Mathematical Modeling of Digital Twins and Industry 4.0 Technologies for Measuring Pipe Wall Thickness at Angra 1 Nuclear Power Plant

Abstract

In mathematical modeling of industrial robotic systems, the Denavit and Hartenberg notation is most important because it provides a standard methodology for writing the kinematic equations of a manipulator. This is especially useful for serial manipulators, where a matrix is used to represent the pose (position and orientation) of one body relative to another. Jacques Denavit and Richard Hartenberg introduced this convention in 1955 in order to standardize the coordinates of reference systems for spatial links. Robotic engineering systems help Rankine cycle based thermoelectric generation systems require monitoring of pipe wall thickness reduction caused by steam flow due to aging processes such as erosion and accelerated corrosion processes. Inspection difficulties are related to hostile environments (50 o C and 100% relative humidity) and spaces with complicated geometry, such as pipeline curves and their support structures. This work presents a monitoring program that integrates wall thickness inspections performed with a robotic system and Industry 4.0 technology to process the collected data and disseminate information throughout the organization. The robotic system is developed using "Digital Twin" technology, a very realistic virtual modeling scheme that allows interaction with the real world environment. They include equipment and all the steps to carry out the inspection process. The tube wall thickness monitoring system will be used at the Angra 1 nuclear power plant (Brazil).