TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Abraham, O. A1 - Larose, E. T1 - A review on ultrasonic monitoring of concrete: coda wave interferometry and beyond N2 - The propagation of ultrasonic waves in concrete is affected by its micro- and macro-structure, geometry and properties as well as external influences as stress, temperature or moisture. In addition, age and degradation have a strong influence. Therefore, Ultrasound has been used to monitor concrete samples and structures since decades. However, early applications using conventional techniques as time-of flight or changes in amplitudes have been limited to detect changes in a late stage close to serviceability or ultimate load states. Around 2000, several new, more sensitive techniques adopted from geophysics or other field of material sciences have been introduced to research in ultrasonic monitoring of concrete. The most discussed methodologies are coda wave interferometry, a technique which allows to detect very subtle changes from repeated ultrasonic measurements. Nonlinear acoustic techniques help to identify e. g. cracks even in an inhomogeneous background. Both techniques can be combined. This paper reviews methods and results achieved so far on the laboratory scale and with full scale models the directions for future research and application is given as well. T2 - QNDE 2019 CY - Portland, OR, USA DA - 14.07.2019 KW - Ultrasound KW - Coda wave interferometry KW - Concrete KW - Nonlinear KW - Monitoring PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48688 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Ertel, Jens-Peter T1 - PileInspect N2 - The EC funded project PileInspect (2013-2016) has tried to improve the traditional low strain pile integrity test by using a shaker instead of a hamm and sophisticated higher order spectra analysis methods to provide automated, reliable interpretation. However, the results, even if promising, have not seen full validation yet. A second module, providing depth information by regularized deconvolution, was developed and tested successfully, but doesn't deliver additional information compared tomteh traditioanl test. T2 - DFI Seminar Pile Integrity Testing CY - Bruxelles, Belgium DA - 12.09.2019 KW - Pile integrity testing KW - Shaker KW - Higher order spectra KW - Deconvolution PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48948 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert T1 - The LAUS: First Applications of a New System for Ultrasonic Imaging of Very Concrete Structures T2 - 2018 SMT Proceedings N2 - The LAUS (Large Aperture Ultrasonic System) has been developed to image very thick concrete structures, which are not accessible for commercial systems. The device and the corresponding software is the result of joint Research of BAM, an ultrasonic instrument manufacturer and University of Kassel, Germany. It consists of 12 separate Arrays of 32 point-contact shear wave transducers each, which can be deployed in flexible configurations. Each array is combined with battery and transmitter, receiver and wireless communication electronics. Three case histories are presented. First the system was deployed on a 5-m thick heavily reinforced foundation slab. The reflection of the slab’s bottom was imaged clearly. In addition, a multiple reflection was registered, thus giving hope that even thicker elements might be imaged by the instrument. Second, the LAUS was used to investigate a massive bridge girder where a heavy rainstorm during concreting had led to imperfections that were visible after removing the formwork was removed. The LAUS could image tendon ducts in 1.8m depth and the backwall closely behind them. Some limited areas showed blurred reflections and were checked by drill holes; these areas were affected by diffuse damage which could be repaired by injections. Third, a large retaining wall was checked for thickness. Meanwhile, the LAUS has been used in underground waste deposits (nuclear and other) for quality assurance of sealing plugs. A confirmed penetration depth of about 7 m has been reached. T2 - SMT and NDT-CE 2018 CY - New Brunswick, NJ, USA DA - 27.08.2018 KW - LAUS (Large Apertur Ultrasonic System) KW - Ultrasonic echo KW - Deep penetration KW - Concrete PY - 2019 UR - https://asnt.org/smt18papers SN - 978-1-57117-456-7 VL - 11/19 SP - 208 EP - 213 PB - The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. CY - Columbus, OH, USA AN - OPUS4-47238 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Ultrasonic monitoring of structural concrete elements N2 - Ultrasonic transmission measurements are used to monitor concrete elements mostly on a laboratory scale since decades. Recently, coda wave interferometry, a technique adapted from seismology, has been introduced to civil engineering experiments. It can be used to reveal subtle changes in concrete samples and even large construction elements without having a transducer directly at the location where the change is taking place. The methodology works best with embedded transducers to avoid coupling issues or excessive environmental influence. These transducers can be used for newly built and existing structures. Recently, large concrete beams have been equipped with a network of transducers and loaded until failure. Using code wave interferometry, it was possible to visualize stress fields and damaged areas. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art, recent results achieved at BAM and a task list for further results and development. T2 - International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures (SMSS 2019) CY - Rovinj, Croatia DA - 20.03.2019 KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasound KW - Monitoring KW - coda wave interferometry PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-47676 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Al-Neshawy, F. A1 - Ferreira, M. A1 - Bohner, E. A1 - Ojala, T. A1 - Sjöblom, V. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Effner, Ute A1 - Puttonen, J. T1 - Design, Construction and NDT of a Mock-up for Reinforced Concrete Walls in NPP N2 - Construction methods, environmental stressors, and aging factors are the main causes for defects of reinforced concrete in nuclear power plants (NPP). These defects are typically occurred as corrosion of reinforcement steel, delamination, cracks, malfunction of post-tensioning or steel composite systems etc. Some of the challenges for assessing the performance of these structures by nondestructive testing methods (NDT) are that the assessment could be performed only during the annual overhauls when testing is time-limited and uncertainty of the accuracy and reliability of the available NDT testing devices combined with the lack of the international uniformity of the methods used for NDT tests. To overcome these challenges, a mock-up wall representing a section of the concrete containment of the NPP was built. The mock-up wall included simulated defects, which mimic the most common types of defects in NPP concrete structures such as dimensional errors, honeycombing, delamination, defects adjacent to the steel liner and voids in grouted tendon ducts for the post-tensioned structures. This paper introduces the design and construction of the wall including the concrete properties, reinforcement, tendon ducts and the types of the simulated defects. The paper also introduces the NDT methods and techniques that are suitable for assessing the condition of the mock-up wall under the real environmental conditions. These techniques include mechanical methods as rebound hammer, ultrasonic and electromagnetic methods. This mock-up wall will enable to investigate reliably available NDT methods and experts’ skills providing also an important and very much need educational platform for future NDE experts. T2 - SMIRT-25 CY - Charlotte, NC, USA DA - 04.08.2019 KW - NDE KW - Defects KW - Thick-walled KW - Concrete KW - Deterioration KW - Steel liner PY - 2019 SP - 1 EP - 12 AN - OPUS4-48965 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Vössing, Konrad A1 - Gaal, Mate A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Air-coupled ferroelectret ultrasonic transducers for nondestructive testing of wood in through transmission and reflection mode T2 - Novel methods for characterization of materials and structures N2 - The necessity and demand for nondestructive testing of wood-based materials which can automatically scan huge areas of wood is increasing. Air-coupled ultrasound (ACU) is used to detect defects and damage without altering the structure permanently. Using through transmission it is possible to detect even small holes and missing adhesive. If only one side of an object is accessible the reflection mode is preferred at the expense of a reduced resolution and penetration depth. Novel ferroelectret transducers with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enable a high-precision structure recognition. The transducers made of cellular polypropylene (PP) are quite suitable for ACU testing due to their extremely low Young’s modulus and low density which result in a favorable acoustic impedance for the transmission of ultrasonic waves between the transducer and air. Thus, defects such as delamination, rot, and cracks can be detected. Promising results were obtained under laboratory conditions with frequencies from 90 kHz to 200 kHz. The advantage of these ACU transducers is that they do not require contact to the sample, are accurate, and cost effective. Ultrasonic quality assurance for Wood is an important attempt to increase the acceptance of wooden structures and towards sustainability in civil engineering in general. T2 - International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures CY - Rovinj, Croatia DA - 20.03.2019 KW - Air-coupled ultrasound KW - Cellular polypropylene KW - Wood KW - Nondestructive Testing KW - Defect detection PY - 2019 SP - 28 EP - 33 AN - OPUS4-47682 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Maak, Stefan A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Effner, Ute A1 - Strangfeld, Christoph A1 - Timofeev, Juri T1 - Review of recent developments in ultrasonic echo testing of concrete N2 - Ultrasonic methods are used in concrete investigations since decades. While being limited to transmission testing in the laboratory for a while, in-situ echo measurements for structural investigations and condition assessment have made their way into practical application in the past 20 years. However, several challenges remain. On one side, there are technical issues as limitations in depth of penetration, resolution and imaging capabilities. On the other side there are still gaps in validation, standardization and certification, which are limiting the applicability in condition/load capacity assessment. This review reports a couple of developments which will help to overcome these issues. This includes technical developments as new devices which are easier to handle on site or giving a much deeper penetration depth (e.g. the LAUS device at BAM) as well as improvements in imaging by hardware update (e. g. air coupled ultrasound or coded signals) or new software (e. g. RTM imaging). To foster the application in real world projects we are as well working on standardization by developing new reference specimen with international partners which will ensure world-wide comparability of ultrasonic and other methods and quality assurance codes. Further, non-destructive methods are being used to update probabilistic models used for the reassessment of existing structures to support the structural engineer’s decisions. T2 - SMAR 2019 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 27.08.2019 KW - Engineered Barrier System (EBS) KW - Ultraschall KW - NDT KW - Re-assessment of exiting bridges PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-489686 SP - 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-48968 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Algernon, D. A1 - Arndt, R.W. A1 - Denzel, W. A1 - Ebsen, B. A1 - Feistkorn, S. A1 - Friese, M. A1 - Große, C.U. A1 - Kathage, S. A1 - Keßler, S. A1 - Köpp, Christian A1 - Küttenbaum, Stefan A1 - Lohse, C. A1 - Maack, Stefan A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Schickert, M. A1 - Schröder, G. A1 - Taffe, A. A1 - Timofeev, Juri A1 - Walther, A. A1 - Wilcke, M. A1 - Wolf, J. A1 - Wöstmann, Jens T1 - Test specimen concepts in regard to quality assurance and validation of nondestructive testing in civil engineering T2 - 2018 SMT Proceedings N2 - The process of ensuring reliability of NDT applications contains various aspects, such as determining the performance and probability of success, the uncertainty in measurement, the provision of clear and functional procedures and ensuring the correct application accordingly. Test specimens have become powerful elements in supporting many of these aspects. Within the committee for NDT in Civil Engineering (NDT-CE) of the German Society for Nondestructive Testing (DGZfP), the subcommittee on Quality Assurance (UA-QS) therefore addresses the design and the integration of test specimens in the quality assurance process. Depending on the specific purpose, the requirements on test specimens can vary significantly based on the defined simulated scenario. The most prominent purposes of test specimens might be seen in providing references for inspection systems in regard to function control, calibration and validation. Further aspects can be parametric studies, basic investigation of physical principles related to NDT or a simplified and therefore comprehensive demonstration of inspection concepts (e.g. for teaching purposes). The specific purpose of a test specimen dictates the requirements regarding its conception, including the exact design, the material or the fabrication accuracy and the conditioning. In the development of a general guideline by the UA-QS for application-specific procedures and their validation, the use of test specimens is addressed and specific concepts for the design of test specimens are made. This includes the analysis of the measurement process regarding any given application, deriving an adequate calibration approach for it and designing test specimens (calibration specimens) accordingly. Furthermore, it includes the validation of the procedure taking into account all conditions related to the specific application in the field. The validation requires a statistically sufficient number of trials. Thorough evaluation of each trial can only be established if the ground-truth is known. Therefore, test specimens providing a realistic but controlled simulation of the inspection problem are valuable and indispensable elements in the validation process. The requirement of being fully realistic will often not be possible to fulfill due to practical restrictions. Any aspect that cannot be included in the simulation realistically needs to be simulated conservatively. This again, requires a sufficient understanding of the inspection principle and technique to ensure conservativeness. Among other quality-assurance-related aspects, the UA-QS establishes concepts and guidelines regarding sound and efficient approaches for the specific purposes of test specimens. This subcommittee brings together representatives of different Groups along the entire value chain of NDT-CE, including researchers, practitioners, manufacturers and clients. They all work together in establishing a common understanding and level of quality assurance in the industry. T2 - SMT and NDT-CE 2018 CY - New Brunswick, NJ, USA DA - 27.08.2018 KW - Quality assurance KW - Procedure KW - Reliability KW - Validation KW - Reference specimen PY - 2019 UR - https://asnt.org/smt18papers SN - 978-1-57117-456-7 VL - 11/19 SP - 39 EP - 48 PB - The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. CY - Columbus, OH, USA AN - OPUS4-47240 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Algernon, D. A1 - Arndt, R.W. A1 - Denzel, W. A1 - Ebsen, B. A1 - Feistkorn, S. A1 - Friese, M. A1 - Große, C.U. A1 - Kathage, S. A1 - Keßler, S. A1 - Köpp, Christian A1 - Küttenbaum, Stefan A1 - Lohse, C. A1 - Maack, Stefan A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Schickert, M. A1 - Schröder, G. A1 - Taffe, A. A1 - Timofeev, Juri A1 - Walther, A. A1 - Wilcke, M. A1 - Wolf, J. A1 - Wöstmann, Jens T1 - NDT procedures in relation to quality assurance and validation of nondestructive testing in civil engineering T2 - 2018 SMT Proceedings N2 - The field of non-destructive testing of civil structures (NDT-CE) has been continuously growing. Due to the complexity and diversity of civil constructions as well as the heterogeneity of concrete, specific standards or guidelines for the application of modern NDT-CE are still missing. The development of individual solutions is the current approach, which is just as challenging as it is common for NDT-CE. With the increasing development and commercialization of NDT-CE technology, the group of practitioners is growing. To ensure a good level of quality in the industry, it appears necessary to establish adequate means. Naturally, the performance of NDT-CE methods regarding a specific application is strongly dependent on choosing the most suitable inspection technique and applying it correctly, generally referred to as the inspection procedure in the field of NDT. There are well-defined guidelines regarding procedure documentation and handling in many fields of NDT (e.g. nuclear, aerospace or automotive) according to the high importance of procedures in assuring a successful and reliable application. For a long time, this has not always been the case with NDT-CE, which is still considered a unique discipline of NDT. Part of the reason for that might be the young development state of NDTCE, the heterogeneity of building materials like concrete, timber or masonry as a material and the diversity of civil structures. In consequence, NDT-CE procedure development is considered challenging. Among other aspects, addressed in the subcommittee on Quality Assurance (UA-QS) within the committee for NDT-CE of the German Society for Nondestructive Testing (DGZfP), part of its work aims at establishing an adequate basis for NDT-CE procedure development. While some of the highly developed approaches from other industries are taken into consideration, they need to be analyzed regarding their suitability for NDT-CE and adapted accordingly. For a procedure to be as defined as possible, it needs to contain sufficient information, such as the scope and limitations regarding material, geometry and condition of the test object, inspection parameters, calibration, data acquisition, analysis criteria as well as requirements regarding the inspection personnel. For a successful implementation in the field, it is important to define the specific procedure as precisely as possible. Despite the necessity of a great amount of information to be included, the procedure needs to be suitable for efficient field application. The UA-QS is developing a guideline for NDT-CE procedures suitable for application in this field of NDT to ensure correct and reproducible application. To demonstrate and evaluate this concept, specific examples of procedures are also produced. In particular, the UA-QS has developed a procedure for the detection and positioning of tendon ducts using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This procedure is tested regarding the practical applicability in a roundrobin on a defined type of reference test block. T2 - SMT and NDT-CE 2018 CY - New Brunswick, NJ, USA DA - 27.08.2018 KW - Quality assurance KW - Procedure KW - Reliability KW - Validation KW - Reference specimen PY - 2019 UR - https://asnt.org/smt18papers SN - 978-1-57117-456-7 VL - 11/19 SP - 31 EP - 38 PB - The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. CY - Columbus, OH, USA AN - OPUS4-47239 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Seismic methods to test concrete strcutures N2 - Seismic methods are increasingly used to improve ultrasonic imaging and monitoring of concrete. At BAM, we are research mainly the use of Reverse Time Migration to get better images from ultrasonic echo data of thick, complex concrete structures. Coda wave interferometry is used to detect subtle changes in concrete constructions, e. g. using embedded ultasonic transducers. T2 - Geophysikalisches Seminar der Universität Potsdam CY - Potsdam,. Germany DA - 25.01.2019 KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasound KW - Monitoring KW - Imaging PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-47302 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -