Strain and acceleration measurement during high dynamic drop tests, e.g., of containments for dangerous goods is performed using high speed multichannel measuring systems. So far established and operated systems need a cable connection of every strain gauge and acceleration sensor with the measuring device, often counting up to a number of more than 100 cables, corresponding to the number of applied sensors. The result is a massive cable harness consisting of all single cables, which is difficult to handle and causes a number of practical problems. An innovative approach is proposed by using a single cable measuring system, consisting of measuring modules with data bus connection and local data acquisition. Promising results were presented in a previous study. This paper follows up with additional results from full-scale testing of a further enhanced single cable system for the application in drop tests.
Berlin Main Station is the largest multi-level station in Europe. Its daily passenger number amounts to over 300.000. Structures built for such a large number of people require a high-level safety standard. The station was built on the inner city site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof. The conditions for building and start of operation were challenging by several reasons. The typical sandy ground with a high level of groundwater makes the permanent static stability of such a complex structure difficult. Several completed, ongoing, and planned construction activities in the immediate vicinity of the station influence the ground settlement of the whole area. On basis of the structural design an impact prediction was calculated, which expected certain vertical displacements particularly between the single columns of the outer concrete bridges of the building. These columns support the glass roof construction, which only allows a defined limit of displacement. In order to avoid damage, a concept for monitoring and adjusting potentially occurring displacements was developed for installation at the outer bridges of the station.
A 400 m² soil test field with gas injection system was built up for the purpose of large-scale validation, optimization, and characterization of a novel comprehensive monitoring method for underground gas storage areas. The method combines gas sensing technology with linear form factor for in-situ monitoring of gases in soil with the mapping capabilities of Computed Tomography (CT) to reconstruct time-series of gas distribution maps based on samples of orthogonally-aligned linear gas sensors. Several injection experiments with carbon dioxide (CO2) at different days with varying boundary conditions indicates the potential of the method for, e.g., rapid leakage detection with respect to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) issues.
Concept for investigating mechanical and thermal impacts on distributed subsurface gas monitoring
(2016)
A multifunctional sensor in line shape was developed and introduced in previous work for measuring of gas concentrations, temperature change, and strain. A current field study focuses on a spatially distributed monitoring of subsurface CO 2 gas storage sites in near real time.
Mechanical impacts, e.g., caused by construction work, denudation, and seismic activity, can affect the integrity of underground gas storage sites. Thermal or moisture impacts, e.g., caused by weather conditions, can influence the gas Distribution behavior. In this paper, we briefly describe the setup of a CO 2 injection soil test field. This setup contains actuating elements for the investigation of mechanical and thermal impacts on distributed subsurface gas monitoring. A concept is given for evaluating these impacts and first experimental results are presented.