7.2 Ingenieurbau
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The worldwide spread of windfarms brings new challenges, especially for concrete structures as a part of towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-cyclic loadings in such structures lead to a high relevance of the subject of fatigue. A proper assessment of the fatigue strength of concrete demands therefore a basis of reliable experimental data and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents first results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) which is a part of a joint project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject investigates the effects of size and slenderness of the specimens on the fatigue behaviour of high strength concrete at different stress levels. Not only the fatigue strength, but also the fatigue process itself is monitored by means of several measurement methods. Strain measurements are used to calculate the load dependent elastic modulus in the fatigue hysteresis as indicators for fatigue development. Furthermore, the application of non-destructive methods like acoustic emission analysis and ultrasonic measurement in laboratory tests gives a deeper insight into damage processes under cyclic loading. The results shall be used to improve design rules for concrete members under fatigue load and to develop or improve non-destructive techniques for in-service structural health monitoring.
Severe mechanical fatigue conditions for worldwide proliferating windfarms are a Major challenge for high-performance concrete in towers, connecting joints and foundations of wind turbines. High-performance concrete offers potential for the application in offshore windfarms, not only regarding its good mechanical, but also chemical resistivity due to low diffusivity in the highly densified microstructure. For a more reliable fatigue assessment, monitoring based on nondestructive testing can be a valuable complement to design rules. Both approaches demand reliable experimental data, information about scalability and the development of standardized testing methods. This article presents results of an ongoing research program of BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung), which is a part of a joint national project (WinConFat) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The subproject implemented by BAM examines the fatigue behavior in dependence of size and slenderness for varying concrete strength at different stress levels. Besides fatigue strength, nondestructive testing is carried out additionally.
Methods used are strain measurement and ultrasonic testing. The change of strain, stiffness and ultrasonic pulse velocity in the fatigue process is discussed. Results disclose a deeper insight into the damage process under cyclic loading of high-performance concrete and contribute to improve nondestructive monitoring.
The aim of an ongoing research project is to develop a design approach for typical offshore driven piles (e.g. Jacket piles) based on the application of injections by compaction grouting directly at the pile shaft. The paper aims to present the results of laboratory and in-situ tests, which reveal the efficiency and the promising potential of the optimised foundation concept for a more economic dimensioning of pile foundations and to increase their bearing capacity in non-cohesive soil at any moment after installation.
The structural integrity of outer reinforced concrete (RC) containments of nuclear power plants provides an essential shield against external hazards. If this containment is damaged by an impact event, such as an aircraft crash, the question arises to which degree the reinforced concrete containment still has its protective capability. This concerns both purely structural protection and protection against liquids penetrating the interior of the containment. Due to the dimensions of the containment structures, it is difficult to perform real scale impact experiments, so in the past decades plate geometries at medium scale have been used for investigations. Detailed investigations on the structural behaviour of RC members or RC plates subjected to impact loading have already been presented in Just et al., Hering, Hering et al., Bracklow et al., Hille et al. and Nerger et al.
The following investigations deal with the single and multiple impact event (first hard impact and/or subsequent soft impact) on a RC specimen, which provides the basis for further investigations. A description of the test setup and the test procedure as well as a presentation of the test results from the impact tests are provided.
Furthermore, the experimental program is presented, which the damaged RC specimens are to undergo to deal with the question of how much the impact-damaged RC structure has become permeable to liquid media, such as water and kerosene, depending on the intensity of the impact. The aim of these following investigations is to develop a test setup that can be applied to investigate the liquid penetration behaviour (LPB) of small, medium, and large-scale RC members.
In addition to the liquid penetration experiments, the damaged specimens are to be examined by planar tomography to obtain the damage inside the specimen. The combination of damaging event, fluid penetration behaviour and tomography should enable a comprehensive understanding of the damage to the RC specimen.
At the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) full scale specimens for nuclear transport and storage containers (casks) are tested for their structural integrity in a series of drop tests on the Test Site Technical Safety in Horstwalde, 50 km south of Berlin. These drop tests cause a major stress not only on the casks, but also on the steel tower structure of the test facility, itself. The load pattern makes the structure very interesting for detailed investigation. The focus of the monitoring lies on the bolted joints of the flange connections that are a typical connection for cylindrical elements if welding is technical or economical unfavorable. The definition of the monitoring takes was done by investigating the existing documents and inspection results accompanied by building an initial digital representation of the structure, consisting of two finite element (FE) models and a geometrical 3D point cloud representation. As a first step the structures behavior during static and dynamic loading was analyzed using measurement data and an updated numerical FE Model. The idea behind is to use models for a digital planning and operation/evaluation of the structural health monitoring. A static FE simulation and a dynamic FE simulation are generated, to investigate how the structure behaves under the load conditions.
The identification of the dynamic behavior of structures, like bridges and towers, is relevant to address multiple issues. In many cases the dynamic parameters should be acquired only once or at a frequency that doesn’t justify the installation of distinct vibration sensors for a long-term monitoring. To identify modal frequencies of a structure, a drone based mobile sensing platform has been implemented. This sensing platform measures the relative displacement be-tween the structure and the drone, which also shows a strong dynamic behavior under wind tur-bulences. By regarding the dynamic model of the drone and additional measurements at the dis-tance sensor the absolute movement of the structure can be estimated based on the measured relative distance. This time domain data is a suitable input for various operational modal analysis algorithms. The system has been used to identify the dynamic properties of test and real structure, like a 1.5 MW wind turbine tower.
Mit der Errichtung und der Inbetriebnahme des Windpark alpha ventus wurden umfangreiche Messungen an den Tragstrukturen und den Umgebungsparametern durchgeführt. Im Projekt Gigawind life wurde im TP1 ein Datenmanagementsystem zur kontinuierlichen und periodisch fortgeführten Datenauswertung für große Datenbestände (Big Data) entworfen und realisiert. Anhand von Performanceuntersuchungen konnte eine Verkürzung der Rechenzeit um den Faktor 10 in einem Rechencluster erreicht werden. Unter Anwendung einer Datenpipeline nach dem Publish/Subscribe Prinzip wird eine skalierbare Datenschnittstelle für Monitoringdaten vorgeschlagen.
Nach den bisherigen Regeln werden Bauwerksprüfungen von Brücken in starr definierten Intervallen durchgeführt. Diese starre, periodische, zustandsbasierte Instandhaltungsstrategie soll zukünftig durch eine flexible und prädiktive Instandhaltung ersetzt werden. Hierbei sollen Inspektionen und Instandhaltungsmaßnahmen unterstützt durch autonome Systeme auf der Grundlage von Monitoringdaten geplant und zusätzlich bei unvorhergesehenen Ereignissen ausgelöst werden. Im Rahmen des Verbundforschungsvorhabens AISTEC wird ein Vorgehen für Großbauwerke und kleinere Regelbauwerke zur Umsetzung eines kombinierten globalen, schwingungsbasierten und quasistatischen Monitorings entworfen. An der Maintalbrücke Gemünden – einer semiintegralen Rahmenbrücke aus Spannbeton auf der Schnellfahrstrecke Hannover–Würzburg – wurde als Demonstrator ein Dauermonitoring realisiert.
The contribution discusses the processing and analysis of data generated on two different ways of investigations for impact damage in reinforced concrete structures. Damage investigations are essential to determine type and characteristics of damage and thus the residual capacity. Damage describing data is generated using two different types of investigation, a non-destructive tomographic as well as numerical examination. Subsequently, data of both sources was merged and analysed. Within the research project “Behaviour of structural components during impact load conditions caused by aircraft fuel tank collision” reinforces concrete plates were damaged by impact loading, see Hering (2020). Afterwards the damaged specimens were investigated tomographically as well as numerically using several methods and models. Aim of the presented research work was to specify an objective comparability of numerical data with experimentally determined damage patterns and based on this, to establish a quantitative damage evaluation.
Global energy consumption will increase in the future necessitating both fossil fuels and renewable energy choices - especially wind energy. Such high energy demand requires installation of offshore energy structures, rigs, platforms and towers, which are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions along with maintenances. Due to their large size and remote locations, cylindrical grouted joints are often adopted between substructure and foundation in these offshore platforms and wind structures such as monopiles. However, these connections are composite structures with exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill mortar. Degradation and settlements were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites were proven difficult to obtain ideal load bearing capacity. In-situ loading conditions were also found to be affecting the failure mechanism inside such connections. This study aims at characterizing the nature of cracks generated in these grouted connections under both static and cyclic loading. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel reusable mold, and connections were loaded to failure to visualize the main failure patterns. An assessment between failure under these two types of load is drawn along with comparison to previously available literature.
In recent years, several high temperature low sag conductors (HTLS) have been developed and are now commercially available. Very few utilities have long-term experience with all the technologies. Moreover, most of the operational experience is at low temperatures. An independent testing program at maximum operational temperatures comparing most of the available technologies would provide useful guidance to utilities considering using such conductors.
This paper describes the approach and results of an international research project assessing the long-term reliability of a wide range of commercially available high temperature conductor systems. Each system was exposed to 4,400 hours of simultaneous mechanical and electrical stresses. A set of standard mechanical and electrical tests were carried out to determine any changes. A conventional ACSR conductor was also tested and provided a validation that the testing program was realistic.
The majority of the conductor systems performed satisfactorily. However the ACSS system joint resistance and the grease on the TACSR performed poorly.
Within the presented research project, experimental and numerical investigations were performed to develop a thin-shelled, modular, mobile element system made of a micro-reinforced ultra-high-performance ductile concrete (DUCON®). Material parameters were experimentally determined to adapt the material model within the numerical analysis applying the Drucker-Prager relationship. Afterwards, for validation of the numerical models, quasi-static and high-velocity impact tests were performed on plate-like structures. Finally, a suitable geometry of transportable barrier elements will be designed, which provides a maximum of resistance against impact by a minimum of weight and a maximum of mobility.
The structural performance of many geotechnical systems (e.g. axially-loaded pile foundations), depends on the shearing resistance at the soil interface, which may govern the load bearing capacity of the foundation. Experimental investigations have shown that this interaction is mainly localised within a narrow shear band next to the structure. Under cyclic loading, a contraction of the soil at the interface may arise (net volume loss), possibly leading to a stress relaxation and thus to a reduction of the load bearing capacity (the so-called friction fatigue). Based on the constitutive similarities between soil continua and interfaces, we propose here the adaption of a Generalized Plasticity model for sandy soils for the numerical analysis of interface problems. In this contribution, the results of an experimental campaign for the parameter calibration of the constitutive model are presented. The tests have been conducted with a ring shear device involving different normal stresses, roughness of the steel plates as well as cyclic loading. The new modelling approach shows promising results and has the additional practical advantage that the interface zone and the soil continuum can both be described with the same constitutive model in general boundary value problems.
The response of many geotechnical systems, whose structural behavior depends on shearing effect, is closely related to soil structure interaction phenomenon. Experimentally it is found that the localisation of these effect happens at a narrow soil layer next to the structure. Numerically, this behavior can be modelled through inter-face elements and adequate constitutive models. In this work, a constitutive model in the framework of Gen-eralized Plasticity for sandy soils has been chosen to be adapted for the interface zone. From the direct shear experiments a sandy soil at loose and dense states under different normal pressures is considered. The adapted constitutive model is able to reproduce contraction and dilatation of the soil according to its relative density and it shows a good agreement with the experimental data.
Reinforced concrete (RC) is used as structural material in most diverse civil engineering applications. For the variability of its physical properties it is still an engineering challenge to meet all necessary requirements for the prediction of dynamic effects under impact loading. In this paper, investigations are shown within the scope of quantifying and evaluating the damage caused by an impact. The experimental investigations are performed in the field of low- and medium-velocity impact. The chosen flat nose shape results in small penetrations on the top side and scabbing on the bottom side. The plate is scanned with an adapted planar tomographic examination after the impact, and the damage is analysed, afterwards. Cracks and spalling are made visible with a reconstruction. The numerical model validated on the tomographic results justifies the application for further predictions of the damage description.
Prediction of dynamic effects of reinforced concrete structures under impact loading is a technical challenge. This is a consequence of the great variability of the physical properties resulting from the wide adaptability of reinforced concrete and a consequence of the wide range of impact loading. Experiments and numerical investigations are normally used on a small scale to address the problem. In this paper, impact tests on reinforced conrete plates with the lateral dimensions of 1.5 m x 1.5 m and a thickness of 30 cm are presented. In bending reinforcement, besides the velocity two properties are varied, the diameter and the spatial distribution of the rebars. Experiments are performed at the Otto-Mohr-Laboratory of the Institute of Concrete Structures of the Technische Universit¨at Dresden. Due to the accelerated fall of the impactor the velocity ranges between 20 and 70 m/s. In addition to the measured quantities such as bearing forces, accelerations are also measured at 4 different positions on and under the plate, as well as the deflection at several positions. The measured data are used for the analysis of the damage form and the numerical examinations with the program Ansys Autodyn and the material model after Drucker-Prager.
Numerical investigations support the tests, with detailed analysis of individual effects. These numerical computations and the planar tomographic investigations were carried out at BAM in Berlin. With the help of planar tomographic evaluation, the damaged structure is
made visible and compared with the numerical results. Influences of the bending reinforcement are explained on the basis of damage evaluation in the local area and on selected measured values. In addition to the test evaluation, the tomographic and numerical methods are presented.
Die B1 Brücke am Altstädter Bahnhof in Brandenburg an der Havel wurde im Dezember 2019 aufgrund von während einer turnusmäßigen Inspektion entdeckten Rissen und Hohlstellen entlang der vorgespannten Längsträger gesperrt und im Mai 2021 abgebrochen. In der Zwischenzeit wurde die Brücke detailliert überwacht. Vor dem Abriss wurden zudem umfangreiche Untersuchungen zur Bestandsaufnahme und Schadensanalyse sowie Tests moderner Sensorik vorgenommen. Dabei konnte sowohl die richtige, zuvor nicht sicher bekannte Anzahl von Spanngliedern in den Querträgern sicher ermittelt werden als auch durch moderne Varianten der Schwingungsmessungen und der faseroptischen Sensorik zusätzliche Kenntnisse püber das Bauwerksverhalten ermittelt werden . In dem Beitrag werden die Verfahren mit ihren Möglichkeiten und Grenzen vorgestellt, die Ergebnissee an der Brücke in Brandenburg erläutert und zukünftige Einsatzmöglichkeiten diskutiert.
Early detection of fatigue cracks and accurate measurements of the crack growth play an important role in the maintenance and repair strategies of steel structures exposed to cyclic loads during their service life. Observation of welded connections is especially of high relevance due to their higher susceptibility to fatigue damage. The aim of this contribution was to monitor fatigue crack growth in thick welded specimens during fatigue tests as holistically as possible, by implementing multiple NDT methods simultaneously in order to record the crack initiation and propagation until the final fracture. In addition to well-known methods such as strain gauges, thermography, and ultrasound, the crack luminescence method developed at the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), which makes cracks on the surface particularly visible, was also used. For data acquisition, a first data fusion concept was developed and applied in order to synchronize the data of the different methods and to evaluate them to a large extent automatically. The resulting database can ultimately also be used to access, view, and analyze the experimental data for various NDT methods. During the conducted fatigue tests, the simultaneous measurements of the same cracking process enabled a comprehensive comparison of the methods, highlighting their individual strengths and limitations. More importantly, they showed how a synergetic combination of different NDT methods can be beneficial for implementation in large-scale fatigue testing but also in monitoring and inspection programs of in-service structures - such as the support structures of offshore wind turbines.
In case one wants to predict or design the bearing capacity of a foundation pile and there are no possibilities to perform an in-situ test, such as a Cone Penetration Test, the pile bearing capacity is in most cases estimated with analytical formulas. The most known and used method is the Meyerhof method published some decades ago. There are also other design methods such as derived from a certain failure mechanism around the pile tip, which is, in most cases, wedge failure mechanism. This failure mechanism was originally developed for a shallow (infinite) strip foundation, though. Therefore, it represents a plane failure mechanism.
Numerical simulations on loaded foundation piles performed with the Plaxis software Show however, that the failure mechanism of a foundation pile represents a far more complex threedimensional failure mechanism around the pile tip.
In addition, the existing analytical methods for foundation piles are based on the vertical stresses in the soil, as if the failure mechanism is the same as of a shallow foundation. Numerical simulations, performed in Plaxis show that, not the vertical, but the horizontal stresses, play an important role on the pile bearing capacity. Plaxis represents the stresses in the soil by using the procedure. So, different horizontal soil stresses are obtained for different values of the lateral earth pressure coefficient. The results show that the pile tip bearing capacity depends strongly on the horizontal stresses in the soil, but only for. The same results were observed by using a Material Point Method (MPM). Consequently, the analytical methods should estimate the pile bearing.
Explosion-induced ground vibrations have been measured at several places. Results about the wave propagation are shown in this contribution. The particle velocities of the soil have been measured at up to 1000 m distance from the explosion and are presented as time records (seismograms) and one-third octave band spectra (transfer functions). The results are compared with the results of hammer impacts. The seismograms clearly show different wave types, compressional waves of the air, the water and the soil, and the Rayleigh wave. The hammer impacts yield good results up to 100 m and incorporate higher frequencies at about 50 Hz, whereas the explosion results in a ground vibration with frequencies around 10 Hz and a longer range of influence. Explosion and hammer excitations are evaluated for the wave velocities of the soil by using the wavenumber and the spatial auto-correlation method. The attenuation of the ground vibration amplitudes A with distance r can well be presented by a power law A ~ r -q. This type of amplitude-distance law and the corresponding power q > 1 are substantiated in the contribution. The influence of the charge weight W is evaluated as an additional power law A ~ W -p for each measuring site. The power is found quite similarly around q 0.6 as all sites have a medium soft soil such as sand and clay. The obtained amplitude-charge-distance law can be used to predict the explosion-induced ground and building vibrations at other sites.
This article presents a solid cohesion model for the simulation of bonded granular assemblies in the frame of 3D discrete element approaches (DEM). A simple viscoplastic cohesion model for 2D geometries is extended to 3D conditions, while its yield criterion is generalized as a hyper-surface in the space of bond solicitations to include torsional moments. The model is then calibrated using experimental results of uniaxial traction at both the microscopic and macroscopic scales with an artificial granular cohesive soil. The paper finally presents some simulated results on the macromechanical sample traction application and briefly discusses the model's current limitations and promising prospects for subsequent works.
Am Beispiel von mehreren Bauvorhaben wird untersucht, mit welchen Unsicherheiten bei der Anwendung von Korrelationen zwischen Sondierergebnissen und Scherwellengeschwindigkeit zur Beschreibung der dynamischen Bodeneigenschaften gerechnet werden muss. Die Auswertung von Korrelationen aus der Literatur zur Abschätzung der Scherwellengeschwindigkeit aus Drucksondierdaten zeigt, dass bei homogenen Sandböden die Verteilung der Scherwellengeschwindigkeit über die Tiefe sehr gut wiedergegeben werden kann. Die Korrelationen haben dabei die Tendenz, den tatsächlichen Wert zu überschätzen. In den vorliegenden Fällen haben sich Überschätzungen zwischen 20 % und 50 % ergeben. Mit zunehmendem Feinkornanteil werden die Unsicherheiten aus den Korrelationen jedoch größer.
Die natürliche Variabilität des Bodens bewirkt, dass jegliche in-situ Messung dynamischer Bodenparameter stets nur den Untersuchungsort beschreiben, und jede Verwendung für benachbarte Orte bereits eine Extrapolation ist. Gleichzeitig ist die Ermittlung von Bodeneigenschaften in-situ mit erheblichen Kosten verbunden, insbesondere bei Standorten wie z. B. Offshore-Windparks. Im innerstädtischen Raum sind seismische Messungen wegen der vorhandenen Bebauung und Flächenversiegelungen nur eingeschränkt möglich. Es bietet sich daher an, indirekte Methoden auf Basis von Drucksondierungen anzuwenden, weil diese Untersuchungen inzwischen zum Standardrepertoire selbst bei kleineren Bauvorhaben gehören.
Der neue nationale Anhang zu DIN EN 1998-1 erlaubt die Anwendung von Korrelationen zwischen Sondierergebnissen und dynamischen Bodeneigenschaften zur Anwendung bei seismischen Standortanalysen. Es werden jedoch keine Hinweise zur Auswahl geeigneter Korrelationen gegeben. Mit ISO/TS 14837-32 liegt ein Standard vor, in dem sogar für sandartigen Boden und tonartigen Boden zwei konkrete Korrelationen zur Anwendung vorgeschlagen werden. Dasselbe gilt für den Entwurf des Eurocode 7-2, prEN 1997-2 von 2022.
Untersuchungen zeigen, dass seismische Verfahren, wenn sie nicht unter Labor-Freifeldbedingungen durchgeführt werden, signifikante Streuungen aufweisen. Sofern statistische Korrelationen eine Streuung aufweisen, die in derselben Größenordnung liegen wie Ergebnisse seismischer Verfahren, können beide Verfahren in Grundsatz alternativ eingesetzt werden.
Wir zeigen, dass bei homogenen ausgeprägt sandartigen Böden mit statistisch ermittelten Korrelationen die dynamischen Bodensteifigkeiten mit einer Genauigkeit abgeschätzt werden können, die mit der Ungenauigkeit der seismischen Verfahren übereinstimmt. Mit zunehmenden Feinkornanteil werden die Unsicherheiten der statistischen Korrelationen größer. Bei stark überkonsolidierten glazialen Böden sollte von der Anwendung empirischer Korrelationen Abstand genommen werden.
Owners or operators of offshore wind farms perform inspections to collect information on the condition of the wind turbine support structures and perform repairs if required. These activities are costly and should be optimized. Risk-based methods can be applied to identify inspection and repair strategies that ensure an optimal balance between the expected total service life cost of inspection and repair, and the achieved risk reduction. Such an optimization requires explicit modeling of repairs. In this paper, the impact of different repair models on the results of a risk-based optimization of inspection and repair strategies is quantified in a numerical example considering a jacket-type steel frame subject to high-cycle fatigue. The example showed that, in this specific application, there is no need for detailed modeling of the behavior of repaired welded connections.
In this contribution, we consider two applications in which probabilistic approaches can potentially complement or enhance the design and assessment of offshore wind turbine foundations. First, we illustrate in a numerical example that probabilistic modelling can be helpful in dealing with chang-es in turbine locations during the planning phase of an offshore wind farm. In this case, spatial probabilistic modelling of the ground conditions enables (a) an inference of the soil properties at the modified turbine location from field data collected at different locations across an offshore wind farm site and (b) an optimisation of further site investigations. Second, we discuss the uncer-tainties and risks associated with the installation of large diameter monopiles in soils with hetero-geneities such as strong layers and/or embedded boulders. Subsequently, we present a concept for modelling, understanding, and managing these risks based on a probabilistic model of the subgrade conditions, monopile, and subgrade-pile-interaction.
The reliability of deteriorating structures at time t is quantified by the probability that failure occurs within the period leading up to time t. This probability is often referred to as cumulative failure probability and is equal to the cumulative distribution function of the time to failure. In structural reliability, an estimate of the cumulative failure probability is obtained based on probabilistic Engineering models of the deterioration processes and structural performance. Information on the condition and the loading contained in inspection and monitoring data can be included in the probability estimate through Bayesian updating. Conditioning the
probability of failure on the inspection or monitoring outcomes available at time t (e.g. detections or no detection of damages) can lead to a reduction in that probability.
Such a drop in the cumulative failure probability might seem counterintuitive since the cumulative failure probability is a non-decreasing function of time. In this paper, we illustrate—with the help of a numerical example—that such a drop is possible because the cumulative probability before and after the updating is not based on the same information, hence not on the same probabilistic model.
Grouting is a universal repair and strengthening technique, which is constantly used for structural remediation of concrete components, trenches, mine subsidence, dam joints, restoration of masonry structures, and geological stabilizations. Having an extremely small particle size of only few microns, ultrafine cements are ideal for grouting applications due to their superior permeability and compressive strength properties of the hardened cement paste compared to that of the less-expensive, but coarser ordinary Portland cements. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are often used to replace ultrafine cement in order to modify certain properties and to reduce costs. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of three supplementary materials: microsilica (MS), fly ash (FA), and metakaolin (MK) on the workability, and mechanical properties of an ultrafine cement based grout with a constant water-binder ratio and constant superplasticizer content. Maximum percentages of replacement with ultrafine cement were 6% by volume of cement for MS and 16% for FA, and MK. In general, results suggest that the workability is improved by addition of FA, whereas is reduced, when modified with MS and MK. The compressive strength of grout after cement replacement remains comparable to that of pure cement grout. However, there is a tendency of the MS to positively affect the compressive strength opposite to FA, whereas flexural strength is positively affected by FA. Based on the results, it is evident that grouts with Hägerman cone flow more than 500 mm and compressive strength of more than 90 MPa after 28 days can be produced.
Remediation of Cracks Formed in Grouted Connections of Offshore Energy Structures under Static Loads
(2018)
The future energy demand necessitates the exploration of all potential energy sources both onshore and offshore. Global trend has shifted towards offshore energy, which can be obtained from either carbon intensive or renewable options, hence requiring structures such as rigs, platforms, and monopiles. Most of these structures adopt easily installable construction techniques, where lower foundation need to be connected with the super structure by mean of grouted composite joints. Generally, these composite connections have exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill grout. Being located in remote offshore conditions, connections can experience considerable adverse loading during their lifetimes. Degradations were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites may often be proven difficult, which eventually leads to reduced capacity of connections in the long run. Thus, repair and rehabilitation of such connections should be planned ahead to minimize operational delays and costs in the future. This study aims at characterizing the nature of crack generation in grouted connections and thereby identifying the potential of repair using suitable repair material. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel mold, and connections were loaded under static load to visualize the main failure pattern. The failure mechanism and loading capacity are found compatible to previous results from earlier literature. Grouted connection was then repaired using cementitious injectable grout. The effectiveness of the repair system is also discussed.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) intends to improve the management of engineering structures. The number of successful SHM projects – especially SHM research projects – is ever growing, yielding added value and more scientific insight into the management of infrastructure asset. With the advent of the data age, the value of accessible data becomes increasingly evident. In SHM, many new data-centric methods are currently being developed at a high pace. A consequent application of research data management (RDM) concepts in SHM projects enables a systematic management of raw and processed data, and thus facilitates the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods to the SHM data. In this contribution, a case study based on an institutional RDM framework is presented. Data and metadata from monitoring the structural health of the Maintalbrücke Gemünden for a period of 16 months are managed with the RDM system BAM Data Store, which makes use of the openBIS data management software. An ML procedure is used to classify the data. Feature engineering, feature training and resulting data are performed and modelled in the RDM system.
Gradual or sudden changes in the state of structural systems caused, for example, by deterioration or accidental load events can influence their load-bearing capacity. Structural changes can be inferred from static and/or dynamic response data measured by structural health monitoring systems. However, they may be masked by variations in the structural response due to varying environmental conditions. Particularly, the interaction of nominally load-bearing components with nominally non-load bearing components exhibiting characteristics that vary as a function of the environmental conditions can significantly affect the monitored structural response. Ignoring these effects may hamper an inference of structural changes from the monitoring data. To address this issue, we adopt a probabilistic model-based framework as a basis for developing digital twins of structural systems that enable a prediction of the structural behavior under varying ambient condition. Within this framework, different types of data obtained from real the structural system can be applied to update the digital twin of the structural system using Bayesian methods and thus enhance predictions of the structural behavior. In this contribution, we implement the framework to develop a digital twin of a simply supported steel beam with an asphalt layer. It is formulated such that it can predict the static response of the beam in function of its temperature. In a climate chamber, the beam was subject to varying temperatures and its static response wass monitored. In addition, tests are performed to determine the temperature-dependent properties of the asphalt material. Bayesian system identification is applied to enhance the predictive capabilities of the digital twin based on the observed data.
Inspection and maintenance contribute significantly to the lifetime cost of bridges. There is significant potential in using information obtained through structural health monitoring to update predictive models of the condition and performance of such structures, and thus ena-ble an improved decision-making regarding inspection and maintenance activities. Within the AISTEC project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we develop vibration-based structural health monitoring systems aimed at continuously provid-ing information on the structural condition of bridges. Environmental variations such as changing ambient temperatures can significantly influence the dynamic characteristics of bridges and thus mask the effect of structural changes and damages. It remains a challenge to account for such influences in structural health monitoring. To study the effect of ambient temperatures on the dynamic characteristics of beam structures, we monitor the vibration response of a reinforced concrete beam in the uncracked and cracked state at varying tem-peratures in a climate chamber. We postulate a set of competing parameterized probabilistic structural models, which explicitly account for the effect of varying ambient temperatures on the mechanical properties of the system. We then combine the information provided by the structural models with the information contained in the recorded vibration data to learn the parameters of the temperature-dependent structural models and infer the plausible state of the beam using Bayesian system identification and model class selection.
Almost all building materials in civil engineering have an open porosity and interact with or are affected by the environmental conditions. Structures might suffer from effects such as moisture adsorption, carbonation, corrosion, penetration of salt ions and chemical substances, etc. In the hygroscopic range, these processes are mostly driven by diffusion. Due to the confinement of small pores (< 1 µm), the Knudsen effect reduces the molecular diffusion. This reduction can become more significant in case of temporal changing pore systems because of physisorption of water vapor, carbonation, or chemisorption.
In this study, unstabilised earth blocks and earth masonry are investigated. In a first step, the pore size distribution of the blocks is measured and sorption isotherms are recorded in experiments. Besides the ordinary physisorption, the involved clay minerals undergo swelling or shrinking due to chemisorption. The following two effects must be considered: first, the reduction of the available pore space by the adsorbed water layer. For this, the Hillerborg sorption theory is used, which is a combination of the well-known Brunauer-Emmett-Teller sorption theory and the Kelvin equation. This allows the computation of adsorbed water layers even in curved pore geometries. Second, the variation of the initial pore size distribution due to chemisorption needs to be modelled. Based on these two models, the effective diffusion coefficient can be predicted. For validation, arrays of relative humidity sensors were embedded into a free-standing earth masonry wall. This monitoring was carried out over more than a year to have a broad variety of environmental conditions and was located in Berlin, Germany.
The prediction of the effective diffusion coefficient can also be transferred to other processes and allows the investigation of materials having temporarily changing pore systems. Examples are the carbonation of cementitious materials, alkali silica reaction, calcium leaching of long-lasting structures, etc. This effect becomes most prominent in the meso-pore range and might alter the effective diffusion coefficient by more than 100 %.
At present, to produce renewable energy offshore wind farms play an important role. The available space combined with the more valuable wind conditions make offshore locations very attractive for wind powered energy production. In Europe a significant number of offshore wind farms already exist, especially in the North and Baltic Sea. In future this trend will continue, and further offshore wind farms will be built. The majority of offshore wind turbines are mounted on steel foundation structures. Due to the high-cyclic loading by wind and waves fatigue stress plays a substantial role regarding structural safety.
Besides the consideration of fatigue within the design process, to monitor existing steel structures for potential fatigue cracks during their life time is a major topic and a challenge.
For the structures of the offshore wind turbines are large and partially under water effective reliable methods for the detection of fatigue cracks are required.
This contribution presents investigations on different crack detection methods applied at high-cycle fatigue tests on small-scale welded steel samples as well as on large-scale welded steel components. The tests were conducted at the BAM laboratories. For crack detection mainly three different methods were used and compared. The first method regards to the measurement of strain by conventionally strain gauges. Secondly, the crack luminescence was used as a new and effective optical method for surface monitoring. And finally, crack detection by pressure differentials of the inner and outer section of tubular steel elements was investigated. A comparison study will emphasize the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods and show which of the described methods is potentially more suitable for an application on real offshore wind structures.
Reinforced concrete is a widely used material for power generation structures, where load scenarios like impact loadings need to be considered. In this context mechanical splicing systems for the connection of reinforcement bars are of specific interest and impact resistance for the splicing systems has to be verified. High speed tensile tests need to be performed on splicing systems for reinforcement bars to confirm the capability of the coupler to resist impact loading. Furthermore, the ability of the reinforcement steel to dissipate energy by ductile behaviour with pronounced plastic strains should be confirmed by these tests. During the last decades comprehensive experiences were developed at BAM performing high speed tensile tests on reinforcement bars as well as on several splicing systems. For the lack of available standards defining these tests in detail an appropriate test procedure was developed and continuously optimized during this period at BAM. The test procedure is partially based on testing principles adapted from available standards. The main intention behind this test procedure is to perform high-speed tensile tests with a specific constant strain rate generated at the specimen. Furthermore, main objective was to establish a procedure to guarantee the comparability of test results for different diameter of reinforcement as well as for different types of couplers. Besides the pure execution of the high-speed tensile tests, the test specification also declares how to evaluate the measurements and the test results. Finally, some typical results will be presented in this contribution.
Fault detection for linear parameter varying systems under changes in the process noise covariance
(2020)
Detecting changes in the eigenstructure of linear systems is a comprehensively investigated subject. In particular, change detection methods based on hypothesis testing using Gaussian residuals have been developed previously. In such residuals, a reference model is confronted to data from the current system. In this paper, linear output-only systems depending on a varying external physical parameter are considered. These systems are driven by process noise, whose covariance may also vary between measurements. To deal with the varying parameter, an interpolation approach is pursued, where a limited number of reference models -- each estimated from data measured in a reference state -- are interpolated to approximate an adequate reference model for the current parameter. The problem becomes more complex when the different points of interpolation correspond to different noise conditions. Then conflicts may arise between the detection of changes in the eigenstructure due to a fault and the detection of changes due to different noise conditions. For this case, a new change detection approach is developed based on the interpolation of the eigenstructure at the reference points. The resulting approach is capable of change detection when both the external physical parameter and the process noise conditions are varying. This approach is validated on a numerical simulation of a mechanical system.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil structures often is limited due to changing environmental conditions, as those changes affect the structural dynamical properties in a similar way like damages can do. In this article, an approach for damage detection under changing temperatures is presentedand applied to a beam structure. The used stochastic subspace-based algorithm relies on a reference null space estimate, which is confronted to data from the testing state in a residual function. For damage detection the residual is evaluated by means of statistical hypothesis tests. Changes of the system due to temperature effects are handled with a model interpolation approach from linear parameter varying system theory. From vibration data measured in the undamaged state at some few reference temperatures, a model of the dynamic system valid for the current testing temperature is interpolated. The reference null space and the covariance matrix for the hypothesis test is computed from this interpolated model. This approach has been developed recently and was validated in an academic test case on simulations of a mass-spring-damper. In this paper, the approach is validated experimentally on a beam structure under varying temperature conditions in a climate chamber. Compared to other approaches, the interpolation approach leads to significantly less false positive alarms in the reference state when the structure is exposed to different temperatures, while faults can still be detected reliably.
Die Bemessung von tragendem Lehmmauerwerk erfolgt in Deutschland auf Basis der Lehmbau Regeln. Das dort verankerte Nachweisverfahren beruht auf einem globalen Sicherheitskonzept, welches aus zuverlässigkeitstheoretischer Sicht nicht mehr dem Stand der Technik entspricht. Auf Grund dessen wird das Bemessungskonzept für Lehmmauerwerk vom Deutschen Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) voraussichtlich 2023 außer Kraft gesetzt. Ein statischer Nachweis von tragenden Lehmbauten wäre in Deutschland dann ausschließlich mit einer Zustimmung im Einzelfall (ZiE) oder vorhabenbezogener Bauartgenehmigung (vBg) möglich. Beides ist mit erheblichem Mehraufwand und höheren Kosten verbunden, was für den Lehmmauerwerksbau einen entscheidenden Nachteil im Vergleich zum konventionellen Mauerwerksbau darstellt. Um eine unkomplizierte Praxisanwendung von Lehmmauerwerk zu ermöglichen, werden innerhalb eines Forschungsvorhabens, welches von der Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), dem Institut für Massivbau der Technischen Universität Darmstadt sowie dem Ingenieurbüro ZRS durchgeführt wird, auf Basis der Produktnormen für Lehmsteine und Lehmmauermörtel Grundlagen für ein aktualisiertes Bemessungskonzept entwickelt. Im Rahmen des Projekts wird ebenfalls untersucht, inwiefern die Bemessungsregeln nach den vereinfachten Berechnungsmethoden für unbewehrtes Mauerwerk gemäß DIN EN 1996-3 / NA auf den Lehmmauerwerksbau übertragbar sind. Falls eine Anwendung des normativen Nachweisverfahrens bei Lehmmauerwerk möglich ist, wäre zukünftig eine Aufnahme von Lehmsteinen und Lehmmauermörtel in den nationalen Anhang des Eurocode 6 denkbar, was eine bedeutsame Erweiterung des Anwendungsbereichs von Lehmmauerwerk zur Folge hätte.
Diverse wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen konnten zeigen, dass bemessungsrelevante Festigkeits- und Verformungseigenschaften von Lehmmauerwerksbaustoffen stark von der vorherrschenden Materialfeuchte abhängen, welche im hygroskopischen Wassergehaltsbereich im Wesentlichen von der relativen Luftfeuchte (RLF) bestimmt wird. Auch die Zwischenergebnisse des laufenden Forschungsvorhabens zur Entwicklung eines Bemessungskonzepts für Lehmmauerwerk ergaben eine deutlich erkennbare Abhängigkeit zwischen der Materialfeuchte und den relevanten Festigkeits- und Verformungseigenschaften. Eine detaillierte Kenntnis des feuchteabhängigen Materialverhaltens von Lehmsteinen, -mörtel und -mauerwerk ist zwingend erforderlich, um ein konsistentes und zuverlässiges Bemessungskonzept für Lehmmauerwerk zu entwickeln. Im Rahmen des laufenden Forschungsprojektes werden deshalb umfangreiche Versuche zum Drucktragverhalten von Lehmsteinen und -mörtel sowie Lehmmauerwerk nach Konditionierung bei unterschiedlichen RLF durchgeführt und analysiert. Weiterhin werden auf Basis der experimentellen Ergebnisse numerische Modelle kalibriert, welche die detaillierte Analyse der Biegedrucktragfähigkeit von Lehmmauerwerk ermöglichen.
In diesem Beitrag werden zunächst die bisherigen Zwischenergebnisse bezüglich der experimentell ermittelten feuchteabhängigen Materialkennwerte von Lehmsteinen, -mörtel und -mauerwerk dargelegt. Darauf aufbauend werden numerische Untersuchungen zur Bestimmung der Systemtragfähigkeit von Lehmmauerwerk unter Feuchteeinflusses durchgeführt und erläutert.
Quantifying uncertainties in subsurface properties and stratigraphy can lead to better understanding of the ground conditions and enhance the design and assessment of geotechnical structures. Several studies have utilized Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data and employed Bayesian and Machine Learning methods to quantify the geological uncertainty, based on the Robertson’s soil classification charts and the Soil Behaviour Type Index (Ic). The incorporation of borehole data can reduce the stratigraphic uncertainty. Significant challenges can arise, however, mainly due to the intrinsic differences between field and laboratory-based soil classification systems, which can potentially lead to inconsistent soil classification. To this end, this study proposes a multivariate Gaussian Process model that utilizes site-specific data and: i) jointly models multiple categorical (USCS labels) and continuous (Ic) variables, ii) learns a (shared) spatial correlation structure and the betweenoutputs covariance, and iii) produces two types of dependent classification outputs. The results indicate that the integration of geotechnical and geological information into a unified model can provide more reliable predictions of the subsurface stratification, by allowing simultaneous interpretation of USCS and Ic profiles. Importantly, the model demonstrates the potential to integrate multiple variables of different types, aiming to contribute to the development of a methodology for joint modeling of geotechnical, geological and geophysical data.