Optimization of creep function parameters of viscoelastic pipelines based on transient pressure signal

Determining the creep function of viscoelastic pipes is one of the challenges of modeling these pipes to calibrate or determine defects. The present research aims to determine the creep function of viscoelastic pipes using transient flow pressure in the time and frequency domains. For this purpose, the proposed method is first implemented using a numerical example. The numerical part investigated the effect of signal sample size, the number of Kelvin-Voigt (K-V) elements, repeatability, and decision variables. Then, using an experimental test, the desired methodology has been evaluated. In this research, the K-V mechanical model was used to define the creep function, and its parameters, including elastic pressure wave speed, retardation times, and creep complaint coefficients, were calibrated. The results showed that using pressure signals in both time and frequency domains provides stable results for the investigated pipeline. Examining the effect of signal size showed that the creep function can be estimated with reasonable accuracy in the time domain with a few initial cycles. Also, 14.33 dimensionless frequency for a simple reservoir-pipe-valve system can provide accurate results in the frequency domain. The results of this research can be used as a suitable pre-processing to reduce the dimensions of inputs in models based on artificial intelligence.