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Protection against terrorist or accidental scenarios in industrial settings requires suitable designs of structures to resist blast loads. Field testing as well as finite element simulations are among the techniques available to engineers in the understanding of the structural behavior against blast loading. As blast testing of complex scenarios can be very resource intensive, tests are generally performed for simplified scenarios. Numerical tools can be used to model these scenarios in order to get a better insight into blast loading, structural response and the resulting damage to the structure. In the next steps, the simplified scenario is successively modified in numerical simulations to incorporate complexities that cannot be covered in blast testing experiments. One of the conditions for this approach to work is that the original simplified numerical simulation is valid. The scopes and challenges encountered in such a validation are the focus of this presentation. A relatively ‘simple’ field test of a horizontal reinforced concrete (RC) slab subjected to blast loading is taken as an example for validation of the performance of numerical tools. The blast test incorporated various measurement techniques to quantify the blast load as well as the behavior of the RC slab. Blast load was measured using flush-mounted piezoelectric pressure gauges, whereas acceleration sensors and fiber-optic sensor cables were used to characterize the dynamic behavior of the slab under blast loading. Additionally, damage characteristics were ascertained also using fiber-optic sensing. The application of such measurement techniques, along with different numerical software available for the analysis of the scenario in question,
demonstrate the scope of our contribution.
This paper presents an experimental study on the hydraulic failure of a submerged layer of cemented soil stressed by a localized upward water flow. Different mixtures of glass beads bonded with solid paraffin bridges were used as artificial material for the cemented granular soil. Variations in the cementation strength of the material were carefully introduced with different particle sizes and binder contents. The hydraulic fracture tests were then carried out with an upward flow injected at a controlled rate through a small section at the bottom of the samples. From a phenomenological perspective, the results reveal the existence of at least three modes of failure for a cemented soil layer: (1) overall block uplift, (2) block rupture by median crack at the inflow zone, and (3) progressive excavation of a fluidized path along the walls. The critical flow rate and pressure drop conditions at failure have been carefully quantified for the different mixtures and layer thicknesses, leading to a fair estimation of the hydraulic resistance of the samples, which here is found to be virtually independent of the grain size. However, the test results also showed inconsistent failure modes precluding so far the derivation of a simple phase diagram. Nevertheless, it was possible to rationalize all the measured data by employing appropriate modifications of the classical dimensionless numbers that describe the fluidization of purely frictional materials, whereby the cementation strength of the soil is quantified at the microscale through the yield tensile force of the intergranular bonds. Irrespective of its subsequent development, during which boundary conditions obviously play a major role, the initiation of the instability appears to take place very locally at the inlet when the drag force induced by the flow overcomes the cementation strength of the paraffin bonds. The results of this study thus appear to endorse the extension of the dimensional relationships of particulate systems in interaction with fluid flows to the case of cemented granular materials, in a similar vein as in recent previous studies.
This presentation is part of the Engineering Risk Analysis group open seminars. It aims to showcase the results of an ongoing study centered on developing a novel probabilistic methodology for 3D geotechnical site characterization. This methodology integrates data from Cone Penetration Tests (CPTs) and categorical borehole data. The presentation covers the mathematical details of the proposed Multivariate Gaussian Process model and demonstrates its application to a real geotechnical site in New Zealand.
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.
The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) collaborates with TNO to develop a software framework for automated calibration of structural models based on monitoring data. The ultimate goal is to include such models in the asset management process of engineering structures. As a basis for developing the framework, a multi-span road bridge consisting of ten simply supported steel box girders was selected as a test case. Our group measured output-only vibration data from one box girder under ambient conditions. From the data, we determined eigenfrequencies and mode shapes. In parallel, we developed a preliminary structural model of the box girder for the purpose of predicting its modal properties. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the measurement campaign, the operational modal analysis, the structural modeling and qualitatively compare the identified with the predicted modes. As an outlook, we discuss the further steps in the calibration process and future applications of the calibrated model.
Managing aging engineering structures requires damage identification, capacity reassessment, and prediction of remaining service life. Data from structural health monitoring (SHM) systems can be utilized to detect and characterize potential damage. However, environmental and operational variations impair the identification of damages from SHM data. Motivated by this, we introduce a Bayesian probabilistic framework for building models and identifying damage in monitored structures subject to environmental variability. The novelty of our work lies (a) in explicitly considering the effect of environmental influences and potential structural damages in the modeling to enable more accurate damage identification and (b) in proposing a methodological workflow for model‐based structural health monitoring that leverages model class selection for model building and damage identification. The framework is applied to a progressively damaged reinforced concrete beam subject to temperature variations in a climate chamber. Based on deflections and inclinations measured during diagnostic load tests of the undamaged structure, the most appropriate modeling approach for describing the temperature‐dependent behavior of the undamaged beam is identified. In the damaged state, damage is characterized based on the identified model parameters. The location and extent of the identified damage are consistent with the cracks observed in the laboratory. A numerical study with synthetic data is used to validate the parameter identification. The known true parameters lie within the 90% highest density intervals of the posterior distributions of the model parameters, suggesting that this approach is reliable for parameter identification. Our results indicate that the proposed framework can answer the question of damage identification under environmental variations. These findings show a way forward in integrating SHM data into the management of infrastructures.
Nowadays geotechnical engineering firms have powerful software tools to extent their consult-ing business also into dynamic soil-structure interaction, which before has been restricted to a rather small community of specialized experts in this field, and they certainly do. This is par-ticularly true with respect to non-seismic sources, that is all kinds of human induced vibrations. Hence, there is a demand from clients as well as from contractors to have guidance on the re-quirements as well as the limits of numerical modelling of soil-structure interaction. From the literature as well as from relevant standards, recommendations for the numerical modelling of soil-structure interaction problems involving seismic actions are well known, e. g. ASCE/SEI 4-16. There are, however, some particularities when dealing with human-induced vibrations, which are absent in seismic analyses. For human-induced excitations very little specific guid-ance has been published in the past. A machine foundation on a homogeneous half space ex-cited by harmonic loads with excitation frequency between 4 Hz and 64 Hz has been ana-lysed by means of several commercially available software packages. Parametric studies have been performed to verify if recommendations for seismic soil-structure analyses are valid for non-seismic analyses as well. This paper provides details on the benchmark example and the most important conclusions from the undertaken parametric studies.
ISO 14837-32:2015 and DIN EN 1998-1/NA:2021 as well as prEN 1997-2:2022 allow for us-ing correlations between the results of in-situ soil penetration tests and shear wave velocity (or shear modulus) to determine soil properties to be used in dynamic analyses. While the ISO and prEN standards even provide some recommendations on specific correlations to be used, the DIN standard does not. Due to the statistical nature of such correlations their general applica-bility has to be verified. We collected data sets from test sites from Germany as well as New Zealand at which cone penetration tests (CPT) as well as seismic site investigation methods were conducted. These sites comprise sandy soils as well as clayey soils, mixed soils as well as glacial soils. We compare the results of several correlations between CPT results and shear wave velocity. The accuracy of such correlations is assessed with respect to the accuracy of seismic in-situ tests. It turns out that for clean sands such correlations between CPT and Vs have a similar order of variability as seismic in-situ tests conducted at the same site. The higher the fines portion of the soil, the higher the variability of the statistical correlations, and conse-quently the less the general applicability. For glacial soils and other special soil types usage of statistical correlations to determine dynamic soil properties is not recommended.
The EU member states have set out ambitious long-term goals for deploying offshore wind energy. The installed offshore wind capacity is set to increase from 14.6 GW in 2021 to around 320 GW in 2050. This signifies the role of offshore wind energy as a major contributor to reaching the EU’s climate and energy goals. To ensure that the defined targets are met, a significant number of new wind farms has to be installed and existing wind farms reaching the end of their planned life need to be reused efficiently. Some of the relevant reuse alternatives are lifetime extension, repowering based on the existing support structures and repowering with new turbines.
As a basis of the decision-making regarding the reuse of existing offshore wind farm, the expected utility of each relevant option should be determined based on the associated expected rewards, costs and risks. The optimal concept maximizes the utility of the decision-maker and fulfills the existing constraints and requirements. To facilitate such a quantitative decision-making, models and methods have to be developed. In particular, models are required that enable predictions of (a) the condition and performance of the turbines and support structures and (b) the renumeration, costs and consequences of adverse events. These predictions have to consider (a) the governing uncertainties, (b) the available information from the planning, construction, installation and operating phase, (b) potential repair, retrofitting and strengthening schemes and (c) possible monitoring, inspection and maintenance regimes for the future operating phase.
Over the past years, several models, methods and tools have been developed at the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) to support the structural integrity management of offshore wind turbine substructures. These include:
(a) a prototype for reliability-based, system-wide, adaptive planning of inspections of welded steel structures in offshore wind farms,
(b) a method for monitoring and risk-informed optimization of inspection and maintenance strategies for jacket structures subject to fatigue, and
(c) a probabilistic cost model of inspection and maintenance of welded steel structures in offshore wind farms.
This contribution provides an overview on these works and discusses how they can be adapted and extended to support the decision-making regarding lifetime extensions and repowering of offshore wind farms.
The risk of pile base buckling is a major reason for high pile wall thicknesses in monopiles. The VERBATIM project - Verification of the buckling detection and behaviour of large monopiles - aimed to investigate buckling phenomena related to both the plastic deformation of the pile tip during installation and the buckling of the embedded pile near the seabed.
Numerical models were developed and validated on the basis of extensive tests. This enables a better understanding of the buckling behaviour in order to reduce the wall thickness, which allows cost savings in the amount of steel and the development of safer and optimised structures. The previous design procedures were able to ensure the successful installation of the monopiles. However, as the size of monopiles continues to increase, the development of improved design methods for safe and cost-effective foundations is becoming increasingly important.
The presentation provides an overview of the investigations carried out and the results.
The present work deals with the recently confirmed widening of the weld pool interface, known as a bulging effect, and its relevance in high power laser beam welding. A combined experimental and numerical approach is utilized to study the influence of the bulge on the hot cracking formation and the transport of alloying elements in the molten pool. A technique using a quartz glass, a direct-diode laser illumination, a high-speed camera, and two thermal imaging cameras is applied to visualize the weld pool geometry in the longitudinal section. The study examines the relevance of the bulging effect on both, partial and complete penetration, as well as for different sheet thicknesses ranging from 8 mm to 25 mm. The numerical analysis shows that the formation of a bulge region is highly dependent on the penetration depth and occurs above 10 mm penetration depth. The location of the bulge correlates strongly with the cracking location. The obtained experimental and numerical results reveal that the bulging effect increases the hot cracking susceptibility and limits the transfer of alloying elements from the top of the weld pool to the weld root.
We present our approach and methodology for simulating piping erosion, which occurs during the installation process of suction bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines. We show several simulations and analyze the hydrodynamic and contact forces acting on the granular fabric and the differential pressure of the fluid phase. We demonstrate weak scaling performance on the LUMI supercomputer with a parallel efficiency of up to 90% for 4096 Graphics Compute Dies.
This presentation gives an overview of the recent achievements in simulating piping erosion during the installation process of suction bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines. The physical correctness of the code is validated, and the simulation code's performance on the LUMI supercomputer is presented. The simulation results are compared to experimental data.
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.
Protection against terroristic or accidental scenarios in industrial settings requires suitable designs of structures to resist blast loads. Field testing as well as finite element simulations are among the techniques available to engineers in the understanding of the structural behavior against blast loading.
As blast testing of complex scenarios can be very resource intensive, tests are generally performed for simplified scenarios. Numerical tools can be used to model these scenarios to get better insight into blast loading, structural response, and the resulting damage to the structure. During the next steps, the simplified scenario is successively modified in numerical simulations to incorporate complexities that cannot be covered in blast testing experiments. One of the conditions for this approach to work is that the original simplified numerical simulation is valid. The scopes and challenges encountered in such a validation are the focus of this presentation/article.
A relatively ‘simple’ field test of a horizontal reinforced concrete (RC) slab subjected to blast loading is taken as an example for validation of the performance of numerical tools. The blast test incorporated various measurement techniques to quantify the blast load as well as the behavior of the RC slab. Blast load was measured using flush mounted piezoelectric pressure gauges, whereas acceleration sensors and fiber-optic sensor cables were used to characterize the dynamic behavior of the slab under blast loading. Additionally, damage characteristics were ascertained also using fiber optic sensing. The application of such measurement techniques, along with different numerical software available for the analysis of the scenario in question, demonstrate the scope of our contribution.
When it comes to the challenges, it begins with proper instrumentation of the test specimen followed by the data processing. For numerical modelling, geometric conditions with appropriate boundary constraints, physical conditions such as the configuration of the rebars, as well as material parameters add to this challenge. The issues of choosing appropriate material models and comparison of results with multiple software tools will be discussed. This discussion forms the basis for a coherent approach to technical-safety assessment of blast effects on structures in its broader sense.
Current capabilities for full-scale field testing are highly resource intensive. Reliable small-scale experiments are an effective alternative. Characterization of the dynamic response and damage of RC elements to scaled blast loads was investigated in scaled-down field experiments. Spatially resolved information on the dynamic structural response using distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing (DAS) and acceleration as well as blast loading by piezoelectric pressure sensors.
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.
Wind turbines are exposed to a high number of load cycles during their service lifetime. Therefore, the fatigue strength verification plays an important role in their design. In general, the nominal stress method is used for the fatigue verification of the most common used butt-welded joints. The Eurocode 3 part 1–9 is the current design standard for this field of application. This paper presents recent results of fatigue tests on small-scaled specimens and large components with transverse butt welds to discuss the validity of the FAT-class. Furthermore, results from numerical simulations for the verification with the effective notch stress and the crack propagation approach are used for comparison. Based on the consistency between the numerical results and the fatigue tests, the influence of the seam geometry on the fatigue resistance was investigated. Finally, a prediction of the fatigue strength of butt-welded joints with plate thicknesses up to 80 mm was carried out.
This presentation discusses the potentials of probabilistic methods in offshore foundation installation, from the perspective of probabilistic ground models and data-driven site characterization. We discuss about methodologies for utilizing site-specific geotechnical (CPT) and geological data, aiming to construct an integrated ground model that can predict stratigraphic profiles and useful for geotechnical design parameters at any location within a 3D domain. The predicted parameters and stratigraphy are then used to predict the probability of potential pile tip damage, upon collision with a boulder.
Acceleration sensors are vital for assessing engineering structures by measuring properties like natural frequencies. In practice, engineering structures often have low natural frequencies and face harsh environmental conditions. Understanding sensor behavior on such structures is crucial for reliable masurements. The research focus is on understanding the behavior of acceleration sensors in harsh environmental conditions within the low-frequency acceleration range. The main question is how to distinguish sensor behavior from structural influences to minimize errors in assessing engineering structure conditions. To investigate this, the sensors are tested using a long-stroke calibration unit under varying temperature and humidity conditions. Additionally, a mini-monitoring system configured with four IEPE sensors is applied to a small-scale support structure within a climate chamber. For the evaluation, a signal-energy approach is employed to distinguish sensor behavior from structural behavior. The findings show that IEPE sensors display temperature-dependent nonlinear transmission behavior within the low-frequency acceleration range, with humidity having negligible impact. To ensure accurate engineering structure assessment, it is crucial to separate sensor behavior from structural influences using signal energy in the time domain. This study underscores the need to compensate for systematic effects, preventing the underestimation of vibration energy at low temperatures and overestimation at higher temperatures when using IEPE sensors for engineering structure monitoring.
This paper scopes the specialties of a hazard identification study for large and extra-large unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs). A generic node/function structure is derived from different large and extra-large UUV designs, partially own vehicle designs from research projects, and partially from commercial vehicles. For each node, a short overview of its components and the proper function or operations is defined. A set of guide words is used to prompt a hazard discussion for each node, which identifies unwanted functions, resulting in potential hazards and unmitigated consequences. Related to the SafeMASS-Report from DNV, this work concentrates on selected topics of the bridge-related function on voyage, control & monitoring, and abnormal situations. For unmanned vehicles without any person on board, these three topics become more important for underwater vehicles with very limited connectivity or temporary disruptions of communication whereby an operator in a remote-control center could only be provided with rough vehicle or mission states. Therefore, vehicle control, whether in hard- or software, must handle most tasks belonging to the considered functions automatically or autonomously. Hence, the most appropriate reactions of the system to unwanted system
behavior must be implemented. This HAZID study could, on the one hand, be used as background for such an implementation, and on the other hand, it is used to verify the implemented actions on the risks and hazards.
The aim of the study is to infer the soil stratification from the provided CPT and borehole data. We infer the soil type at any location within the domain of interest from the SBT index Ic (Robertson, 2009). This index can be directly related to the CPT data through an empirical correlation model. In addition, the soil classes contained in the borehole logs can be expressed as bounds on Ic. A log-transformation was applied to Ic, Y = ln(Ic), and Y was modelled by a 3D Random Field, with a fully Bayesian hierarchical Gaussian Process model to explicitly capture uncertainties.
We evaluate masked block-structured grids for ocean domains which allow to represent small-scale geometric features without resorting to very small blocks or excessive mesh resolution. The considered approach aims to combine the geometric flexibility of unstructured meshes with the computational efficiency of stencil-based discretizations and is implemented and tested in a quadrature-free discontinuous Galerkin shallow water solver. We investigate the accuracy and the computational performance of the scheme on a range of realistic ocean domains meshed with blocks of different size and provide some comparisons to results obtained on unmasked block-structured grids and unstructured meshes.
Impact resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures can be significantly improved by strengthening RC members with thin composite layers featuring high damage tolerance. Indeed, to limit the well-known vulnerability of cement-based materials against impact loading, the synergistic effects of short fibres and continuous textile meshes as hybrid reinforcement has been proved to be highly beneficial. This paper addresses the characterisation of novel cement-based hybrid composites through accelerated drop-weight impact tests conducted on rectangular plates at different impact energies. Two distinct matrices are assessed, with particular interest in a newly developed limestone calcined clay cement (LC3)-based formulation. Important parameters quantifying energy dissipation capability, load bearing capacity and damage are cross-checked to compute the ballistic limit and estimate the safety-relevant characteristics of the different composites at hand. Although textiles alone can improve the damage tolerance of fine concrete to some extent, the crack-bridging attitude of short, well-dispersed fibres in hybrid composites imparts a certain ductility to the cement-based matrices, allowing a greater portion of the textile to be activated and significantly reducing the amount of matrix spalling under impact.
Information on the condition and reliability of an offshore jacket structure provided by a vibration-based structural health monitoring system can guide decisions on inspection and maintenance. When selecting the sensor setup, the designer of the monitoring system must assess its overall benefit compared to its costs before installation. The potential benefit of continuously monitoring the dynamic response of a jacket structure can be formally quantified through a value of information analysis from Bayesian decision theory. In this contribution, we present a framework for optimizing the placement of vibration sensors on offshore jacket structures by maximizing the value of information of the monitoring system. To solve the resulting discrete optimization problem, we adapt a genetic algorithm. The framework is demonstrated in a numerical example considering a redundant jacket-type steel frame. The numerical study shows that monitoring the vibration response of the frame is beneficial. Good sensor setups consist of relatively few sensors located towards the upper part of the
frame. The adapted genetic algorithm performs similarly well as established sequential sensor placement algorithms and holds substantial promise for application to real jacket structures.
In this article, a partial selection of experiments on enhancing the impact resistance of structural components with non-metallic, textile-reinforced concrete is discussed. The focus is on the experimental investigations in which the impact resistance of thin, textile-reinforced concrete plates is characterized. The article discusses the materials, fabrics and test setup used. For the experimental work, a drop tower from the Otto Mohr Laboratory, which belongs to the Technische Universtät Dresden, was used. Furthermore, the experimental results are presented and evaluated using different methods. Based on the collected data, a suitable approach to determining the perforation velocity of an impactor through the investigated thin, textile-reinforced concrete plates is shown.
A significant number of new wind farms has to be installed and, at the same time, existing wind farms reaching the end of their planned life need to be reused efficiently to ensure that the ambitous goals for deploying offshore wind are met. Some relevant reuse alternatives for offshore wind farms are lifetime extension, repowering utilizing existing substructures and full replacement. In this presentation - starting from experience gained from extending the lifetime of the of the U1 metro viaduct in Berlin - we discuss end-of-life decision making in offshore wind. We focus particularly on issues concerning substructures and highlight existing challenges and opprtunities in research and development.
Nowadays geotechnical engineering firms have powerful software tools to extent their consulting business also into dynamic soil-structure interaction, which before has been restricted to a rather small community of specialized experts in this field, and they certainly do. This is particularly true with respect to non-seismic sources, that is all kinds of human induced vibrations. Hence, there is a demand from clients as well as from contractors to have guidance on the requirements as well as the limits of numerical modelling of soil-structure interaction. From the literature as well as from relevant standards, recommendations for the numerical modelling of soil-structure interaction problems involving seismic actions are well known, e. g. ASCE/SEI 4-16. There are, however, some particularities when dealing with human-induced vibrations, which are absent in seismic analyses. For human-induced excitations very little specific guidance has been published in the past. A machine foundation on a homogeneous half space excited by harmonic loads with excitation frequency between 4 Hz and 64 Hz has been analysed by means of several commercially available software packages. Parametric studies have been performed to verify if recommendations for seismic soil-structure analyses are valid for non-seismic analyses as well. This paper provides details on the benchmark example and the most important conclusions from the undertaken parametric studies.
Current standards like ISO 14837-32:2015 and DIN EN 1998-1/NA:2021 as well as prEN 1997-2:2022 allow for using correlations between the results of in-situ soil penetration tests and shear wave velocity (or shear modulus) to determine soil properties to be used in dynamic analyses. While the ISO and prEN standards even provide some recommendations on specific correlations to be used, the DIN standard does not. Due to the statistical nature of such correlations their general applicability has to be verified. We collected data sets from test sites from Germany as well as New Zealand at which cone penetration tests (CPT) as well as seismic site investigation methods were conducted. These sites comprise sandy soils as well as clayey soils, mixed soils as well as glacial soils. We compare the results of several correlations between CPT results and shear wave velocity. The accuracy of such correlations is assessed with respect to the accuracy of seismic in-situ tests. It turns out that for clean sands such correlations between CPT and Vs have a similar order of variability as seismic in-situ tests conducted at the same site. The higher the fines portion of the soil, the higher the variability of the statistical correlations, and consequently the less the general applicability. For glacial soils and other special soil types usage of statistical correlations to determine dynamic soil properties is not recommended.
The vehicle–track interaction generates forces and consequently vibrations in the environment. The interaction has been analysed by the simultaneous measurements of vehicle, track and ground vibrations during test runs with varied train speeds. The special effects of the passage over a bridge and through a tunnel are studied and compared with the measurements on a conventional ballasted surface line. The maximum amplitudes, narrow band and one-third octave band spectra are presented for the axle-box accelerations and for the track, bridge and ground vibrations. The different frequencies and frequency bands are related to wheel out-of-roundness, track alignment errors, the sleeper passage and the wheelset–track resonance. An axle impulse component has been observed at the track, at the near-field soil and as a scattered version in the far field. Specific results can be found for the bridge track, where clearly speed-dependent bridge resonances occur due to the axle sequence of the train, and for the tunnel track where soft rail pads are responsible for a strong amplification around the wheelset–track resonance. On the other hand, the axle impulses are strongly reduced by the tunnel track, and the scattered axle impulse component is not as relevant as for the surface track. As a consequence, a strong mid-frequency amplitude reduction of the tunnel compared to the surface line has been measured for low and high train speeds by the Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing (BAM) and by other institutes.
The Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing has performed many impact tests from very small laboratory tests to very big “free-field” tests with heavy containers on stiff foundations. The first measurements have been done on a big foundation where it should be guaranteed that the foundation is rigid and the container is tested properly. Later on, a smaller drop test facility has been built on the ground inside an existing building. It had to be controlled by prediction and measurements that the drop test will not damage the building. Tests from different heights on soft, medium, and stiff targets have been done to find out rules which allow to identify acceptable and unacceptable drop tests. Later on, the biggest drop test facility has been built for masses up to 200 t. It was necessary for the design of the foundation to estimate the forces which oc-cur during the drop tests. In addititon, the acceptable tests should be selected and controlled by measurements where the impact duration is important. Dif-ferent sensors, accelerometers, accelerometers with mechanical filters, geo-phones (velocity transducers), strain gauges, and pressure cells have been ap-plied for these tasks. Signal transformations and model calculations have been used to check and understand the dynamic measurements. The simplest law is the conservation of the momentum which is a good approximation if the impact is short. If the soil under the foundation has an influence on the deceleration of the container, the maximum foundation velocity is lower than the simple esti-mation.
The propagation of ground vibrations is theoretically analysed with frequency-wavenumber and simplified methods. Experimental methods are presented which can characterise the site-specific ground vibrations by wave velocities, stiffness and damping. Measurements with hammer and train excitation have been performed at several sites. The one-third octave spectra show the stiffness-dependent amplitudes and the low- and high-frequency filter effects due to the layering and the damping of the soil. Specific train effects, an additional high-frequency filter, the sleeper passage frequency, and an amplified mid-frequency component can be clearly found. The attenuation with distance is analysed in detail where the theoretical exponential and the empirical frequency-dependent power law are considered. Hammer and train excitation show the same site-specific effects which are mainly due to the stronger or weaker damping of the soil. The train attenuation is generally weaker than the hammer attenuation. The attenuation exponent of the power law, which is strongly dependent on the site and the frequency, is reduced for the train vibration by 0.3 to 0.5 in agreement with the theory. Reasons are discussed for the overall power law and for the dominating mid-frequency component.
The Federal Institute of Material Research and Testing has performed many impact tests from very small laboratory tests to very big “free-field” tests with heavy containers on stiff foundations. The first measurements have been done on a big foundation where it should be guaranteed that the foundation is rigid and the container is tested properly. Later on, a smaller drop test facility has been built on the ground inside an existing building. It had to be controlled by prediction and measurements that the drop test will not damage the building. Tests from different heights on soft, medium, and stiff targets have been done to find out rules which allow to identify acceptable and unacceptable drop tests. Later on, the biggest drop test facility has been built for masses up to 200 t. It was necessary for the design of the foundation to estimate the forces which oc-cur during the drop tests. In addititon, the acceptable tests should be selected and controlled by measurements where the impact duration is important. Dif-ferent sensors, accelerometers, accelerometers with mechanical filters, geo-phones (velocity transducers), strain gauges, and pressure cells have been ap-plied for these tasks. Signal transformations and model calculations have been used to check and understand the dynamic measurements. The simplest law is the conservation of the momentum which is a good approximation if the impact is short. If the soil under the foundation has an influence on the deceleration of the container, the maximum foundation velocity is lower than the simple esti-mation.
Monopile-Gründungen sind die mit Abstand am häufigsten verwendete Gründungskonstruktion für Offshore-Windenergieanlagen. Ein wesentliches Problem bei der Bemessung ist das lokale Beulen des Gründungspfahls, welches typischerweise im Bereich der Bettung auftritt. Aufgrund der Nichtlinearität der Bettungsrandbedingung sind klassische Bemessungsansätze nicht anwendbar, so dass der Bemessungsingenieur auf eine vollständig numerische Berechnung zurückgreifen muss. In diesem Vortrag wird eine experimentelle Versuchskampagne zur Erzeugung von Kalibrierungsdaten für solche numerischen Modelle vorgestellt. Eine ausführlichere Darstellung findet sich im gleichnamigen Artikel.
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 (less than1 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. These effects are prominent in the meso-pore range and might significantly alter the effective diffusion coefficient.
Monopiles are currently the predominant foundation type for offshore wind turbines in Europe. Due to the increasing dimensions of the turbines, pile diameters beyond 10m become necessary. A design-relevant failure mode of monopiles is the local buckling of the pile wall in the embedded sections. Relevant buckling guidelines do not consider the soil-structure interaction specifically, although the embedment may allow for a reduction of wall thickness. However, Eurocode-based design concepts require a validation with comparative buckling cases for validation, either in terms of buckling curve parameters for both the algebraic stress-based and semi-numerical LBA/MNA design concept or as a calibration factor kGMNIA for fully numerical GMNIA calculations. These parameters are not yet available for embedded shells. To close this gap, we have conducted experiments on piles embedded in sand to investigate local buckling under soil-structure-interaction. The results will be used to calibrate numerical models. This research was carried out as part of the VERBATIM research project, funded by PTJ/BMWK and supported by the Carbon Trust's Offshore Wind Accelerator consortium.
One crucial metric of interest to wind farm operators is the remaining useful life (RUL) of single components, wind turbines, or even entire wind farms. Occasionally, questions arise regarding how to operate a turbine, even in the presence of manufacturing or design errors, which from a computational design standpoint reduce the remaining lifetime below the intended service life. A typical measure involves adapting the monitoring and inspection plan. Using such a maintenance plan, the author intends to simulate the lifetime of jacket-type structure in a fatigue test. The objective of the experiment is to demostrate that systems like three-dimensional jackets possess redundancies that enable reliable continued operation, despite the reduced fatigue life of individual components due to technical flaws, if an appropriate maintenance concept is in place. This presentation discusses the steps leading to the procedure of the experiment including the design process and the maintenance planning.
Quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steels are characterized by an excellent combination of strength and ductility, opening up great potentials for advanced lightweight components. The Q&P treatment results in microstructures with a martensitic matrix being responsible for increased strength whereas interstitially enriched metastable retained austenite (RA) contributes to excellent ductility. Herein, a comprehensive experimental characterization of microstructure evolution and austenite stability is carried out on a 42CrSi steel being subjected to different Q&P treatments. The microstructure of both conditions is characterized by scanning electron microscopy as well as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) phase analysis. Besides macroscopic standard tensile tests, RA evolution under tensile loading is investigated by in situ XRD using synchrotron and laboratory methods. As a result of different quenching temperatures, the two conditions considered are characterized by different RA contents and morphologies, resulting in different strain hardening behaviors as well as strength and ductility values under tensile loading. In situ synchrotron measurements show differences in the transformation kinetics being rationalized by the different morphologies of the RA. Eventually, the evolution of the phase specific stresses can be explained by the well‐known Masing model.
Train-induced ground vibrations - the emission and transmission from tunnel and surface lines
(2023)
Train-induced ground vibrations are quite different for tunnel and surface lines. The excitation of the track and ground vibration by the vehicle-track-soil interaction maybe influenced by the stiffer track support of the tunnel invert. The excited waves are propagating on a different path compared to the surface line. The wave propagation in the interior of the soil is calculated by a wavenumber integral in a similar way as the propagation along the surface and a general reduction of < 0.5 has been found. An additional reduction has been found because of the missing Rayleigh wave. The different excitation of tunnel lines is analysed theoretically by the combined finite-element boundary-element method and some results about the influencing tunnel and soil parameters will be shown. Measurements have been made at the Mühlberg-Tunnel in Germany. The vibrations of the train, the track and the soil have been measured simultaneously at the tunnel and a nearby surface line. Spectra will be shown for different train speeds between 60 and 160 km/h. A clear reduction effect for the tunnel line compared to the surface line has been observed in a specific (train-speed-dependent) frequency range. This agrees well with the observations of other research institutes. The mid-frequency tunnel-surface reduction seems to be a consequence of the stiffer track structure which leads to a wider distribution of the axle loads. Therefore, the axle impulses due to the train passage are longer and have a lower frequency content. This will have an effect on the ground vibrations at some distance which are present in case of an irregular transmission path through a ballast and soil with varying stiffness. A similar reduction effect can also be found for other track forms where the axle impulses are distributed on a longer track segment, for example slab tracks, tracks with under ballast plates, under ballast mats or under sleeper pads.
The resonances of railway bridges have often been analysed for short bridges under periodical high-speed trains, for simply supported one-span bridges, for the fundamental bridge mode, and by time-domain analyses. Many time-consuming calculations have been performed to establish simplified rules for standards. In this contribution, the passage of different (existing, new and hypothetic) trains over different bridges will be analysed in frequency domain by using three separated spectra with the purpose to get a better physical insight in the phenomena. At first, the excitation spectrum of the modal forces is built by the mode shape and the passage time of the train over the bridge. The second spectrum is the frequency response function of the bridge which include the modal frequency, damping and mass. The third part is the spectrum of the axle sequence of an arbitrary train which is not limited to periodical or specific (conventional, articulated, regular or standard) trains and which does not include any bridge parameters. The final solution in frequency domain is obtained as the product of these three complex, strongly varying spectra for the dominating bridge mode or in general as the sum of these products over all relevant bridge modes. The time domain solution is obtained via the inverse Fourier transform, and the resulting time histories have been successfully compared with some measurement results. The method is applied to the vertical and torsional modes of a mid-long 1-span bridge on elastomeric bearings under standard train speeds, and to a long multi-span integral bridge under long periodical freight trains. Different resonance and cancellation effects have been found for systematically varied train speeds according to the axle sequence of the whole train which is dominated by the two locomotives in that case. To be more specific, the first torsional mode of the mid-span bridge is excited for a train speed of 100 km/h whereas the second bending mode is excited for a train speed of 160 km/h. In both cases, the other mode is suppressed by the minima of the axle-distance spectra. In addition, the case of the German high-speed train ICE4 and the very high-speed hyperloop case will be discussed briefly. In general, it is shown that resonance effects are also worth to be studied for freight and passenger trains with lower speeds.
The soil-foundation-structure interaction is always important when building vibrations due to train passages have to be considered. The frequency range for train vibrations is up to 100 Hz. Normally, soft surface soils are crucial so that the wavelength can be much smaller than the foundation dimensions. Three topics are of interest for the prediction and the under-standing of building vibrations. 1. The „kinematic interaction“ or the „added foundation ef-fect“, which is calculated either by the combined boundary-element finite-element method or by the wavenumber domain method, results in a reduction of the free-field vibration. The stiff-ness of the foundation resists the wave deformation, plates and walls for horizontally propa-gating waves or piles for vertically incident waves. 2. The „inertial interaction“ or the „added building effect“ yields an amplification around the vertical building resonance, which may be a rigid mode on the compliant soil or a flexible mode for high-rise buildings, and a reduction at higher frequencies. This has been analysed by detailed finite element models of apartment and office buildings. 3. Base isolation is a method to further reduce building vibrations. It is important to know the soil-foundation impedance for the possible reduction, as well as the correct building impedance. A high-rise building cannot be considered as a rigid mass model. It has a frequency-dependent behaviour with longitudinal waves travelling from the founda-tion to the top of the building which include the effect of floor vibrations. Experiences from building projects in Vienna, Frankfort and Berlin will give some additional results for the ex-citation from tunnel lines, the kinematic response of pile foundations, and the inertial re-sponse of the flexible multi-storey buildings.
The reduction in train-induced ground vibrations by different railway lines and by mitigation measures in the propagation path was analysed in a unified approach by two-dimensional finite element calculations. In general, there was no reduction at low frequencies, and the reduction be-came stronger with increasing frequencies. A maximum reduction of 0.1 at high frequencies was established with an open trench. Reductions between 0.7 and 0.2 have been found for the other sit-uations, filled trenches, walls, plates, and blocks, as well as for railway lines on dams, in cuts and in a tunnel. Bridges can produce amplifications due to their resonance frequencies, but also strong reductions due to massive bridge piers. The influence of some parameters has been analysed, such as the bridge span, the inclination of the dam and the cut, the stiffness of the soil, and the tunnel structure. The dynamic track stiffnesses of a surface, bridge, and tunnel track have been calculated using the 3D finite-element boundary-element method for comparison with corresponding meas-urements.
Train-induced ground vibrations – The emission and transmission from tunnel and surface lines
(2023)
Train-induced ground vibrations are quite different for tunnel and surface lines. The excitation of the track and ground vibration by the vehicle-track-soil interaction maybe influenced by the stiffer track support of the tunnel invert. The excited waves are propagating on a different path compared to the surface line. The wave propagation in the interior of the soil is calculated by a wavenumber integral in a similar way as the propagation along the surface and a general reduction of < 0.5 has been found. An additional reduction has been found because of the missing Rayleigh wave. The different excitation of tunnel lines is analysed theoretically by the combined finite-element boundary-element method and some results about the influencing tunnel and soil parameters will be shown. Measurements have been made at the Mühlberg-Tunnel in Germany. The vibrations of the train, the track and the soil have been measured simultaneously at the tunnel and a nearby surface line. Spectra will be shown for different train speeds between 60 and 160 km/h. A clear reduction effect for the tunnel line compared to the surface line has been observed in a specific (train-speed-dependent) frequency range. This agrees well with the observations of other research institutes. The mid-frequency tunnel-surface reduction seems to be a consequence of the stiffer track structure which leads to a wider distribution of the axle loads. Therefore, the axle impulses due to the train passage are longer and have a lower frequency content. This will have an effect on the ground vibrations at some distance which are present in case of an irregular transmission path through a ballast and soil with varying stiffness. A similar reduction effect can also be found for other track forms where the axle impulses are distributed on a longer track segment, for example slab tracks, tracks with under ballast plates, under ballast mats or under sleeper pads.
The resonances of railway bridges have often been analysed for short bridges under periodical high-speed trains, for simply supported one-span bridges, for the fundamental bridge mode, and by time-domain analyses. Many time-consuming calculations have been performed to establish simplified rules for standards. In this contribution, the passage of different (existing, new and hypothetic) trains over different bridges will be analysed in frequency domain by using three separated spectra with the purpose to get a better physical insight in the phenomena. At first, the excitation spectrum of the modal forces is built by the mode shape and the passage time of the train over the bridge. The second spectrum is the frequency response function of the bridge which include the modal frequency, damping and mass. The third part is the spectrum of the axle sequence of an arbitrary train which is not limited to periodical or specific (conventional, articulated, regular or standard) trains and which does not include any bridge parameters. The final solution in frequency domain is obtained as the product of these three complex, strongly varying spectra for the dominating bridge mode or in general as the sum of these products over all relevant bridge modes. The time domain solution is obtained via the inverse Fourier transform, and the resulting time histories have been successfully compared with some measurement results. The method is applied to the vertical and torsional modes of a mid-long 1-span bridge on elastomeric bearings under standard train speeds, and to a long multi-span integral bridge under long periodical freight trains. Different resonance and cancellation effects have been found for systematically varied train speeds according to the axle sequence of the whole train which is dominated by the two locomotives in that case. To be more specific, the first torsional mode of the mid-span bridge is excited for a train speed of 100 km/h whereas the second bending mode is excited for a train speed of 160 km/h. In both cases, the other mode is suppressed by the minima of the axle-distance spectra. In addition, the case of the German high-speed train ICE4 and the very high-speed hyperloop case will be discussed briefly. In general, it is shown that resonance effects are also worth to be studied for freight and passenger trains with lower speeds.
The soil-foundation-structure interaction is always important when building vibrations due to train passages have to be considered. The frequency range for train vibrations is up to 100 Hz. Normally, soft surface soils are crucial so that the wavelength can be much smaller than the foundation dimensions. Three topics are of interest for the prediction and the under-standing of building vibrations. 1. The „kinematic interaction“ or the „added foundation ef-fect“, which is calculated either by the combined boundary-element finite-element method or by the wavenumber domain method, results in a reduction of the free-field vibration. The stiff-ness of the foundation resists the wave deformation, plates and walls for horizontally propa-gating waves or piles for vertically incident waves. 2. The „inertial interaction“ or the „added building effect“ yields an amplification around the vertical building resonance, which may be a rigid mode on the compliant soil or a flexible mode for high-rise buildings, and a reduction at higher frequencies. This has been analysed by detailed finite element models of apartment and office buildings. 3. Base isolation is a method to further reduce building vibrations. It is important to know the soil-foundation impedance for the possible reduction, as well as the correct building impedance. A high-rise building cannot be considered as a rigid mass model. It has a frequency-dependent behaviour with longitudinal waves travelling from the founda-tion to the top of the building which include the effect of floor vibrations. Experiences from building projects in Vienna, Frankfort and Berlin will give some additional results for the ex-citation from tunnel lines, the kinematic response of pile foundations, and the inertial re-sponse of the flexible multi-storey buildings.
The contribution shows measurement examples of cars, floors, foundations, railway tracks, a footbridge, and a railbridge. Vibrations may include modes and waves. Namely in soil-structure interaction, modes are damped, shifted and prevented so that alternatives for the modal analysis are necessary: The approximation of the whole spectrum (flexibility function) and of the whole train passage (moving-load response).