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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.
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.
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).
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.
As many wind turbines approach the end of their design lifetime, from a technical point of view, comprehensive fatigue analysis of all critical parts is necessary to decide what comes after – continued operation, repowering, or decommissioning. Typically, it is a two-stage evaluation process consisting of a physical inspection of the structure and an analytical part to compare the design and actually experienced loading conditions. Structural health monitoring helps to reduce the uncertainties in the estimations by providing insight into deviations between the designed and the built structure. Furthermore, it allows the evaluation of the consumed fatigue lifetime by analyzing the strain measurements that mirror the actual structural response to experienced environmental and operational conditions. However, the measurement values are limited to a sparse number of instrumented spots on the structure, and further extrapolation to the non-instrumented (critical) sections is required to perform a complete fatigue assessment. One known approach is the external force reconstruction, which has only scarcely been considered for application in offshore wind turbines. In order to extend the previously developed thrust force reconstruction framework, this work discusses the possibilities and challenges of wind and wave loading reconstruction in offshore wind turbine support structures.
Using digital twins for decision making is a very promising concept which combines simulation models with corresponding experimental sensor data in order to support maintenance decisions or to investigate the reliability. The quality of the prognosis strongly depends on both the data quality and the quality of the digital twin. The latter comprises both the modeling assumptions as well as the correct parameters of these models. This article discusses the challenges when applying this concept to realmeasurement data for a demonstrator bridge in the lab, including the data management, the iterative development of the simulation model as well as the identification/updating procedure using Bayesian inference with a potentially large number of parameters. The investigated scenarios include both the iterative identification of the structural model parameters as well as scenarios related to a damage identification. In addition, the article aims at providing all models and data in a reproducibleway such that other researcher can use this setup to validate their methodologies.
The research project Verification of Buckling Assessment and Behaviour in Large Monopiles (VERBATIM) focuses on challenges arising due to the ongoing increase of dimensions of monopiles as foundation for offshore wind turbines. This project is focused on two main topics:
- Monopile tip buckling during pile installation
- Local buckling of embedded piles during operation
It is known from previous investigations and experiences in practice that large deformations of a monopile tip during offshore installation works can occur. These large deformations initiated at the tip of the monopile are commonly referred to as “pile tip buckling”. Own research focuses on optimising monopile dimensions to reduce the cost of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines while preventing pile tip buckling.
Buckling of embedded cylindrical shells for offshore structures is a common engineering task. Structures can be analysed using standard software and have been done so in recent studies e.g., Gottschalk. However, the trend towards larger monopile and optimised structures has led to a fundamental need for better and verified models. A main challenge is the submodelling of the structure-soil-interaction. Developing such complex models is one main goal of the VERBATIM project.
For both main topics model tests were performed at the laboratories of BAM and TU Berlin. These experimental results were used to verify related numerical models and simulations.
The new crack luminescence method offers the possibility of making fatigue surface cracks in metallic materials more visible during inspections through a special coating system. This coating system consists of two layers, whereby the first layer has fluorescent properties and emits visible light as soon as it is irradiated by UV light. The top layer is black and is designed to prevent the fluorescent layer from emitting if no crack develops in the underlying material.
The technique proved particularly useful in a wide variety of fatigue tests of steel components under laboratory conditions. Moreover, it has the potential to be used in various industrial applications. To enable industrial deployment and integration into maintenance strategies, a concept study is developed in this contribution, resulting in a qualification framework that can serve as a foundation for determining the reliability of the crack luminescence system in terms of a probability of detection curve. Within this study, factors causing measurement variability and uncertainty are being determined and their influences assessed. Due to the extension of the system by a moving computer vision system for automated crack detection using artificial intelligence, additional long-term effects associated with structural health monitoring systems need to be incorporated into an extended probability of detection study as part of the technical justification.
Finally, important aspects and findings related to design of experiments are discussed, and a framework for reliability assessment of a new optical crack monitoring method is presented, emphasizing the influence of various uncertainty parameters, including long-term effects such as system ageing.
The new crack luminescence method offers the possibility of making fatigue surface cracks in metallic materials more visible during inspections through a special coating system. This coating system consists of two layers, whereby the first layer has fluorescent properties and emits visible light as soon as it is irradiated by UV light. The top layer is black and is designed to prevent the fluorescent layer from emitting if no crack develops in the underlying material. The technique proved particularly useful in a wide variety of fatigue tests of steel components under laboratory conditions. Moreover, it has the potential to be used in various industrial applications. To enable industrial deployment and integration into maintenance strategies, a concept study is developed in this contribution, resulting in a qualification framework that can serve as a foundation for determining the reliability of the crack luminescence system in terms of a probability of detection curve. Within this study, factors causing measurement variability and uncertainty are being determined and their influences assessed. Due to the extension of the system by a moving computer vision system for automated crack detection using artificial intelligence, additional long-term effects associated with structural health monitoring systems need to be incorporated into an extended probability of detection study as part of the technical justification. Finally, important aspects and findings related to design of experiments are discussed, and a framework for reliability assessment of a new optical crack monitoring method is presented, emphasizing the influence of various uncertainty parameters, including long-term effects such as system ageing.
The long-term preservation of our infrastructure requires not only intelligent sensor technology and highly developed monitoring procedures, but also innovative digital tools for analyzing, evaluating and utilizing the results. This includes mathematical and, in particular, probabilistic methods for damage detection and tracking as well as for calculating service life and maintenance cycles and data management. The example project Maintal Bridge Gemuenden as part of the AISTEC project shows the workflow for the implementation of structural health monitoring and experimental tests with a train of Deutsche Bahn. The influence lines, as one possible way for damage detection, were measured with a highly accurate GNSS System to locate the trains position when crossing the bridge. The results were compared to measurements from 1987 just before the bridge went in operation.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The second lecture continues with the case of laterally loaded offshore piles, which bears most relevance for the case of the monopile foundations. Here again, a clear separation between physical reality and design methods is intended.
Finally, the last part of the second lecture introduces several advanced topics which lie outside the classical design approaches, namely the hydromechanical coupling effects (i.e. the excess pore-pressure generation around the monopiles), the cyclic pile fatigue and the so-called pile setup (i.e. the time effects on the axial pile capacity). The relevance of the latter two topics is illustrated with experimental results from a field testing campaign on real large-scale piles.
This presentation deals with the phenomenology and design of pile foundations for offshore wind turbines, and is divided into two lectures.
The first lecture presents a brief introduction to the context and peculiarities of such foundations, and then focuses on the particular case of axially loaded piles. This part is most relevant for the relatively slender piles of the multi-pile substructures (i.e. jackets and tripods). A clear distinction between physical phenomenology and practical design is drawn here.
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 %.
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 m), 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 %.
An assessment of the elastic-plastic buckling limit state for multi-strake wind turbine support towers poses a particular challenge for the modern finite element analyst, who must competently navigate numerous modelling choices related to the tug-of-war between meshing and computational cost, the use of solvers that are robust to highly nonlinear behaviour, the potential for multiple near-simultaneously critical failure locations, the complex issue of imperfection sensitivity and finally the interpretation of the data into a safe and economic design.
This paper reports on an international ‘round-robin’ exercise conducted in 2022 aiming to take stock of the computational shell buckling expertise around the world which attracted 29 submissions. Participants were asked to perform analyses of increasing complexity on a standardised benchmark of an 8-MW multi-strake steel wind turbine support tower segment, from a linear elastic stress analysis to a linear bifurcation analysis to a geometrically and materially nonlinear buckling analysis with imperfections. The results are a showcase of the significant shell buckling expertise now available in both industry and academia.
This paper is the first of a pair. The second paper presents a detailed reference solution to the benchmark, including an illustration of the Eurocode-compliant calibration of two important imperfection forms.
Ground vibrations near railway lines are generated by the forces that are acting between wheel and rail. It seems to be a straight forward assumption that the vehicle dynamics are important for the level and the frequencies of the excitation forces. Different vehicle dynamics phenomena are analysed for their role in the excitation of ground vibrations: rigid body modes of the bogies, elastic (bending) modes of the car body, and elastic modes of the wheelset. The theoretical analyses use rigid body models, simplified elastic models, and detailed elastic models. Some of these problems are vehicle–track interaction problems where 3D finite‑element boundary‑element models have been used for the track and soil. It is shown that the rigid or flexible vehicle modes are well in the frequency range of ground vibrations (4 to 100 Hz). They have an influence on the excitation force but the additional forces are rather small and can be neglected in ground vibration prediction. The theoretical results are checked by experimental results of a simultaneous measurement of vehicle,
track, and ground vibrations.
Design challenges for Offshore wind-farms. From foundation mechanics to wind-farm aerodynamics
(2023)
This talk provides a brief introduction on general engineering design challenges for the offshore wind energy production. Some general features of the offshore wind-energy field from a civil engineering perspective are firstly presented, followed by a brief discussion of some of the main geomechanical issues for the foundation of the offshore turbines into the seabed.
In the following part, an overview of relevant fluid-structure interactions and some options for an efficient numerical analysis are provided, where the hydromechanical Wave–Tower interaction is firstly discussed. Then, some general aspects of the windfarm aerodynamics are introduced. On the one hand, some modelling possibilities for the wake analysis of single turbines and turbine groups are discussed. And on the other hand the relevance of such analyses for a proper windfarm layout optimization is pointed out.
In particular, this talk shows that: i) The performance and behavior of the turbine's foundation is often conditioned by the appearance of large deformations, fluid couplings and grain-scale phenomena, whereby specific physical testing (both in field and lab conditions) and ad-hoc simulation techniques can provide useful insights for design; ii) Numerical analysis of a turbine’s interaction with wind/waves is already affordable in engineering scales, while simplified models can already provide a useful insight into the windfarm aerodynamics. iii) Turbulent wake analysis is very relevant for the windfarm layout.