TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Condition monitoring for lifetime extension of interim storage facilities N2 - The German interim nuclear storage facilities are designed for a 50 year service life and 40-year operating period. They will be needed much longer, as a final repository will not be available until 2050 at the earliest. The objective of ZuMoBau-ZL is to develop a suitable condition assessment and monitoring concept suitable for the structures in interim storage facilities, including life prediction models, with which the remaining service life can be predicted, verified, and monitored as realistically as possible. T2 - IAEA ICARST 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 07.04.2025 KW - Nuclear waste KW - Interim storage KW - Liefetime extension KW - Reinforced concrete PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-62984 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Skłodowska, Anna A1 - Coronel Subia, Hernan Alejandro A1 - Inzunza Araya, Ernesto A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Influence of velocity changes on acoustic emission monitoring of masonry walls under diagonal compression load N2 - Acoustic emission (AE) is a highly sensitive, non-destructive method which has great potential in damage event detection and assessment in masonry structures exposed to e.g., seismic loads. However, the highly heterogenous nature of the masonry structures and their low densities cause high attenuation and distortion of the signal. Localization of the AE events is challenging because the AE waves propagate through various masonry constituents (i.e., bricks and mortar joints) at different velocities. We present an attempt to locate the sources of AE events from the signals recorded during the diagonal compression loading, and analyze the influence of different wave velocities on its accuracy. T2 - 36th Conference of the European Working Group on Acoustic Emission CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 18.09.2024 KW - Acoustic emission KW - Masonry KW - Compression test PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61689 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bertola, Numa A1 - Schumacher, Thomas A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Brühwiler, Eugen T1 - Combining passive and active ultrasonic stress wave monitoring for the characterization of the early-age properties of a UHPFRC beam N2 - This article focuses on the characterization of the early-age properties of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (UHPFRC), which is becoming popular for designing lightweight and durable structures. Due to the large proportion of cement in the mix, the hardening of UHPFRC is significantly faster than conventional concrete. Therefore, the development of UHPFRC properties, such as the elastic modulus, is difficult to monitor as it happens while elements are within the formwork. For this reason, the hydration process of UHPFRC elements is not fully understood yet. A combined passive (or acoustic emission) and active ultrasonic stress wave monitoring approach has the potential to characterize structures made of cementitious materials over their entire service duration. Using a network of embedded ultrasonic transducers, monitoring can start only a few instants after casting. A UHPFRC beam with a T-shaped cross-section and a length of 4.2 m was constructed and instrumented with 24 transducers as well as 15 thermocouples. Monitoring results lead to the characterization of the development of the early-age UHPFRC properties on the structural-element scale while the specimen is within the formwork. The continuous monitoring approach enabled accurate estimations of the spatial and temporal evolution of the modulus of elasticity. Thanks to this novel combination of monitoring techniques, the early age properties of UHPFRC, which were measured at the material scale, are confirmed at the structural scale for the first time. KW - Concrete KW - UHPFRC KW - Acoustic emission KW - Ultrasonic monitoring KW - Coda wave interferometry PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.140319 SN - 0950-0618 VL - 466 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-63448 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Applications of a Multi-Channel Ultrasound System for Assessing Large Concrete Structures N2 - Non-destructive testing (NDT) plays a vital role in the assessment of large concrete structures, where the detection of internal defects is particularly challenging due to size, material heterogeneity and complex geometries. In this study, the use of a multi-channel, large-aperture ultrasound system is demonstrated for improving the ultrasonic pulse-echo method for evaluating these large structures. The large aperture of the ultrasound system allows for broader coverage and enhanced sensitivity to internal features such as cracks, voids, and embedded components within the concrete. By capturing data from multiple channels simultaneously, the system improves both resolution and depth penetration. A weighted sum of the Kirchhoff migration is used to post-process the data, resulting in better visualisation and a more detailed interpretation of the internal condition of the structure. This approach is particularly effective for thick and complex materials where conventional methods face limitations. In addition to the pulse-echo method, time-of-flight (TOF) tomography is used to provide quantitative analysis of internal structures. Time-picking techniques allow for the precise mapping of anomalies within the material, offering insights into the condition of concrete with varying geometries and compositions. Together, these two methods: pulse-echo imaging with the large-aperture multichannel system and TOF tomography imaging, offer different possibilities for assessing the internal condition of large concrete structures. The pulse-echo technique focuses on providing detailed images of structural defects, while the TOF tomography provides quantitative data on internal features. This combined approach offers a comprehensive and reliable method for the assessment of large infrastructures. T2 - ISNT NDE 2024 CY - Chennai, India DA - 12.12.2024 KW - NDT-CE KW - concrete KW - ultrasound KW - imaging KW - Kirchhoff KW - tomography PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62204 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Sein, Sander A1 - Kervalisvil, Andrei A1 - Wöstmann, Jens A1 - Helm, Marek T1 - Muon tomography - ready for practical application? N2 - Muon tomography uses naturally occurring nuclear particles to 'X-ray' technical objects. It has applications in security and nuclear safeguards, but not yet in civil engineering. The potential is enormous, as muon tomography could replace traditional X-ray imaging of infrastructure, a method that was popular in the past but has mostly been abandoned due to concerns about radiation safety. In 2020, a report on the first large-scale muon tomography experiment on a reinforced concrete specimen was published. However, robust mobile detectors and faster data acquisition methods are still needed. This is now changing, however. Prototype mobile detectors have been announced or are in development, and data acquisition time has been reduced from weeks to days. This presentation will showcase current developments and focus on a validation experiment at BAM. T2 - NDT-CE 2025 - The International Symposium on Nondestructive Testing in Civil Engineering CY - Izmir, Türkiye DA - 24.09.2025 KW - Concrete KW - Muon tomography KW - Inspection PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642517 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31696 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 30 IS - 10 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - ndt.net AN - OPUS4-64251 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabe, Ute A1 - Emge, Julia A1 - Klein, Samuel A1 - Oswald, Jan A1 - Shpakova, Nina A1 - Stopp, Philipp A1 - Weingard, Christoph A1 - Koster, Dirk A1 - Schönsee, Eric A1 - Hille, Frank A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Development of distributed sensor electronics for energy-efficient and proactive maintenance of buildings N2 - Permanently installed sensor systems are becoming increasingly important for monitoring critical infrastructure. The research institutes Fraunhofer IZFP and BAM, together with industrial partners and users, are developing a concept for an electronic system consisting of an Edge-Gateway as a central high-performance node and a variable number of Sensor-Edge units that establish the connection between the sensors of the permanent monitoring system and the gateway, which also provides connection to a cloud. A software tool allows identification and localization of sensors and visualization of sensor data. The principle of the system is demonstrated using sensors installed in the road surface to monitor traffic loads as an example. Two test structures, a full-scale laboratory at Fraunhofer IZFP, Saarbrücken, and the “BLEIB” reference structure at BAM, test site technical safety (TTS) Horstwalde, were used to demonstrate the principle and the functioning of the electronic system. T2 - NDT-CE 2025 - The International Symposium on Nondestructive Testing in Civil Engineering CY - Izmir, Türkiye DA - 24.09.2025 KW - Edge computing KW - Bridge monitoring KW - Multi-sensor PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642530 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31650 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 30 IS - 10 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - ndt.net AN - OPUS4-64253 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Roumia, N. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Mazotti, C. T1 - Post-tensioned concrete inspection and imaging using 2D and 3D Dry Point Contact ultrasound array N2 - by the asset owners. Advancements were introduced to the method by distributing numerous shear horizontal Dry Point Contact (DPC) transducers in a uniform way, forming a linear array that allows for immediate two-dimensional imaging of the subsurface using Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT). Recent developments were implemented, allowing for the full potential use of the array by means of three-dimensionaldata acquisition instead of two-dimensional. This work provides a practical comparison between the 2D Linear scanning mode and the newly introduced 3D Matrix scanning mode regarding the tendon duct inspection, grouting quality, and reinforcement localization. Imaging the subsurface was performed through research-oriented software, namely InterSAFT, which allows for 2D and 3D imaging using Linear and Matrix data acquisitions. T2 - NDT-CE 2025 - The International Symposium on Nondestructive Testing in Civil Engineering CY - Izmir, Türkiye DA - 24.09.2025 KW - Ultrasound KW - Imaging KW - Concrete KW - SAFT PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-642551 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31690 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 30 IS - 10 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - ndt.net AN - OPUS4-64255 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Emerging technologies for non destructive testing and monitoring of concrete structures in nuclear facilities N2 - For a long time, practical application of non-destructive testing in civil engineering has been limited on simple (but useful) methods such as rebound hammers, ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements, rebar detectors or potential mapping. Since the late 1990ies new methods and devices have been developed for geometry and damage detection, including radar and ultrasonic echo array techniques which brought progress in condition assessment of buildings and infrastructure assets. However, there are still gaps, especially for massive concrete structures used in nuclear facilities, including lack of penetration depth, resolution, or translation of NDT parameters to engineering properties. Recent research tries to fill these gaps. Currently, new ultrasonic devices with greater penetration depth and better resolution depth are developed, including imaging methods revealing greater details of the interior of concrete constructions. Ultrasonic technologies are also extended to nonlinear methods providing baseline free damage assessment and monitoring capabilities. Another example of a technique with a huge potential for concrete constructions is muon tomography, where first field experiments are underway. A review of the potential and limitations of these methods will be given in the presentation. T2 - IAEA ICARST 2025 CY - Vienna, Austria DA - 07.04.2025 KW - NDT-CE KW - Ultrasound KW - Muography KW - Concrete KW - Emerging PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63003 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Improvement and extension of the parallel seismic method for foundation depth measurement N2 - he parallel seismic (PS) method is used for determination of the unknown or undocumented depth of foundations, mostly piles. It was developed several decades ago and has not much changed since. PS is based on impulse generation on the pile head and registration of travel times in a borehole parallel to the foundation. The method is applicable to many foundation types, including single piles, pile walls, or sheet piles. While the accuracy is known to be high if the distance between foundation and borehole is small, the foundation length is overestimated with increasing distance. This paper presents the results of a systematic study on the influence of geometric and material parameters on the measurement resultsand explains the effects by studying the underlying wave phenomena based on numerical studies. It can be shown that several parameters (e.g. borehole inclination) have a strong influence. Foundation flaws and soil layers have also to be taken into account, while the possibilities in the other direction (derivation of soil parameters or detection of flaws from the results) are limited. Based on the simulation results, a new mathematical algorithm for data interpretation has been developed which takes into Account the soil layers and the borehole inclination. This novel data interpretation scheme was used in combination with different data Inversion methods. The new interpretation method was successfully validated using several sets of simulated data. Not only was it shown to be more accurate than all other available methods, but it also extended the maximum allowable pile–borehole distance to 2–3 m. Today, parallel seismics is the only method applicable on both metallic and non-metallic foundations which can be used without calibration. It has the largest range of all borehole methods. To enhance its efficiency it can be combined with downhole seismic measurements in the very same borehole to retrieve soil parameters. KW - Parallel seismic KW - Length KW - Piles KW - Interpretation KW - Foundations PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2012.11.023 SN - 0038-0806 VL - 52 IS - 6 SP - 1093 EP - 1101 PB - Soc. CY - Tokyo AN - OPUS4-27908 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grohmann, Maria A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Application of Elastic Reverse Time Migration to Ultrasonic Echo Data from Concrete Structures N2 - To enhance ultrasonic imaging of concrete structures, we adapted the geophysical migration method, Reverse Time Migration (RTM), for non-destructive testing (NDT) in civil engineering. First, two 2D elastic RTM algorithms, each considering different wave types, were implemented and evaluated with synthetic ultrasonic data. The algorithm that best resolved numerical concrete structures was subsequently applied to real ultrasonic data from a concrete specimen. Compared with conventional synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) imaging, elastic RTM reproduced a greater number of structural features in both the numerical model and the concrete specimen. In particular, elastic RTM reconstructed vertical interfaces as well as hidden lower edges of modeled cavities and tendon ducts. Notably, imaging the full cross-sections of tendon ducts, which enables direct diameter estimation, represents a novel achievement for ultrasonic NDT. T2 - NDT-CE 2025 - The International Symposium on Nondestructive Testing in Civil Engineering CY - Izmir, Turkey DA - 24.09.2025 KW - Concrete Structures KW - Ultrasonic Echo Technique KW - Ultrasonic Imaging KW - Elastic Reverse Time Migration KW - Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-650350 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31680 SN - 1435-4934 SP - 1 EP - 3 PB - e-Journal of Nondestructive Testing CY - www.ndt.net AN - OPUS4-65035 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Giese, Lutz A1 - Weritz, Friederike A1 - Weimann, Karin A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Ulbricht, J.P. ED - Dincer, I. T1 - Bricks made of sludge from the Izmir bay - an integrative approach for the recycling of sludge - preliminary results T2 - 1st International Exergy, Energy and Environment Symposium ; IEEES-1 CY - Izmir, Turkey DA - 2003-07-13 PY - 2003 SN - 975-288440-7 SP - 995 EP - 1003 CY - Izmir AN - OPUS4-2829 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Sanchez Trujillo, Camila Andrea A1 - Hau, Julia A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Malm, F. T1 - Structural Monitoring in an Urban Underground Metro Station Using Cod N2 - Active ultrasonic monitoring with coda wave interferometry has demonstrated its potential for structural Health monitoring in concrete structures. This study investigates its application using ultrasonic transducers embedded in the ceiling of a subway station in Munich, Germany. We evaluate the impact of environmental conditions, specifically electromagnetic interference and temperature, on data quality, as well as the influence of regular loading from passing trams. Results indicate that electromagnetic interference significantly affects measurements, while temperature effects remain minimal due to the station’s stable thermal environment. Long-term measurements and a controlled load test show that both dynamic and static loading from trams induce ultrasonic velocity changes of only 0.01%–0.06%. Although the experiment demonstrates the capacity to detect structural responses and supports the feasibility of long-term monitoring, improved electromagnetic shielding and Hardware reliability are required for successful future applications. T2 - NDT-CE 2025 CY - Izmir, Turkey DA - 24.09.2025 KW - Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) KW - Structural health monitoring (SHM) KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasonic testing KW - Urban infrastructure PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-654619 DO - https://doi.org/10.58286/31706 SN - 1435-4934 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - e-Journal of Nondestructive Testing (eJNDT) AN - OPUS4-65461 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst ED - Matsumoto, T T1 - The parallel seismic method for foundation length measurement: useful also to check pile integrity? N2 - The Parallel Seismic (PS) method is used for the determination of the unknown or undocumented depth/length of foundations, mostly piles. The method was developed some decades ago and has recently been improved by more accurate Interpretation methods. Some authors claim that the PS method might also be useful for checking the integrity of piles. The examples presented are based on rather big flaws. Numerical studies have been carried out with more realistic geometries. A finite integration technique involving cylinder symmetry (CEFIT) was used. Necks and bulges of various sizes have been simulated and the results have been compiled. It can be seen that the PS results are in fact influenced by pile irregularities. But in reality these effects are at least partly superposed by other influences or may be mistaken for effects caused by soil layering. However, the PS results and any deviation of travel time curves from a “normal” shape can be used as a hint to perform detailed studies involving other methods. T2 - 9th International conference on testing and design methods for deep foundations CY - Kanazawa, Japan DA - 18.09.2012 KW - Parallel seismic KW - Bored piles KW - Integrity KW - Low strain testing PY - 2012 SN - 978-4-89010-597-7 SP - 217 EP - 222 AN - OPUS4-27336 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Hübner, M. A1 - Müller, H. A1 - Kauther, R. T1 - Qualitätssicherung überschnittener Bohrpfahlwände mit der Ultraschallmethode am Beispiel der Schleuse Dörverden N2 - Überschnittene Bohrpfahlwände sind eine bewährte Konstruktionsmethode zur Herstellung tragender, hydraulisch dichter, tiefreichender Wände im Spezialtiefbau. Anders als bei Einzelpfählen gibt es bisher für die zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von Pfahlwänden keine etablierte Vorgehensweise. Erste Versuche an Baustellen und Modellkörpern zeigten das Potential der Ultraschallmethode (cross-hole sonic logging) zur Prüfung der Fugen über mehrere Pfähle hinweg. An der Schleusenbaustelle Dörverden ergab sich die Möglichkeit, das Verfahren unter Realbedingungen einzusetzen und die Ergebnisse visuell durch Kernbohrungen und nach Aushub zu evaluieren. Dabei wurden die meisten der prognostizierten Fehlstellen bestätigt. Die Resultate wurden in einer Neuauflage der entsprechenden Regelwerke berücksichtigt. T2 - Fachtagung Bauwerksdiagnose 2012 - Praktische Anwendungen zerstörungsfreier Prüfungen und Zukunftsaufgaben CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 23.02.2012 KW - Bohrpfahlwand KW - Ultraschallmethode PY - 2012 UR - http://www.bauwerksdiagnose2012.de/Portals/bwd2012/Dokumente/bb/v17.pdf SN - 978-3-940283-40-5 IS - Vortrag 17 SP - 1 EP - 11 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-27337 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Wunderlich, Carolin ED - Meßinger, J. T1 - Temperature influence on ultrasonic velocity in concrete N2 - Ultrasonic methods are valuable tools for quality assessment and structural imaging of concrete. In such applications, accurate and reliable determination of ultrasonic wave velocities is essential, as they are affected by various experimental and environmental factors. In this research coda wave interferometry (CWI) was used to determine the influence of temperature (0 to 50 °C) on ultrasonic wave velocity in concrete samples. A resolution of better than 10-4 was achieved in the measurement of relative velocity changes. Reversibility and repeatability were taken into account. In additlon the benefit of newly developed permanently embedded sensors was evaluated. The presented results can be used to Interpret and refine data from ultrasonic monitoring Systems. T2 - 2nd Neustadt workshop CY - Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße DA - 11.11.2012 KW - Coda wave interferometry KW - Concrete KW - Temperature KW - Ultrasound KW - Velocity PY - 2012 SN - 0947-1944 VL - IV SP - 60 EP - 61 PB - Dt. Geophysikalische Ges. CY - Potsdam AN - OPUS4-27224 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Sabine A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Bohlen, T. T1 - Reverse time migration: a seismic imaging technique applied to synthetic ultrasonic data N2 - Ultrasonic echo testing is a more and more frequently used technique in civil engineering to investigate concrete building elements, to measure thickness as well as to locate and characterise built-in components or inhomogeneities. Currently the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT), which is closely related to Kirchhoff migration, is used in most cases for imaging. However, this method is known to have difficulties to image steeply dipping interfaces as well as lower boundaries of tubes, voids or similar objects. We have transferred a processing technique from geophysics, the Reverse Time Migration (RTM) method, to improve the imaging of complicated geometries. By using the information from wide angle reflections as well as from multiple events there are fewer limitations compared to SAFT. As a drawback the required computing power is significantly higher compared to the techniques currently used. Synthetic experiments have been performed on polyamide and concrete specimens to show the improvements compared to SAFT. We have been able to image vertical interfaces of step-like structures as well as the lower boundaries of circular objects. It has been shown that RTM is a step forward for ultrasonic testing in civil engineering. KW - Beton KW - Ultraschall KW - Concrete KW - Imaging KW - Ultrasonics KW - Reverse time migration PY - 2012 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-262952 DO - https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/128465 SN - 1687-8868 SN - 1687-885X VL - 2012 IS - Article ID 128465 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation CY - New York, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-26295 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst 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 - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - NDE of foundations N2 - This talk teaches the basic princioles and applications of NDT methods for deep foundations, sprecifically piles. A variety of testing methods are discussed (integrity testing, ultrasonic crosshole logging, parallel seismic and others). Capabilities and limitations are given as well as specific hints for practical use. T2 - NDE 2019 Pre-Conference Tutorial PCT 4 CY - Bangalore, India DA - 03.12.2019 KW - NDT KW - Foundation KW - Pile KW - Integrity testing PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50169 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Recent advances in NDE of concrete structures at BAM N2 - This talk gives an introduction to BAM and its NDT-CE division. Specific challenges in NDT-CE are discussed as well as recent research results. T2 - NDE 2019 Pre-Conference Tutorial PCT 4 CY - Bangalore, India DA - 03.12.2019 KW - NDT KW - Civil engineering PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50168 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Ultrasonic methods for concrete: To boldly see, what we have not seen before N2 - This keynote talk at NDE 2019 discusses specific progress in ultrasonic testing of concrete structures. A deep penetration instrument (LAUS) is introduced as well as advanced imaging methods adopted from geophysics and new approaches to ultrasonic monitoring. T2 - NDE 2019 CY - Bangalore, India DA - 05.12.2019 KW - NDT KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasound KW - Imaging KW - Monitoring PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-50170 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 - Schumacher, T. A1 - Murtuz, A. K. M. G. A1 - Hafiz, A. A1 - Dusicka, P. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst ED - Gabrijel, I. ED - Grosse, C. ED - Skazlić, M. T1 - Post-earthquake damage evaluation of concrete structures using ultrasonic monitoring: A proof-of concept laboratory study N2 - In earthquake-prone regions such as the Pacific Northwest, damage assessment tools are needed to enable safety evaluations to support recovery. Currently, damage assessment is performed primarily by visual inspection and is often impossible for structural members that are inaccessible, such as deep foundations or interior members hidden by cladding. This study explores the possibility of using embedded ultrasonic transducers to monitor reinforced concrete members for damage progression under earthquake loading. A novel methodology is proposed where changes in the member condition due to an increase in the earthquake-type loading of a full-scale column-foundation specimen are correlated with changes in the recorded ultrasonic waveforms. The discussed preliminary analysis of the ultrasonic signals is based on wave propagation velocity, changes in the coda wave portion, and maximum amplitude of the signals. Three embedded transducers were used to continuously monitor the laboratory specimen during destructive testing. This paper provides an overview of the proposed methodology, outlines the laboratory experiment, and discusses some preliminary observations. T2 - International Conference on Sustainable Materials, Systems and Structures (SMSS 2019) CY - Rovinj, Croatia DA - 20.3.2019 KW - Concrete KW - Monitoring KW - Ultrasound KW - earthquake PY - 2019 SN - 978-2-35158-227-5 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07258-1_84 SP - 112 EP - 119 PB - RILEM Publications S.A.R.L. CY - Paris, France AN - OPUS4-47679 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst ED - Gabrijel, Ivan ED - Grosse, Christian ED - Skazlić, Marijan 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 - 20.3.2019 KW - Concrete KW - Ultrasound KW - Monitoring KW - coda wave interferometry PY - 2019 SN - 978-2-35158-227-5 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - RILEM Publications S.A.R.L. CY - Paris, France AN - OPUS4-47677 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 - 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 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Application of ultrasonic techniques for quality assurance of salt concrete engineered barriers: Shape, cracks and delamination N2 - The closure of underground nuclear waste disposal facilities requires reliable gas- and watertight engineered barriers. In Germany, barriers made from salt concrete have been evaluated in full scale. While the barriers seem to fulfill the requirements regarding permeability, some unexpected cracks have been detected at the surface and at depth. In cooperation between the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), several experiments have been carried out to evaluate the applicability for ultrasonic measurements in crack detection and general quality assurance. Both commercial instruments and specially developed devices have been tested on site. Using commercial ultrasonic echo devices designed for concrete inspection it was possible to detect cracks and object in salt concrete up to a depth of 2 m. The check for delamination in shotcrete is another field of application. A unique device available at BAM, the wide aperture, deep penetration instrument LAUS, was able to locate cracks and objects up to a depth of 8 m so far, which is thought to be a record for ultrasonic echo measurements in concrete. Adapted imaging procedures, partly adopted from geophysics, helped to reveal 3D structure at depth. In addition, we have developed ultrasonic probes to be deployed in boreholes, currently at up to 20 m depth. They can collect information on cracks and other features in a radius of about 1.5 m around the borehole in the current version and might be used in echo or transmission mode. Evaluation experiments have been performed at an experimental barrier at the ERAM site in Morsleben, Germany. The results showed several empty and injected cracks as well as built in instrumentation. The results have been verified using borehole endoscopy as well as core examination and will be used to set up a reliable quality assurance system for engineered barriers. All instruments are based on ultrasonic shear wave transducers with a frequency range between 25 kHz and 100 kHz. Current research focuses on the improvement of the hardware (e. g. optimization of array characteristics) and imaging techniques as Reverse Time Migration, both aiming at the improvement of depth of penetration, resolution and probability of detection. T2 - Modern 2020, 2nd International Conference about Monitoring in Geological Disposal of Radioactive Wast CY - Paris, France DA - 09.04.2019 KW - REverse Time Migration (RTM) KW - Engineered Barrier System (EBS) KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - Ultrasonic Echo KW - Large Aperture Ultrasonic System (LAUS) KW - Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48974 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Große, Christian A1 - Arndt, Ralf A1 - Mähner, Dietmar A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Taffe, Alexander T1 - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung im Bauwesen: Memorandum zur Lehre an deutschsprachigen Hochschulen N2 - Dieses erste Memorandum zur Lehre und Forschung an deutschsprachigen Hochschulen auf dem Gebiet der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung im Bauwesen gibt einen Überblick hinsichtlich der akademischen Ausbildung und zeigt mögliche Schwerpunkte vor allem in der Lehre auf. Diese Schwerpunkte berücksichtigen auch aktuelle Entwicklungen und Themen auf dem Gebiet der Forschung. Es werden Anregungen zur Entwicklung bzw. Weiterentwicklung der Lehr-Curricula im Hinblick auf eine umfassende und solide fachliche Ausbildung der Studierenden des Bauwesens und angrenzender Fachrichtungen gegeben. Inhaltlich und formal lehnt sich der Beitrag an dem Memorandum der Hochschullehrer im Fachgebiet „Werkstoffe im Bauwesen“ (Breit et al., 2012) an und beruht auf einer Initiative des Unterausschusses Ausbildung – Arbeitsgruppe Ausbildung in der Hochschule – des Fachausschusses ZfP im Bauwesen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP). Die Hauptredaktion wurde übernommen von Prof. Christian U. Grosse (TU München) und Prof. Ralf W. Arndt (FH Erfurt). KW - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung KW - Lehrplan KW - Bauwesen PY - 2019 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bate.201900008 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/bate.201900008 SN - 1437-0999 SN - 0932-8351 VL - 96 IS - 4 SP - 360 EP - 368 PB - Ernst & Sohn CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-47606 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Ertel, Jens-Peter A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst ED - Bullock, P. ED - Verbeek, G. ED - Paikowsky, S. ED - Tara, D. T1 - Impulse Response Measurement for Pile Integrity Testing Using a Shaker as Excitation Source and Regularized Deconvolution N2 - Concrete piles are used as a foundation when the load capacity of the soil is insufficient or when the sustainable soil is found at a higher depth. Among other impact factors, the load capacity depends on the pile’s integrity and length. Therefore, verifying these parameters using adequate methods is recommended. The most common procedure is the low-strain integrity test using the hammer impact method. Developed and established in the 1970s, this method uses stress waves induced by a hammer impact at the pile head and its reflections at impedance changes (length, defects, geometry changes) to estimate the length and defect locations. Although this method is widely used due to its low cost and fast conduction in situ, one disadvantage is its inability to classify the exact type of defect, i.e., crack, change in diameter, or concrete quality. Furthermore, very long and slender piles are difficult to test and small defects cannot be detected. In addition, it is necessary for the test engineer to hold a high level of experience and expertise in this field. The European Union–funded PileInspect project (2013–2016) aimed to compensate for these disadvantages by using a low-cost shaker as the excitation source and sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms for damage detection (higher-order spectra method). Because this technology lacks the capacity to localize damages and verify the pile length, an additional impulse response (IR) measurement technique was developed using vibrational excitation and regularized deconvolution to extract the depth information from the data in a similar manner as the hammer method. Simulations and subsequent experiments conducted at a test facility on 90-cm-diameter bored piles 11 m in length and containing cracks at approximately 4 m below the pile head confirmed the capacity to determine the pile length. Damage diagnosis and localization, however, are more difficult than for the hammer method. Although the damaged piles could be distinguished from the intact piles, in a blind test, this method might lead to misinterpretations caused by perturbations arising from the deconvolution process. The results also indicated that the low-cost shaker used for these measurements might be inappropriate for the transferal of sufficient energy. Although the IR method cannot compensate for the disadvantages of the hammer method by itself, it may enable the possibility of using long and fully controllable and repeatable signals (chirp, synthetic impacts, even noise, etc.) for pile integrity testing in the future. KW - Pile integrity testing KW - L-curve KW - Tikhonov regularization KW - NDT PY - 2019 SN - 978-0-8031-7667-6 DO - https://doi.org/10.1520/STP161120170162 VL - 1611 SP - 184 EP - 204 PB - ASTM International CY - West Conshohoken, PA, USA AN - OPUS4-48794 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zheng, H. A1 - Ertel, Jens-Peter A1 - Kourmpetis, M. A1 - Kanfoud, J. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Gan, T.-H. T1 - Integrity testing of cast in situ concrete piles based on an impulse response function method using sine‑sweep excitation by a shaker N2 - In this study, an Impulse Response Function analysis of pile response to sine-sweep excitation by a low cost, portable Shaker was used to identify defects in piles. In straightforward impact-echo methods, echoes from the pile toe and defects are visible in the time domain measurements. However, these echoes are not present in the time domain records of piles subjected to sine-sweep excitations, due to interactions between the input and output signals. For this reason, the impulse response function in the time domain has been calculated and is able to identify the echoes from pile impedance changes. The proposed methodology has been evaluated both numerically and experimentally. A one-dimensional pile-soil interaction system was developed, and a finite difference method used to calculate the pile response to sine-sweep excitation. The numerical simulations indicate that impulse response measurements with a synthesized logarithmic, sine-sweep excitation could be an effective tool for detecting defects in piles. The methodology was further tested with field trials on 6 cast in situ concrete test piles including 1 intact pile and 5 defective piles subjected to sine-sweep excitations by a shaker. In 5 of the 6 cases the echoes from the pile toe could be identified in the deconvoluted waveforms—the impulse Response functions. Damage detection is more difficult and dependent on the selection of the optimal regularization parameter. Further research and optimization of the deconvolution process is needed to evaluate the effectiveness compared to standard pile integrity testing methods. KW - Pile testing KW - Shaker KW - Deconvolution PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-019-0595-4 SN - 0195-9298 SN - 1573-4862 VL - 38 IS - 2 SP - 55, 1 EP - 18 PB - Springer CY - Cham, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-48185 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 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 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 A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert T1 - The LAUS: First Applications of a New System for Ultrasonic Imaging of Very Concrete Structures 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 A1 - Abraham, Odile A1 - Larose, Eric 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 SP - Paper 1234 AN - OPUS4-48686 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst 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 - Abraham, O. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Chapeleau, X. A1 - Klikowicz, P. A1 - Brühwiler, E. A1 - Bassil, A. A1 - Wang, Xin A1 - Chakraborty, J. A1 - Bayane, I. A1 - Leduc, D. A1 - Salamak, M. A1 - Katunin, A. A1 - Sørensen, J.D. T1 - Addressing the need to monitor concrete fatigue with nondestructive testing: Results of infrastar European project N2 - Fatigue is one of the most prevalent issues, which directly influences the service life expectancy of concrete structures. Fatigue has been investigated for years for steel structures. However, recent findings suggest that concrete structures may also be significantly subjected to fatigue phenomena that could lead to premature failure of certain structural elements. To date, fatigue of reinforced concrete has been given little focus. Knowledge on the influence factors and durability/capacity effects on this material should be improved. Current technological means to measure fatigue in civil structures like bridges and wind turbines (both onshore and offshore) are outdated, imprecise and inappropriate. Meanwhile, this topic has got much more attention as time-variant loading on concrete structures plays an increasing role, e.g. in bridges with increasing traffic and heavier trucks, and for wind turbines for renewable energy production, e.g. for offshore wind turbine support structures affected by wind and waves. The European Innovative Training Networks (ITN) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project INFRASTAR (Innovation and Networking for Fatigue and Reliability Analysis of Structures - Training for Assessment of Risk) provides research training for 12 PhD students. The project aims to improve knowledge for optimizing the design of new structures as well as for more realistic verification of structural safety and more accurate prediction of the remaining fatigue lifetime of existing concrete structures. First, the INFRASTAR research framework is detailed. Then it will be exemplified through the presentation of the major results of the four PhD students involved in the work package dealing with auscultation and monitoring. This includes the development and improvement of Fiber Optics (FO) and Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) for crack sizing and imagery, new sensor technologies and integration, information management, monitoring strategy for fatigue damage investigation and lifetime prediction. T2 - SMT and NDT-CE 2018 CY - New Brunswick, NJ, USA DA - 27.08.2018 KW - Concrete KW - Fatigue KW - Crack KW - Monitoring KW - Non-destructive testing PY - 2019 UR - https://asnt.org/smt18papers SN - 978-1-57117-456-7 VL - 11/19 SP - 2 EP - 13 PB - The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. CY - Columbus, OH, USA AN - OPUS4-47237 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Vössing, Konrad A1 - Gaal, Mate A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst ED - Ross, R. ED - Sauter, U. T1 - Contactless testing of wood-based materials with novel air-coupled ultrasonic transducers N2 - The detection of delamination, rot and cracks causing a decrease of strength in wooden construction elements is a key task for nondestructive testing (NDT). Air-coupled ultrasound (ACU) is used to detect flaws without having to provide contact to the surface or otherwise affect the object. Novel ferroelectric transducers with a high signal-to-noise ratio enable an accurate flaw detection. Transducers made of cellular polypropylene (PP) are suitable for characterizing wood-based materials (WBM) because their extremely low Young’s modulus and low density mean a favorable acoustic impedance for the transmission of ultrasonic waves between the transducer and air. The transducers can be applied during the production of WBM and during its service life. The device enables a fast in-situ recognition of defects with frequencies between 90 kHz and 250 kHz. Measurements can be performed in through transmission for a high resolution or in pulse-echo technique in case of one-sided access at the expense of reduced signal strength. 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 - 21. International Nondestructive Testing and evaluation of Wood Symposium CY - Freiburg, Germany DA - 24.09.2019 KW - Air-coupled ultrasound KW - Defect detection KW - Nondestructive Testing KW - Timber PY - 2019 SP - 100 PB - FVA CY - Freiburg AN - OPUS4-49169 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 - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst 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 - JOUR A1 - Bassil, A. A1 - Wang, Xin A1 - Chapeleau, X. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Abraham, O. A1 - Leduc, D. T1 - Distributed fiber optics sensing and coda wave interferometry techniques for damage monitoring in concrete structures N2 - The assessment of Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) and Distributed Fiber Optics Sensing (DFOS) techniques for the detection of damages in a laboratory size reinforced concrete beam is presented in this paper. The sensitivity of these two novel techniques to micro cracks is discussed and compared to standard traditional sensors. Moreover, the capacity of a DFOS technique to localize cracks and quantify crack openings is also assessed. The results show that the implementation of CWI and DFOS techniques allow the detection of early subtle changes in reinforced concrete structures until crack formation. With their ability to quantify the crack opening, following early detection and localization, DFOS techniques can achieve more effective monitoring of reinforced concrete structures. Contrary to discrete sensors, CWI and DFOS techniques cover larger areas and thus provide more efficient infrastructures asset management and maintenance operations throughout the lifetime of the structure. KW - Distributed fiber optic sensors KW - Coda wave interferometry KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Cracks KW - Damage detection KW - Structural health monitoring PY - 2019 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-472549 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s19020356 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 19 IS - 2 SP - 356, 1 EP - 15 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-47254 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 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 - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Weller, Andreas A1 - Lewis, R. T1 - Evaluation of geophysical techniques for dike inspection N2 - After some river embankment failures during recent floods in Germany, major investigation and improvement programs for river embankments have been implemented. Presently, the investigation mainly relies on existing documentation, visual inspection, and drilling and sampling. Geophysical techniques, which are applied non-destructively from the surface, have the potential to cover the gaps between sampling points and to enhance the reliability of subsurface information. This paper describes the evaluation results for resistivity, electromagnetic, seismic and GPR techniques acquired at a test site along the Mulde River in eastern Germany. The work was carried out under the government funded project DEISTRUKT. Each geophysical method has its own specific advantages and limitations. Keeping the requirements posed by current German guidelines for river embankments in mind, 2–D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is the method of first choice. However, all geophysical results have to be calibrated carefully using information, such as material properties and depth of structures, determined from boreholes. Although some recommendations are provided here, a set of detailed recommendations have been compiled in a handbook. KW - Dikes KW - Embankments KW - Flood KW - Geophysics KW - Geotechnics KW - Evaluation PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.2113/JEEG17.4.185 SN - 1083-1363 VL - 17 IS - 4 SP - 185 EP - 195 PB - EEGS CY - Denver, Colo., USA AN - OPUS4-27490 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kemna, A. A1 - Binley, A. A1 - Cassiani, G. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Revil, A. A1 - Slater, L. A1 - Williams, K. H. A1 - Orozco, A.F. A1 - Haegel, F.-H. A1 - Hördt, A. A1 - Kruschwitz, Sabine A1 - Leroux, V. A1 - Titov, K. A1 - Zimmermann, E. T1 - An overview of the spectral induced polarization method for near-surface applications N2 - Over the last 15 years significant advancements in induced polarization (IP) research have taken place, particularly with respect to spectral IP (SIP), concerning the understanding of the mechanisms of the IP phenomenon, the conduction of accurate and broadband laboratory measurements, the modelling and inversion of IP data for imaging purposes and the increasing application of the method in near-surface investigations. We summarize here the current state of the science of the SIP method for near-surface applications and describe which aspects still represent open issues and should be the focus of future research efforts. Significant progress has been made over the last decade in the understanding of the microscopic mechanisms of IP; however, integrated mechanistic models involving different possible polarization processes at the grain/pore scale are still lacking. A prerequisite for the advances in the mechanistic understanding of IP was the development of improved laboratory instrumentation, which has led to a continuously growing data base of SIP measurements on various soil and rock samples. We summarize the experience of numerous experimental studies by formulating key recommendations for reliable SIP laboratory measurements. To make use of the established theoretical and empirical relationships between SIP characteristics and target petrophysical properties at the field scale, sophisticated forward modelling and inversion algorithms are needed. Considerable progress has also been made in this field, in particular with the development of complex resistivity algorithms allowing the modelling and inversion of IP data in the frequency domain. The ultimate goal for the future are algorithms and codes for the integral inversion of 3D, time-lapse and multi-frequency IP data, which defines a 5D inversion problem involving the dimensions space (for imaging), time (for monitoring) and frequency (for spectroscopy). We also offer guidelines for reliable and accurate measurements of IP spectra, which are essential for improved understanding of IP mechanisms and their links to physical, chemical and biological properties of interest. We believe that the SIP method offers potential for subsurface structure and process characterization, in particular in hydrogeophysical and biogeophysical studies. KW - Induced polarisation KW - Review KW - Moisture KW - Soil KW - Masonry resistivity PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.3997/1873-0604.2012027 SN - 1569-4445 VL - 101 IS - 6 SP - 453 EP - 468 PB - EAGE - European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers CY - Houten AN - OPUS4-27433 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dackermann, U. A1 - Yu, Y. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Li, J. A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert T1 - Condition Assessment of Foundation Piles and Utility Poles Based on Guided Wave Propagation Using a Network of Tactile Transducers and Support Vector Machines N2 - This paper presents a novel non-destructive testing and health monitoring system using a network of tactile transducers and accelerometers for the condition assessment and damage classification of foundation piles and utility poles. While in traditional pile integrity testing an impact hammer with broadband frequency excitation is typically used, the proposed testing system utilizes an innovative excitation system based on a network of tactile transducers to induce controlled narrow-band frequency stress waves. Thereby, the simultaneous excitation of multiple stress wave types and modes is avoided (or at least reduced), and targeted wave forms can be generated. The new testing system enables the testing and monitoring of foundation piles and utility poles where the top is inaccessible, making the new testing system suitable, for example, for the condition assessment of pile structures with obstructed heads and of poles with live wires. For system validation, the new system was experimentally tested on nine timber and concrete poles that were inflicted with several types of damage. The tactile transducers were excited with continuous sine wave signals of 1 kHz frequency. Support vector machines were employed together with advanced signal processing algorithms to distinguish recorded stress wave signals from pole structures with different types of damage. The results show that using fast Fourier transform signals, combined with principal component analysis as the input feature vector for support vector machine (SVM) classifiers with different kernel functions, can achieve damage classification with accuracies of 92.5% ± 7.5%. KW - Structural Health Monitoring KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - Sensor network KW - Support vector machine KW - Utility poles PY - 2017 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-434868 UR - http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/17/12/2938 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s17122938 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 17 IS - 12 SP - Article 2938, 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-43486 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Abraham, O. A1 - Mooney, M. T1 - Geophysical methods in civil engineering: Overview and new concepts N2 - Geophysical methods have been used in civil engineering for decades. The main field of application is - to no surprise – in geotechnical projects from site characterization to foundation quality assurance. For more than 25 years, ground penetrating radar (GPR) and seismic methods have found applications in structural engineering. Recently introduced geophysical methods have been adopted to ultrasonic investigations in various fields. They help to improve the quality of structural imaging and to detect small changes in concrete. An overview of the history and current use of geophysics in civil engineering is given. Selected examples of new concepts include advances in wave based imaging, quality assurance for foundations, detecting small changes in concrete as well as moisture and corrosion detection are discussed. T2 - NDT-CE 2015 - International symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 15.09.2015 KW - Nondestructive testing KW - Civil engineering KW - Geophysics PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-344666 UR - https://www.ndt.net/?id=18260 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 20 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - NDT.net CY - Kirchwald AN - OPUS4-34466 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Wolf, Julia A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert T1 - Using embedded ultrasonic sensors for active and passive concrete monitoring N2 - Challenging new constructions and ageing infrastructure are increasing the demand for permanent monitoring of loads and condition. Various methods and sensors are used for this purpose. But the technologies available today have difficulties in detecting slowly progressing locally confined damages. Extensive investigations or instrumentations are required so far for this purpose. In this study we present new sensors and data processing methods for ultrasonic transmission, which can be used for non-destructive long term monitoring of concrete. They can be mounted during construction or thereafter. Larger volumes can be monitored by a limited number of sensors for changes of material properties. The principles of ultrasonic transmission and influencing factors are presented. This latter include load, damages as well as environmental parameters as temperature or moisture. Various methods for data processing, e. g. coda wave interferometry are introduced. They allow the detection of very small changes in the medium. The embedded sensors are shown including mounting and operation. Application examples so far include small scale laboratory freeze-thaw experiments, localizing loads in larger concrete models, monitoring load effects on real structures as well as detecting acoustic events. Some sensors are operating already for several years. The sensors can be used as transmitter or receivers or switched between both roles. While most of the previous experiments have been active (at least one sensor serving as transmitter), new studies show that the sensors are useful as well for passive measurements, e. g. in acoustic emission or time reversal experiments. Besides application in civil engineering our setups can also be used for model studies in geosciences. T2 - NDT-CE 2015 - International symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 15.09.2015 KW - SHM KW - Monitoring KW - Ultrasound concrete KW - Embedded sensors PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-344652 UR - http://www.ndt.net/?id=18408 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 20 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - NDT.net CY - Kirchwald AN - OPUS4-34465 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Galindo Guerreros, Julio Cesar A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Mackens, S. A1 - Fechner, T. T1 - Quality assurance of jet grout columns with borehole seismic measurements N2 - Sealing and strengthening of the subsoil by injection is a major issue in the field of geotechnical engineering. One commonly applied method is jet grouting, which allows creating columns of grouted soil by eroding and mixing the in-situ soil with a thin cement suspension. A general difficulty linked with this method is to predict the resulting column diameter and its material strength. In this paper we illustrate the application of a newly developed non-destructive quality assurance testing tool used to determine the diameter of jet grout columns. This approach incorporates standard crosshole and downhole seismic measurements. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we tested the new approach within two-dimensional finite-difference numerical simulations. Additional field tests showed that this tool is also applicable in real site conditions. For this purpose, three jet grout columns were produced with different process parameters in a depth between 3.0 and 10 m. The evaluated diameters were within 1.0 and 1.5 m, slightly deviating from the previously predicted range by the jet grouting contractor. Moreover, we were able to detect the base of the columns at 10 m depth with no significant difficulties. On the other hand, unsaturated, partly unconsolidated sands between ground water level and surface considerably affected the seismic data, hence complicating the detection of the top of the columns. T2 - NDT-CE 2015 - International symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 15.09.2015 KW - Jet grout KW - Seismics KW - Crosshole KW - Downhole PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-346753 UR - https://www.ndt.net/?id=18277 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 20 IS - 11 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - NDT.net CY - Kirchwald AN - OPUS4-34675 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Liao, Chun-Man A1 - Bernauer, F. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Igel, H. A1 - Hadziioannou, C. T1 - Assessment of prestress loss in a large-scale concrete bridge model under outdoor condition N2 - Environmental conditions affect the accuracy of field measurements used to monitor civil structures. Previous studies have shown that measured dynamic responses often lack the sensitivity needed for effective localized damage detection. To address this issue, our study focuses on distinguishing environmental effects from damage related effects in measured data to enhance vibration-based damage identification methods. Experimentally, the problem of prestress loss in a prestressed concrete bridge model was examined. By adjusting the pre-stressing force in a large-scale concrete bridge model, cracking phenomena were observed. To demonstrate field monitoring of a large-scale prestressed structure, noise recording was performed and the measurement data was analyzed with operational modal analysis. Additionally, ultrasonic testing, known for its high sensitivity in damage localization, was used to cross-check the structural damage. Seismic and coda wave interferometry were also employed to estimate wave velocities, providing insights into the level of prestress loss and temperature sensitivity. Ultimately, these measurable wave properties help to overcome the uncertainties associated with traditional vibration-based damage detection methods. T2 - EVACES 2025 CY - Porto, Portugal DA - 02.07.2025 KW - Prestress Loss KW - NDT KW - Ambient Vibration KW - Ultrasonic Testing KW - Coda Wave Interferometry KW - Seismic Interferometry PY - 2025 SN - 978-3-031-96105-2 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96106-9_20 VL - 675 SP - 181 EP - 189 PB - Springer Nature CY - Cham AN - OPUS4-64212 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grohmann, Maria A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Buske, S. T1 - Bestimmung der Geometrie einer Fundamentplatte mit dem Ultraschall-Echo-Verfahren unter Anwendung geophysikalischer Migrationsmethoden N2 - Das Ultraschall-Echo-Verfahren ist ein klassisches Verfahren in der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung zur Bestimmung der Geometrie von Bauteilen. Die Prüfaufgaben beinhalten unter anderem die korrekte Dickenbestimmung der Baukörper sowie die Lokalisierung von Einbauteilen und Fehlstellen. Stand der Technik bei den Abbildungsverfahren ist die SAFT–Rekonstruktion (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique). Diese Verfahrensfamilie hat Schwierigkeiten bei der Darstellung von steilen Grenzflächen und komplizierten Strukturen, wie beispielsweise Stufen oder Unterkanten von Hohlräumen und Hüllrohren. Als Alternative werden seit einiger Zeit geophysikalische Migrationsmethoden evaluiert. Am Beispiel eines Stahlbetonfundamentes mit verschiedenen Bewehrungsgehalten, unterschiedlichen Dicken sowie zwei Pfahlköpfen wurden die Kirchhoff-Migration und die Reverse-Time Migration (RTM) getestet. Die strahlenbasierte Kirchhoff-Migration arbeitet ähnlich wie die SAFT-Rekonstruktion. Die RTM basiert auf der vollständigen Wellengleichung. In einem ersten Schritt wurden die Methoden an einem synthetischen, auf der akustischen Wellengleichung basierenden zweidimensionalem Modell getestet. Im zweiten Schritt wurden reale Messdaten, die mit Scherwellenprüfköpfen an der Fundamentplatte aufgenommen wurden, bearbeitet. Der Einsatz eines Scannersystems vereinfachte die Messungen. Die Experimente, die in diesem Manuskript vorgestellt werden, sind von bedeutendem Interesse für die Evaluierung geophysikalischer Migrationsmethoden an analogen Modellen. Ein Vergleich der Migrationsergebnisse mit den bisherigen SAFT-Ergebnissen zeigt insbesondere für die RTM eine deutliche Verbesserung in der Abbildung der Bauteilgeometrie. Vertikale Kanten konnten dargestellt sowie die Lage und Struktur der Rückwände exakter reproduziert werden. Grenzen bestehen noch bei der Darstellung der Pfahlköpfe, da die von dem zylinderförmigen Pfahl kommenden Signale verrauscht sind. Ursachen dafür sind u.a. die Bewehrung, Randeffekte sowie Mehrfachreflexionen an dem Pfahlschaft. T2 - DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2014 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 26.05.2014 PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-320249 SN - 978-3-940283-61-0 IS - DGZfP-BB 148 SP - Poster 10, 1 EP - 8 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP) AN - OPUS4-32024 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Neue Ideen für die zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von Beton: Seismische Interferometrie und mehr N2 - Ultraschallverfahren haben sich im Bauwesen in den letzten Jahren immer mehr in der Praxis etabliert. Echomessungen zur Geometriebestimmung sind Stand der Technik. In der Wissenschaft gibt es zahlreiche Ideen, die Messmethodik und die Auswertung weiter zu verbessern sowie den Einsatzbereich zu erweitern. Erste eingebettete Ultraschallsysteme zum Langzeitmonitoring sind installiert, Mehrkanalgeräte ermöglichen immer größere Aperturen und Eindringtiefen, verbesserte Abbildungsverfahren zeigen immer mehr Details. Zusätzlich lassen sich Verfahren aus der Geophysik adaptieren, die weiteren Fortschritt versprechen. Die Seismische Interferometrie dient klassisch dazu, Materialeigenschaften des Erduntergrundes mittels seismischer Wellen zu bestimmen. Derzeitige Anwendungsbereiche sind die Verbesserung seismischer Abbildungsverfahren, Interpolation seismischer Spuren (A-Scans), Bestimmung von Quellparametern oder die Eliminierung unerwünschter Signale in passiven und aktiven Experimenten, hauptsächlich durch Kreuzkorrelation und Bestimmung Greenscher Funktionen. Diese Techniken können auch auf Ultraschalldaten, die an Betonkonstruktionen erfasst wurden, angewendet werden. Moderne Abbildungsverfahren benötigen eine möglichst hohe A-Scan-Dichte und eine genaue Kenntnis des Quellsignals. Beides ist nicht unbedingt gegeben, z. B. wegen der physischen Größe der Sensoren und wechselnder Ankopplungsbedingungen. In simulierten und realen Experimenten wurden interferometrische Methoden zur Lösung dieser Aufgabenstellungen evaluiert. Es zeigt sich, dass fehlende A-Scans kinematisch korrekt interpoliert werden können, wenn ausreichend viele Sender- und Empfängerpositionen genutzt wurden. Amplituden und Signalform sind verändert, können aber durch adaptive Filterung angepasst werden. Die Quellsignalform kann mit hoher Genauigkeit rekonstruiert werden. Die Ergebnisse können potentiell zu einer Verbesserung der Abbildung des Inneren der untersuchten Objekte genutzt werden. T2 - DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2014 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 26.05.2014 KW - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung KW - Geophysik PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-337967 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/dgzfp2014/papers/di1c1.pdf SN - 978-3-940283-61-0 IS - DGZfP-BB 148 SP - Di.1.C.1, 1 EP - 8 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-33796 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Zheng, H. A1 - Kappatos, V. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Ertel, Jens-Peter A1 - Grohmann, Maria A1 - Selcuk, C. A1 - Gan, T.-H. T1 - Defect detection in concrete pile using impulse response measurements with sine sweep excitations N2 - For pile integrity inspection, a low cost and portable shaker was used to create the sine sweep signal for pile excitation. The impulse response function, calculated by the deconvolution of pile response from the sine sweep excitation, was proposed to identify the echoes in the piles due to the pile’s impedance changes. The proposed methodology has been evaluated and validated both numerically and experimentally. Based on the results from the simulations and experiments, it was found that the impulse response measurement with sine sweep excitation could be an effective tool to detect the echoes of the pile toe and the defects in the pile. T2 - NDT-CE 2015 - International symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 15.09.2015 KW - Impulse response function KW - Sine sweep excitation KW - Pile integrity KW - Damage detection PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-347157 SN - 1435-4934 SP - 1 EP - 4 PB - Technische Universität Berlin / Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung AN - OPUS4-34715 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grohmann, Maria A1 - Müller, Sabine A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Reverse time migration: Introduction of a new imaging technique for ultrasonic measurements in civil engineering N2 - Ultrasonic echo testing is widely used in non-destructive testing in civil engineering to investigate concrete structures, to measure thickness, and to locate and characterise built-in components or inhomogeneities. Currently, synthetic aperture focusing techniques are mostly used for imaging. These algorithms are highly developed but have some limitations. For example, it is not possible to image the lower boundary of built-in components like tendon ducts or vertical reflectors. We adopted reverse time migration for non-destructive testing in civil engineering in order to improve the imaging of complicated structures in concrete. By using the entire wavefield, including waves reflected more than once, there are fewer limitations compared to synthetic aperture focusing technique algorithms. As a drawback, the required computation is significantly higher than that for the techniques currently used. Simulations for polyamide and concrete structures showed the potential for non-destructive testing. The simulations were followed by experiments at a polyamide specimen. Here, having acquired almost noise-free measurement data to test the algorithm, we were able to determine the shape and size of boreholes with sufficient accuracy. After these successful tests, we performed experiments at a reinforced concrete foundation slab. We obtained information from the data by reverse time migration, which was not accessible by traditional imaging. The imaging of the location and structure of the lower boundary of the concrete foundation slab was improved. Furthermore, vertical reflectors inside the slab were imaged clearly, and more flaws were found. It has been shown that reverse time migration is a step forward in ultrasonic testing in civil engineering. T2 - NDT-CE 2015 - International symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 15.09.2015 KW - Ultrasound KW - Imaging KW - Reverse time migration KW - Reflection seismics KW - Concrete PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-345406 SN - 1435-4934 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Technische Universität Berlin / Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung AN - OPUS4-34540 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Douma, J. A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Snieder, R. T1 - Improved focusing using deconvolution within a concrete block N2 - Time reversal techniques are used in ocean acoustics, medical imaging and non-destructive evaluation to backpropagate recorded signals to the source of origin. We demonstrate experimentally a technique which improves the temporal focus achieved at the source location. The experiment consists of propagating a signal from a transducer within a concrete block to a single receiver on the surface, and then applying time reversal or deconvolution to focus the energy back at the source location. The results show that we are able to generate a focus in time at the correct location. The proposed method is simple and proven to be robust. Additionally, its costs are negligible due to deconvolution being a preprocessing step to the recorded data. The technique can be applied for detailed investigation of the source mechanisms (e. g. cracks) but also for monitoring purposes. T2 - DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2014 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 26.05.2014 KW - Ultrasonics KW - Acoustic emission KW - Time reversal KW - Deconvolution PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-337953 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/dgzfp2014/papers/di2c2.pdf SN - 978-3-940283-61-0 IS - DGZfP-BB 148 SP - Di.2.C.2, 1 EP - 8 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-33795 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Müller, Sabine A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Anwendung der Reverse Time Migration auf Ultraschall-Echo-Messungen in der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung im Bauwesen N2 - Ultraschall-Echo-Messungen dienen im Bauwesen zur Dickenbestimmung von Bauteilen sowie der Lokalisierung und Charakterisierung von Einbauteilen, Einlagerungen und anderen Inhomogenitäten. Zur Rekonstruktion werden bisher Abbildungsverfahren wie z.B. 3D-SAFT genutzt. Diese setzen aber voraus, dass direkte Reflexionen am Abbildungsobjekt erfolgen. Deshalb können keine zuverlässigen Aussagen über den Durchmesser von eingebauten Spannkanälen oder z. B. Seitenkanten von Objekten getroffen werden. Ziel laufender Forschungsarbeiten ist es, die Abbildungsqualität zu verbessern. Mit der aus der Geophysik stammenden Reverse Time Migration, die bereits häufig in der Erdölexploration genutzt wird, lassen sich auch steilere Strukturen über 70° abbilden und somit auch die Unterseite von Einbauten oder Stufen in Bauteilen darstellen. Um die Leistungsfähigkeit des Algorithmus für die zerstörungsfreie Prüfung zu untersuchen, wurden verschiedene Simulationsrechnungen durchgeführt. Dabei wurden typische Prüfprobleme unterschiedlicher Komplexität zunächst in Polyamid nachgestellt. Die Schwerpunkte lagen bei der Darstellung senkrechter Grenzflächen und Hohlstellen. Die Rechnungen dienten neben der Evaluierung und Optimierung des Verfahrens auch der Planung von Experimenten an Probekörpern mit verschiedenen Einbauten. Die Simulationsergebnisse wurden an einem dem synthetischen Modell entsprechenden Polyamidprobekörper überprüft, an dem rauscharme Ultraschalldaten aufgenommen werden konnten. In einer Messreihe wurde in den Probekörper eine Bohrung eingebracht und schrittweise vergrößert. Mit diesen Messungen konnte die Leistungsfähigkeit der Reverse Time Migration auch an realen Ultraschalldaten nachgewiesen werden. Untersuchungen mit an Beton aufgenommenen Ultraschalldaten werden folgen. T2 - DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2014 CY - Potsdam, Germany DA - 26.05.2014 KW - Ultraschall KW - Reverse Time Migration KW - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-319311 SN - 978-3-940283-61-0 IS - DGZfP-BB 148 SP - Di.1.C.4, 1 EP - 8 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP) AN - OPUS4-31931 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Wolf, Julia A1 - Mielentz, Frank A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert A1 - Pirskawetz, Stephan T1 - Embedded ultrasonic transducers for active and passive concrete monitoring N2 - Recently developed new transducers for ultrasonic transmission, which can be embedded right into concrete, are now used for non-destructive permanent monitoring of concrete. They can be installed during construction or thereafter. Large volumes of concrete can be monitored for changes of material properties by a limited number of transducers. The transducer design, the main properties as well as installation procedures are presented. It is shown that compressional waves with a central frequency of 62 kHz are mainly generated around the transducer's axis. The transducer can be used as a transmitter or receiver. Application examples demonstrate that the transducers can be used to monitor concrete conditions parameters (stress, temperature, …) as well as damages in an early state or the detection of acoustic events (e.g., crack opening). Besides application in civil engineering our setups can also be used for model studies in geosciences. KW - Ultrasound KW - Transmission KW - Concrete KW - Damages KW - Cracks KW - Stress KW - Monitoring KW - Acoustic emission KW - Transducers KW - Coda wave interferometry PY - 2015 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-345632 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s150509756 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 15 IS - 5 SP - 9756 EP - 9772 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-34563 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiggenhauser, Herbert A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Innovative ultrasonic techniques for inspection and monitoring of large concrete structures N2 - Ultrasonic echo and transmission techniques are used in civil engineering on a regular basis. New sensors and data processing techniques have lead to many new applications in the structural investigation as well as quality control. But concrete structures in the nuclear sector have special features and parameters, which pose problems for the methods and instrumentation currently available, e.g. extreme thickness, dense reinforcement, steel liners or special materials. Several innovative ultrasonic techniques have been developed to deal with these issues at least partly in lab experiments and pilot studies. Modern imaging techniques as multi-offset SAFT have been used e. g. to map delaminations. Thick concrete walls have successfully been inspected, partly through a steel liner. Embedded ultrasonic sensors have been designed which will be used in monitoring networks of large concrete structures above and below ground. In addition, sensitive mathematical methods as coda wave interferometry have been successfully evaluated to detect subtle changes in material properties. Examples of measurements and data evaluation are presented. KW - Automated scanning systems KW - Multi-Offset Array KW - Enhanced Imaging KW - Embedded ultrasonic sensors PY - 2013 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-290513 DO - https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20135604004 SN - 2100-014X VL - 56 SP - 04004-1 EP - 04004-9 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis AN - OPUS4-29051 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Baensch, Franziska A1 - Hofmann, Detlef A1 - Johann, Sergej A1 - Tiebe, Carlo A1 - Basedau, Frank A1 - Sturm, Patrick A1 - Lay, Vera A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Multi-sensor conception for safe sealing structures in underground repositories N2 - The project "SealWasteSafe" of the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM, Berlin) deals with sealing structures applied for underground disposal of nuclear waste from two perspectives: (1) material improvement for application in sealing constructions and (2) feasibility study regarding multi-sensor approaches to ensure quality assurance and long-term monitoring. One specimen of 150 l made of alkali-activated material, which was found innovative and suitable for sealing constructions based on preliminary laboratory studies, and, for comparison purpose, another one made of salt concrete, are manufactured with an integrated multi-sensory setup for quality assurance and long-term-monitoring. The specimens were left in their cast form and additionally thermally insulated to simulate the situation in the repository. The multi-sensory concept comprises RFID technology embedded in the specimens suppling material temperature and moisture measurements, integrated fibre optic sensing allowing strain measurement and acoustic emission testing for monitoring possible crack formation. Overall, the suitability and the functionality of the sensors embedded into and attached to strongly alkaline (pH > 13 for the AAM) and salt corrosive (NaCl) environment was proven for the first 672 h. First temperature measurement based on RFID succeeded after 626 h for the alkali-activated material and after 192 h for the conventional salt concrete. Strain measurement based on distributed fibre optic sensing turned out the alkali-activated material with > 1 mm m-1 undergoing approximately twice the compression strain as the salt concrete with strains < 0.5 mm m-1. In contrast, the acoustic emission first and single hits representing crack formation in numbers, was found for alkali-activated material half of that detected at the salt concrete. T2 - SMIRT 26 CY - Berlin/Potsdam, Germany DA - 10.07.2022 KW - SealWasteSafe KW - Monitoring KW - Acoustic emission KW - Fibre optic sensing KW - RFID technology KW - alkali-activated material PY - 2022 SP - 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-55371 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jägle, Eva A1 - Tuladhar, Rujika A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Epple, Niklas A1 - Sanchez Trujillo, Camila Andrea A1 - Gehlen, Christoph A1 - Timothy, Jithender J. T1 - Evaluation of ultrasonic signals collected from laboratory concrete specimens: Preprocessing and analysis with coda wave interferometry N2 - Efficient maintenance of infrastructure relies on monitoring and assessment of its condition. New technologies and methods thereby enable a deeper understanding of the materials used and of the structures built. Coda Wave Interferometry (CWI) is currently explored for continuous monitoring of reinforced concrete structures as well as material testing. This ultrasound-based method is sensitive to even small material alterations and therefore suitable for the detection of initial damage stages. Herein, a step-by-step procedure for the evaluation of ultrasonic signals with CWI methods is presented. The described procedure is proposed for ultrasonic signals collected with embedded ultrasonic transducers with a center frequency of 50 kHz to 70 kHz from prism-shaped concrete specimen with dimensions of 400 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm. The raw ultrasonic signal, preprocessing and CWI analysis are described and influences of parameters within the analysis are discussed. The presented procedure allows systematic and comparable analysis of ultrasonic signals generated with similar conditions and therefore contributes to the application of CWI methods for structural health monitoring and material testing. KW - Ultrasound KW - Concrete KW - Coda wave interferometry KW - Structural health monitoring PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656027 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2026.103811 SN - 2215-0161 VL - 16 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65602 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bijeljic, Jelena A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst T1 - Concrete performance assessment based on gas permeability testing N2 - Designing of structures with medium to high performance requirements is a demanding and challenging engineering task. Depending on the location and type of the planned structure, various pre-testing methods should be applied. In recent decades, there has been a focus on the durability of concrete. Concrete is a porous material with a relatively thin protective cover layer, making it vulnerable to the penetration of external agents such as carbon dioxide. Gas permeability testing (kT), a relatively new non-destructive method (NDT), should therefore be considered. This paper presents results of gas permeability testing on a set of larger concrete samples made under controlled conditions with some paroperty variations order to find initial kT parameters important for quality assurance. KW - Concrete KW - Permeability KW - Durability KW - Torrent Tester PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.62683/ZRGAF41.2 SN - 3009-4674 VL - 41 IS - 1 SP - 15 EP - 23 PB - Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Nis AN - OPUS4-65715 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kruschwitz, Sabine A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Trela, Christiane A1 - Wöstmann, Jens T1 - Use of complex resistivity tomography for moisture monitoring in a flooded masonry specimen N2 - Moisture ingress is one of the major deteriorating factors for building materials. Today, the only approved way to assess such damage is the gravimetric Darr method, which is essentially destructive. Substantial progress has been made using the geophysical complex-resistivity method, which can be applied non-destructively and provides spatial information along two-dimensional sections, rather than punctual along one borehole. Considerable advantages of complex resistivity are its sensitivity to textural properties, as well as the pore-fluid chemistry of wet, porous media. In a comprehensive laboratory study, and later in field scale experiments, it could be shown that complex resistivity may even be able to distinguish between salt content and saturation degree in a single measurement. A comparison with complementary nondestructive testing techniques points to the benefit and further research to be explored in multimethodical approaches. KW - Moisture KW - Salt KW - Masonry KW - Damage KW - Electrical resistivity KW - Radar KW - Radiography KW - Microwaves KW - Ground-penetrating radar KW - Microwave transmission PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000053 SN - 1076-0342 SN - 1943-555X VL - 18 IS - 1 (Special issue) SP - 2 EP - 11 CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-29536 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Helmerich, Rosemarie A1 - Niederleithinger, Ernst A1 - Trela, Christiane A1 - Bien, J. A1 - Kaminski, T. A1 - Bernardini´, G. T1 - Multi-tool inspection and numerical of an old masonry arch bridge N2 - Complex special inspection of an old masonry arch bridge according to the Guideline on Inspection and Condition Assessment of Railway Bridges and numerical analysis of the structure are presented. The guideline summarises recommendations for the step-by-step investigation of railway bridges applying enhanced methods developed during the EU-funded project Sustainable Bridges. For the investigation of the arch barrel, the ballast parameters and the inner structure of the backfill behind the arch barrel a number of various advanced non-destructive and minor-destructive testing methods were applied. Deformation of the structure during load tests was measured using three independent measuring systems: laser vibrometer, LVDT and microwave radar. Results of calculations performed with 2D and 3D models based on FEM are compared with the field load tests. Sensitivity of the ultimate load of the structure to investigated parameters is studied in FE model. Some general conclusions according to methods of testing and modelling of masonry arch bridges are presented and discussed. KW - Masonry bridges KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Bridge inspection KW - Finite element method PY - 2012 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/15732471003645666 SN - 1573-2479 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 27 EP - 39 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-27425 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -