Abstract The objective of this research is to develop a vibration wave technique for pipeline inspection globally. It is known that the pipeline systems are widely used in chemical industry, petroleum company, or nuclear power plant. In addition, the pipeline systems are also very danger since they usually carry high pressure, high temperature, or even highly corrosive fluids. Therefore, the need for careful nondestructive testing on frequent base to determine the damage of the pipeline and the need for repair arise. The nondestructive testing methods usually used to evaluate the cracks in a pipeline are liquid penetrant method, eddy current testing, ultrasonic testing, acoustic emission method, and radiographic inspection, and etc. Technicians will usually apply one of or the combination of the methods to get the testing job done. However, the above-mentioned techniques (except for acoustic emission) can only inspect a small area or spot of the pipeline, which is very time consuming for evaluating the whole pipeline. The error will also build up easily since the technicians have to perform the measurement repeatedly. To overcome the above-mentioned problems, this research proposes a vibration wave technique to measure the resonant frequency and the vibration mode of the whole or a long pipeline. The experimental results can be used to characterize the damage in the pipeline. The knowledge obtained from the research can also be used to define the criteria of inspection or repair procedures and life cycles of the pipeline.