EGR 3380 Phase 1 Design Project

Fall Semester 2000

“Pipe Crawler”

PROBLEM MOTIVATION

A company desires the capability to inspect the interior walls of an important piping system for corrosion and cracking. Therefore, a mechanism or device must be designed which can be inserted into one end of a pipe or tube and which will crawl through the pipe or tube in a self-propelled fashion. The device would carry the sensors required for performing the inspection.

PROBLEM SPECIFICATION

Design teams in the EGR 3380 class will address the above engineering problem by designing, constructing, and testing a prototype device that performs the desired functions according to the specifications detailed below. (Refer to the diagram that accompanies the specifications.)

The prototype pipe will be a 5 ft. length of plastic pipe with an ID of 3.75 in. and an OD of 4 in.

The pipe will be mounted vertically, with the lower end suspended 1 ft. from the ground. The lower end of the pipe will be open. The top end of the pipe will have a cover resting on it, but the cover will not be firmly attached.

The pipe crawling device – pipe crawler – shall be initially inserted into the lower end of the pipe, but shall not extend past the 10 in. starting zone at the lower end of the pipe.

After insertion, the pipe crawler shall not be in contact with any surface other than the interior walls of the pipe.

To start the pipe inspection, a switch shall activate the pipe crawler. This manual switching action shall not impart any energy to propel the pipe crawler.

After activation, the pipe crawler shall move up through the pipe, powered by an energy source contained onboard the device.

Support

10 inch starting zone

12 inch standoff

10 inch finish zone

The pipe crawler shall come to a complete rest within the 10 in. finish zone at the top of the pipe. The pipe crawler may make light contact with the top covering, but the top covering shall not be pushed off the pipe, nor should the pipe crawler exit the top of the pipe.