ANALYSIS OF METHODS FOR DETERMINING CHANGES IN THE TECHNICAL CONDITION OF ELEMENTS OF MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT OF HYDROTECHNICAL STRUCTURES

Abstract

The priority task in the maintenance (operation) of mechanical equipment is to ensure its trouble–free operation.

In the article, the mechanical equipment of navigable hydraulic structures is considered as an element of a higher order system. The likely reasons for the development of destructive processes and damage and the failure of mechanical equipment of navigable hydraulic structures in the work accepted: structural, technological and operational. It is shown that the implementation of one of the listed reasons is most likely at certain conditional stages of operation of mechanical equipment of navigable hydraulic structures, depending on the terms of its operation.

The article proposes a structure of non–destructive testing methods for assessing the state of mechanical equipment of navigable hydraulic structures.

It is noted that the actual sensitivity of non–destructive testing methods (the minimum size of a defect that is detected) under operational control conditions differs significantly from the limit values specified in regulatory documents and depends on the parameters of the defects and the conditions for the diagnostic operations.

It is shown that one of the main conditions for the timely detection of fatigue damage under operational conditions is a rational choice of a method for determining changes in the technical condition, which combines the possibility of realizing its physical principles under the conditions of an operation taking into account the parameters of defects and the dynamics of the degradation process. It is proved that a rational choice of methods for identifying fatigue cracks can be made only taking into account the main parameters of real defects, their location and control conditions, the impact of which on sensitivity and probability is estimated by a combination of factors.

Coefficients are proposed that take into account defect parameters and control conditions. The influence of the properties of the defect (crack) and the state of the controlled area on its detection by non–destructive testing methods is investigated.

It is concluded that the effectiveness of the search for fatigue cracks by non–destructive testing methods depends not only on the ultimate sensitivity of the methods themselves, but on the parameters of the defects and the conditions for the control.