TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Effner, Ute A1 - Maack, Stefan A1 - Scott, David A1 - Villalobos, Salvador T1 - Ultrasonic methods for quality assurance and condition assessment in nuclear concrete structures – lessons learned N2 - Ultrasonic non-destructive testing methods have found various applications in quality assurance and condition assessment of nuclear concrete structures. This includes but is not limited to the localization of construction features (thickness measurements, reinforcement, tendon ducts, and others) and damage detection (e. g. corrosion or cracks). However, there are still limitations, e. g. limited penetration depth and resolution, issues when testing hybrid steel/concrete structures as well as absence of standards and regulations. This presentation will show progress in some of these issues and will focus on advanced instrumentation and validation of ultrasonic NDT for concrete structures. Ultrasonic echo testing has been limited to a penetration depth of less than one meter in reinforced concrete. The development of the LAUS (Large Aperture Ultrasonic System), using a large array of ultrasonic transducers and wider offsets between transmitter and receiver, allows to reach up to 5 m in reinforced concrete and 9 m in unreinforced concrete. This capability has been demonstrated by collecting data from an engineered salt concrete barrier in an underground nuclear waste storage facility. Due to an increasingly competitive environment, commercial manufacturers will continue to develop equipment with enhanced penetration and/or increased resolution. To quantify the capabilities and reliability of ultrasonic tests, validation mockups with engineered flaws are required. EPRI and BAM have built a large-scale mockup at a test site close to Berlin (BAM-TTS, Horstwalde) using a design which is repeated at other places. This presentation will also cover the methods deployed on engineered flaws and the repeatability of the test results. T2 - NDE in Nuclear CY - Charlotte, NC, USA DA - 25.7.2019 KW - Concrete KW - Nuclear Structures KW - Ultrasound PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48690 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -