TY - CONF A1 - Prager, Jens T1 - Technological and Regulatory Constraints on the Use of Structural Health Monitoring - Our Experience with SHM for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels N2 - Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is seen as a key component of NDT 4.0. The aim is to replace labour- and cost-intensive periodic inspections with integrated sensor technology and automated data evaluation, and to increase the operational safety and reliability of critical components. Although SHM is already being used to monitor infrastructure components, approaches for technical structures and components have not yet left the laboratory scale, despite intensive efforts. This is particularly the case for aircraft components, pipelines and components in the chemical and process industries. As part of a publicly funded joint project, BAM has attempted to supplement or replace the legally required periodic inspection of high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks with SHM. With regard to a real laboratory "hydrogen refuelling station", different sensor concepts were applied to type IV pressure vessels and the vessels were subjected to accelerated ageing by pressure cycling. The applied monitoring methods were validated against different failure mechanisms. The contribution presents the results of the project and discusses the specific challenges of using SHM approaches in practice. In addition to describing the technological challenges of replacing periodic inspections with SHM, the talk addresses the legal aspects for the operation of pilot plants and real laboratories. As artificial intelligence and machine learning methods are favoured for signal processing, evaluation and assessment of SHM measurement data, the impact of the European AI Act as the first legal framework for AI is also discussed. T2 - SYSINT 2025 CY - Bremen, Germany DA - 04.06.2025 KW - Pressure vessels KW - Structural health monitoring KW - Ultrasound PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64526 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wosniok, Aleksander T1 - POF-based monitoring system using digital I-OFDR for strain detection in road construction N2 - We present a prototype of a distributed POF sensing system for strain detection in road construction and civil engineering ready to be used in practical applications. The system is based on a cost-efficient digital incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry (I-OFDR). In this approach, the strain-induced changes in the Rayleigh backscattering profile along a perfluorinated polymer optical fiber (PF-POF) are determined by measuring the complex transfer function of the sensing fiber using a compact digital data acquisition unit. The digital unit replaces an oversized vector network analyzer (VNA) enabling suitability of the measurement system for out-door use and providing a significant reduction of the total system costs at the same time. The entire sensor con-cept includes the use of geosynthetics with integrated PF-POFs as two-dimensional sensor structures for geotech-nical applications. The robustness and the functionality of the distributed POF I-OFDR sensors were proven in the field. The field test involved embedding of two geomats, each with two polymer optical sensor loops, into the embankment of the federal road B 91 in a section near Leipzig. The measurements conducted after the sensor-based geomats had been installed confirmed both the potential of such smart geosynthetics and the functionali-ty of the digital I-OFDR prototype. T2 - POF2023 CY - Cork, Irland DA - 17.09.2023 KW - Digital I-OFDR KW - Distriubuted polymer optical fiber sensor KW - Smart geosynthetics KW - Strain detection KW - Structural health monitoring PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58423 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -