Design and Implementation of Chipless RFID-Based Monitoring Sensor System for Coated Metallic Structures' Integrity

• Author / Creator

  Deif, Sameir E. E.

• This thesis work presents structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques for coated-metallic structures based on Chipless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The structures of interest for this study include pipelines for crude oil transportation and storage tanks (or terminals). The main features of the system are real-time monitoring, low cost, reliability, and the ability for mass-production.

  First, an initial prototype sensor has a readout coil and an LC resonator on the passive tag with an interdigitated capacitor producing an entirely passive Chipless RFID system for pipeline integrity. Water ingress and coating delamination are reliably detected through monitoring the sensor's resonant frequency to achieve early corrosion prediction. The tag is built on a flexible substrate for wrapping around the pipe and representing the pipe coating. The sensor is conformal, battery-free, and low cost, which makes it suitable for pipeline monitoring in harsh environments.
  
  Furthermore, a fully passive, wireless, Chipless RFID-based solution for out-of-sight pipeline monitoring is presented. The system is a combination of a tag ID, consisting of an array of seven rectangular spiral resonators (RSR), and a tag antenna composed of two cross-polarized patch-based antennas etched on a skin-thin microwave laminate. The proposed system exhibits the robust capability to create frequency signatures to detect and monitor defects underneath the pipeline coating owing to water ingress that could eventuate to corrode the pipeline. The reader antenna above the pipeline comprises of two identically cross-polarized log-periodic dipole antennas with the intent to remotely capture resonances of the tag ID in real-time for early detection and prediction of potential pipeline exposure to moisture.
  
  Next, to cover large areas and achieve long arrays, identical resonators to build Chipless RFID is introduced. Backed with theory, extensive simulation, and experimental results, the innovative concept shows the ability to expand the sensors arrays considerably. It also achieves a real-time, inexpensive, and easy-to-install coating defect detection technique. A 120 cm prototype composed of 55 identical rectangular spiral resonators coupled to a transmission line is simulated, fabricated, and experimented. It is used to detect water ingress and coating delamination, which are the leading causes of corrosion initiation.
  
  The need to protect the conductive sensor layer against the external environment requires the investigation of the effect of such a layer (overlay) on the sensor performance. Thus, an optimization process and study of different overlay materials and thicknesses to achieve the best performance are presented. It provides a reference source for the engineering and manufacturing process in regards to the trade-off between performance and cost for more economical applications of the sensor in the field.
  

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Chipless RFID
  • Coating
  • Pipeline
  • RF Sensor
  • Integrity
  • Monitoring
  • Corrosion
  • Detection

• Graduation date

  Fall 2020

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-zn7z-5v36

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.