{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T07:34:14Z","timestamp":1769153654527,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,30]],"date-time":"2018-10-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1540857600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["51708520"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["51708520"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["51878628"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["51878628"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Scientific Research Fund of Institute of Seismology and Institute of Crustal Dynamics, China Earthquake Administration","award":["IS201626258"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IS201626258"]}]},{"name":"Science for Earthquake Resilience","award":["XH19031Y"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XH19031Y"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Threaded connections are the most common pipe fittings used in oil and gas transportation systems. Due to external vibrations, cyclic loads, and pollution, the fitting parts may start getting loose, which could result in pipeline leaks and other environmental disasters. It is of great significance to develop a reliable technique that could provide real-time monitoring of the looseness of pipeline fittings. In this paper, a piezoceramic-based active sensing method combined with the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique was developed to monitor the health condition of threaded pipe connections in real time. Two pipe segments coupled with a threaded coupling fitting were assembled in the laboratory, and a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) patch was surface bonded onto the coupling part. In the experiment, the PZT impedance signatures were measured at each simulated loosening condition. A root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) method was employed to build a looseness index from the measured impedance signatures. To verify the effectiveness of the developed EMI technique, the experimental results were compared with those computed from a numerical simulation. The good agreement from experimental and numerical results highlights that the developed piezoceramic-based EMI technique has great potential for determining early looseness, as well as for monitoring the health status of the pipeline fitting during its service life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s18113699","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,31]],"date-time":"2018-10-31T11:55:41Z","timestamp":1540986941000},"page":"3699","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Loosening Monitoring of a Threaded Pipe Connection Using the Electro-Mechanical Impedance Technique\u2014Experimental and Numerical Studies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Yabin","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Earthquake Geodesy, Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Wuhan 430071, China"},{"name":"Wuhan Institute of Earthquake Engineering, Wuhan 430071, China"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Earthquake Geodesy, Institute of Seismology, China Earthquake Administration, Wuhan 430071, China"},{"name":"Wuhan Institute of Earthquake Engineering, Wuhan 430071, China"}]},{"given":"Dongsheng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil Engineering, Shantou University, Shantou 515063, China"}]},{"given":"Sijia","family":"Cai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wuhan Institute of Earthquake Engineering, Wuhan 430071, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Van Wittenberghe, J., De Baets, P., and De Waele, W. 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