Anchor Rod Inspection System

Many thousand of miles of high-voltage electric transmission power lines are supported by guy wire attached to anchor rods. The anchor rods ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 inches in diameter and from 7 to 10 feet in length and embedded in soil or concrete. These anchor rods are subject to corrosion and, when the corrosion progresses to unsafe levels, could result in catastrophic failure of the transmission power lines.

Guided Wave Testing (GWT) on those anchor rods is a nondestructive testing (NDT) method which utilizes low-frequency ultrasonic guided waves to volumetrically inspect and assess the physical state of the anchor rods being tested. The wavelength of the low-frequency guided waves is typically longer than the diameter of rod(s) being tested. A long wavelength wave fills the entire cross-sectional area of the rod(s) and then propagates along its/their total length. Additionally, the operating frequency is determined using dispersion curve of anchor rod and attenuation at the selected frequency. The dispersion curve is used to select the frequency region at which the generated guided waves have little to no dispersion. The optimized ultrasonic waves allow determining any corrosion defects on buried anchor rods.

Please watch a video on YouTube about anchor rod inspection services, or visit our anchor rod testing website for more detailed information.