed that after correct balancing of all the acoustic antenna piezoelectric transducers, the column image does not appear on the display screen and the mathematical support of the system will automatically collect the technical status of the diagnosed section of the pipeline, the results of which are displayed on the display screen. It is established that the actual area of dry acoustic contact in the "piezoelectric product" system in low-frequency defectoscopy depends on the magnitude of the static force of pressing the surface of the piezoelectric transducer to the surface of the product. It is revealed that the deformation of the micro protrusions of the surface of the product under the action of static clamping force is uneven, which does not allow to fully calculate the actual area of dry contact by mathematical methods. It is shown that in modern systems of low-frequency ultrasonic diagnostics of extended pipelines, directional waves control the quality of dry contact of the surface of the piezoelectric transducer with the surface of the pipe by balancing acoustic antennas with the use of special test programs.
Development of a low frequency shear horizontal piezoelectric transducer for the generation of plane SH waves