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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.
Remediation of Cracks Formed in Grouted Connections of Offshore Energy Structures under Static Loads
(2018)
The future energy demand necessitates the exploration of all potential energy sources both onshore and offshore. Global trend has shifted towards offshore energy, which can be obtained from either carbon intensive or renewable options, hence requiring structures such as rigs, platforms, and monopiles. Most of these structures adopt easily installable construction techniques, where lower foundation need to be connected with the super structure by mean of grouted composite joints. Generally, these composite connections have exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill grout. Being located in remote offshore conditions, connections can experience considerable adverse loading during their lifetimes. Degradations were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites may often be proven difficult, which eventually leads to reduced capacity of connections in the long run. Thus, repair and rehabilitation of such connections should be planned ahead to minimize operational delays and costs in the future. This study aims at characterizing the nature of crack generation in grouted connections and thereby identifying the potential of repair using suitable repair material. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel mold, and connections were loaded under static load to visualize the main failure pattern. The failure mechanism and loading capacity are found compatible to previous results from earlier literature. Grouted connection was then repaired using cementitious injectable grout. The effectiveness of the repair system is also discussed.
Repair is an indispensable part of the maintenance of structures over their lifetimes. Structural grouting is a widely used remediation technique for concrete components, trenches, mine subsidence, dam joints, restoration of masonry structures, and geological stabilizations. A structural grout system should be injectable in narrow spaces and hence include ingredients with finer particles. Ultrafine cements are ideal for these type of demanding grouts due to their superior properties compared to that of the less expensive, but coarser ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are often used to replace OPC clinker based binder in order to modify certain properties and to reduce costs. The most commonly used SCMs are fly ash (FA), and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). For various special applications microsilica (MS), and metakaolin (MK) are also used. Identifying the optimum replacement contents of OPC by SCMs are a challenge during the design of such grouts. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of the selected SCMs (FA, MS and MK) on the slump flow, time of efflux, viscosity, shrinkage, and compressive and flexural strength of ultrafine cement based grouts with constant water-binder ratio and superplasticizer content. The test program was formulated using Box-Behnken design principles. Maximum percentages of replacement with ultrafine cement was 6% by volume of cement for MS and 16% for FA, and MK. The results suggest that most investigated grouts have the potential to be used for structural applications. The appropriate quadratic models are then formulated through statistical tools and presented as response surfaces. The trends indicate that fly ash improves the rheological properties, whereas microsilica and metakaolin positively affect shrinkage and mechanical properties to some extent. Based on the influence of SCMs and priorities among the properties, Decision Matrix Analysis (DMA) is carried out to select the most suitable ones among the SCMs. The analysis suggests that microsilica and fly ash are more suitable as SCMs than metakaolin without affecting the properties.
Superplasticizer and Shrinkage Reducing Admixture Dosages for Microfine Cement in Grout Systems
(2019)
Grouts have numerous applications including crack repair as maintenance in construction industries. Microfine cements are intensively used for high strength mortar and grout products. They are ideal for injection grouting in structural repair. Such grouts should have suitable rheological properties to be injectable, especially those used in repair and rehabilitation. The use of superplasticizers (SP) in these products is thus becoming increasingly crucial to achieve favorable workability and viscosity properties. A difficulty in such grouts is the plastic shrinkage due to finer particles used. It is thus necessary to determine optimum SP and shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA) dosages for a microfine cement based grout. In this study, a saturation dosage was decided from two Polycarboxylate ether (PCE) based SPs in relation to neat cement using slump flow and rheological parameters. A range of grout mixtures was formulated containing micro silica (MS) and fly ash (FA), and tested for suitable rheological and mechanical parameters. Based on the results, a grout mixture with MS and FA was selected to determine optimum SRA content. According to the results, a SP dosage of 3% by weight of neat cement is sufficient to achieve saturation. The grout material including MS and FA can produce comparable properties to neat cement grout. MS is found to improve compressive strength within the range considered, whereas a higher FA content provides favourable rheological properties. Finally, a SRA dosage of 4%, which could reduce the shrinkage by about 43% after 28d days, is determined for the grout system.
Grouting is a universal repair and strengthening technique, which is constantly used for structural remediation of concrete components, trenches, mine subsidence, dam joints, restoration of masonry structures, and geological stabilizations. Having an extremely small particle size of only few microns, ultrafine cements are ideal for grouting applications due to their superior permeability and compressive strength properties of the hardened cement paste compared to that of the less-expensive, but coarser ordinary Portland cements. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are often used to replace ultrafine cement in order to modify certain properties and to reduce costs. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of three supplementary materials: microsilica (MS), fly ash (FA), and metakaolin (MK) on the workability, and mechanical properties of an ultrafine cement based grout with a constant water-binder ratio and constant superplasticizer content. Maximum percentages of replacement with ultrafine cement were 6% by volume of cement for MS and 16% for FA, and MK. In general, results suggest that the workability is improved by addition of FA, whereas is reduced, when modified with MS and MK. The compressive strength of grout after cement replacement remains comparable to that of pure cement grout. However, there is a tendency of the MS to positively affect the compressive strength opposite to FA, whereas flexural strength is positively affected by FA. Based on the results, it is evident that grouts with Hägerman cone flow more than 500 mm and compressive strength of more than 90 MPa after 28 days can be produced.
Grouts have numerous applications in construction industry such as joint sealing, structural repair, and connections in precast elements. They are particularly favoured in rehabilitation of structures due to penetrability and convenience of application. Grouts for repair applications typically require high-performance properties such as rapid strength development and superior shrinkage characteristics. Sometimes industrial by-products referred as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are used with neat cement due to their capabilities to provide binding properties at delayed stage. Micro silica, fly ash and metakaolin are such SCMs, those can modify and improve properties of cement products. This study aims at investigating long-term mass loss and linear shrinkage along with long-term compressive and flexural strength for grouts produced from ultrafine cement and SCMs. A series of mixtures were formulated to observe the effect of SCMs on these grout properties. Properties were determined after 365 days of curing at 23oC and 55% relative humidity. The effect of SCMs on the properties are characterised by statistical models. Response surfaces were constructed to quantify these properties in relation to SCMs replacement. The results suggested that shrinkage was reduced by metakaolin, while micro silica and fly ash had positive effects on compressive and flexural strength, respectively.
Remediation of Cracks Formed in Grouted Connections of Offshore Energy Structures under Static Loads
(2018)
The future energy demand necessitates the exploration of all potential energy sources both onshore and offshore. Global trend has shifted towards offshore energy, which can be obtained from either carbon intensive or renewable options, hence requiring structures such as rigs, platforms, and monopiles. Most of these structures adopt easily installable construction techniques, where lower foundation need to be connected with the super structure by mean of grouted composite joints. Generally, these composite connections have exterior sleeve, interior pile and infill grout. Being located in remote offshore conditions, connections can experience considerable adverse loading during their lifetimes. Degradations were reported inside similar connections, which were installed in last three decades. Besides, grouting in the offshore sites may often be proven difficult, which eventually leads to reduced capacity of connections in the long run. Thus, repair and rehabilitation of such connections should be planned ahead to minimize operational delays and costs in the future. This study aims at characterizing the nature of crack generation in grouted connections and thereby identifying the potential of repair using suitable repair material. Scaled grouted joints were manufactured using a novel mold, and connections were loaded under static load to visualize the main failure pattern. The failure mechanism and loading capacity are found compatible to previous results from earlier literature. Grouted connection was then repaired using cementitious injectable grout. The effectiveness of the repair system is also discussed.
Superplasticizer and shrinkage reducing admixture dosages for microfine cement in grout systems
(2018)
Grouts have numerous applications including crack repair as maintenance in construction industries. Microfine cements are intensively used for high strength mortar and grout products. They are ideal for injection grouting in structural repair. Such grouts should have suitable rheological properties to be injectable, especially those used in repair and rehabilitation. The use of superplasticizers (SP) in these products is thus becoming increasingly crucial to achieve favorable workability and viscosity properties. A difficulty in such grouts is the plastic shrinkage due to finer particles used. It is thus necessary to determine optimum SP and shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA) dosages for a microfine cement based grout. In this study, a saturation dosage was decided from two Polycarboxylate ether (PCE) based SPs in relation to neat cement using slump flow and rheological parameters. A range of grout mixtures was formulated containing micro silica (MS) and fly ash (FA), and tested for suitable rheological and mechanical parameters. Based on the results, a grout mixture with MS and FA was selected to determine optimum SRA content. According to the results, a SP dosage of 3% by weight of neat cement is sufficient to achieve saturation. The grout material including MS and FA can produce comparable properties to neat cement grout. MS is found to improve compressive strength within the range considered, whereas a higher FA content provides favourable rheological properties. Finally, a SRA dosage of 4%, which could reduce the shrinkage by about 43% after 28d days, is determined for the grout system.
Grouting is a universal repair and strengthening technique, which is constantly used for structural remediation of concrete components, trenches, mine subsidence, dam joints, restoration of masonry structures, and geological stabilizations. Having an extremely small particle size of only few microns, ultrafine cements are ideal for grouting applications due to their superior permeability and compressive strength properties of the hardened cement paste compared to that of the less-expensive, but coarser ordinary Portland cements. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are often used to replace ultrafine cement in order to modify certain properties and to reduce costs. The aim of this experimental study is to investigate the effect of three supplementary materials: microsilica (MS), fly ash (FA), and metakaolin (MK) on the workability, and mechanical properties of an ultrafine cement based grout with a constant water-binder ratio and constant superplasticizer content. Maximum percentages of replacement with ultrafine cement were 6% by volume of cement for MS and 16% for FA, and MK. In general, results suggest that the workability is improved by addition of FA, whereas is reduced, when modified with MS and MK. The compressive strength of grout after cement replacement remains comparable to that of pure cement grout. However, there is a tendency of the MS to positively affect the compressive strength opposite to FA, whereas flexural strength is positively affected by FA. Based on the results, it is evident that grouts with Hägerman cone flow more than 500 mm and compressive strength of more than 90 MPa after 28 days can be produced.
The reliability of deteriorating structures at time t is quantified by the probability that failure occurs within the period leading up to time t. This probability is often referred to as cumulative failure probability and is equal to the cumulative distribution function of the time to failure. In structural reliability, an estimate of the cumulative failure probability is obtained based on probabilistic Engineering models of the deterioration processes and structural performance. Information on the condition and the loading contained in inspection and monitoring data can be included in the probability estimate through Bayesian updating. Conditioning the
probability of failure on the inspection or monitoring outcomes available at time t (e.g. detections or no detection of damages) can lead to a reduction in that probability.
Such a drop in the cumulative failure probability might seem counterintuitive since the cumulative failure probability is a non-decreasing function of time. In this paper, we illustrate—with the help of a numerical example—that such a drop is possible because the cumulative probability before and after the updating is not based on the same information, hence not on the same probabilistic model.
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.
Identifying optimal inspection and repair strategies for offshore jacket structures is a challenging task. We pre-sent an approach, which is based on recent developments in the field of risk-based operation and maintenance planning at the structural system level. The approach utilizes heuristics to define inspection and repair strate-gies at the system level and to reduce the search space of possible strategies. For each defined strategy, the expected service life cost of inspection, repair and failure is evaluated based on simulated inspection and re-pair histories. Subset simulation is applied to compute the conditional repair and failure probabilities required for this analysis. It also forms the basis for simulating inspection and repair histories. The strategy that mini-mizes the expected service life cost is the optimal one in the set of pre-selected strategies. The underlying condition and performance model accounts for the stochastic dependence among the deterioration states of the different structural elements and the structural redundancy. The approach is demonstrated in a case study considering a jacket-type frame. In this study, we essentially vary the inspection interval, the minimum num-ber of inspected components and the target reliability, and identify the combination that minimizes the ex-pected total service life cost.
In this contribution, we consider two applications in which probabilistic approaches can potentially complement or enhance the design and assessment of offshore wind turbine foundations. First, we illustrate in a numerical example that probabilistic modelling can be helpful in dealing with chang-es in turbine locations during the planning phase of an offshore wind farm. In this case, spatial probabilistic modelling of the ground conditions enables (a) an inference of the soil properties at the modified turbine location from field data collected at different locations across an offshore wind farm site and (b) an optimisation of further site investigations. Second, we discuss the uncer-tainties and risks associated with the installation of large diameter monopiles in soils with hetero-geneities such as strong layers and/or embedded boulders. Subsequently, we present a concept for modelling, understanding, and managing these risks based on a probabilistic model of the subgrade conditions, monopile, and subgrade-pile-interaction.
Identifying optimal inspection and repair strategies for offshore jacket structures is a challenging task. We pre-sent an approach, which is based on recent developments in the field of risk-based operation and maintenance planning at the structural system level. The approach utilizes heuristics to define inspection and repair strate-gies at the system level and to reduce the search space of possible strategies. For each defined strategy, the expected service life cost of inspection, repair and failure is evaluated based on simulated inspection and re-pair histories. Subset simulation is applied to compute the conditional repair and failure probabilities required for this analysis. It also forms the basis for simulating inspection and repair histories. The strategy that mini-mizes the expected service life cost is the optimal one in the set of pre-selected strategies. The underlying condition and performance model accounts for the stochastic dependence among the deterioration states of the different structural elements and the structural redundancy. The approach is demonstrated in a case study considering a jacket-type frame. In this study, we essentially vary the inspection interval, the minimum num-ber of inspected components and the target reliability, and identify the combination that minimizes the ex-pected total service life cost.
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 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.
The current practice of operating and maintaining deteriorating structural systems ensures acceptable levels of structural reliability, but it is not clear how efficient it is. Changing the current prescriptive approach to a risk-based approach has great potential to enable a more efficient management of such systems. Risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies identifies the strategy that optimally balances the cost for controlling deterioration in a structural system with the achieved risk reduction. Inspections and monitoring are essential parts of operation and maintenance strategies. They are typically performed to reduce the uncertainty in the structural condition and inform decisions on future operation and maintenance actions. In risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies, Bayesian updating is used to include information contained in inspection and monitoring data in the prediction of the structural reliability. All computations need to be repeated many times for different potential inspection and monitoring outcomes. This motivates the development of robust and efficient approaches to this computationally challenging task.
The reliability of deteriorating structural systems is time-variant because the loads on them and their capacities change with time. In most practical applications, the reliability analysis of deteriorating structural systems can be approached by dividing their lifetime into discrete time intervals. The time-variant reliability problem can then be represented by a series of time-invariant reliability problems. Using this methodology as a starting point, this thesis proposes a novel approach to compute the time-variant reliability of deteriorating structural systems for which inspection and monitoring data are available. The problem is formulated in a nested way in which the prediction of the structural condition is separated from the computation of the structural reliability conditional on the structural condition. Information on the structural condition provided by inspections and monitoring is included in the reliability assessment through Bayesian updating of the system deterioration model employed to predict the structural condition. The updated system reliability is obtained by coupling the updated deterioration model with a probabilistic structural model utilized to calculate the failure probability conditional on the structural condition. This approach is the first main outcome of this thesis and termed nested reliability analysis (NRA) approach. It is demonstrated in two numerical examples considering inspected and monitored steel structures subject to high-cycle fatigue.
An alternative – recently developed – approach, which also follows the strategy of discretizing time, describes deteriorating structural systems with hierarchical dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN). DBN combined with approximate or exact inference algorithms also enable the computation of the time-variant reliability of deteriorating structural systems conditional on information provided by inspection and monitoring data. In this thesis – as a proof of concept – a software prototype is developed based on the DBN approach, which can be used to assess the reliability of a corroding concrete box girder for which half-cell potential measurements are available. This is the second main outcome of this thesis.
Both approaches presented in this thesis enable an integral reliability analysis of inspected and monitored structures that accounts for system effects arising from (a) the correlation among deterioration states of different structural elements, (b) the interaction between element deterioration and system failure, and (c) the indirect information gained on the condition of all unobserved structural elements from inspecting or monitoring the condition of some structural elements. Thus, both approaches enable a systemwide risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies for deteriorating structural systems.
The NRA approach can be implemented relatively easily with subset simulation, which is a sequential Monte Carlo method suitable for estimating rare event probabilities. Subset simulation is robust and considerably more efficient than crude Monte Carlo simulation. It is, however, still sampling-based and its efficiency is thus a function of the number of inspection and monitoring outcomes, as well as the value of the simulated event probabilities. The current implementation of the NRA approach performs separate subset simulation runs to estimate the reliability at different points in time. The efficiency of the NRA approach with subset simulation can be significantly improved by exploiting the fact that failure events in different years are nested. The lifetime reliability of deteriorating structural systems can thus be computed in reverse chronological order in a single subset simulation run.
The implementation of the DBN approach is much more demanding than the implementation of the NRA approach but it has two main advantages. Firstly, the graphical format of the DBN facilitates the presentation of the model and the underlying assumptions to stakeholders who are not experts in reliability analysis. Secondly, it can be combined with exact inference algorithms. In this case, its efficiency neither depends on the number of inspection and monitoring outcomes, nor on the value of the event probabilities to be calculated. However, in contrast to the NRA approach with subset simulation, the DBN approach with exact inference imposes restrictions on the number of random variables and the dependence structure that can be implemented in the model.
Fatigue is one of the main deterioration processes affecting the performance of welded steel support structures of wind turbines in offshore wind farms. In this contribution, we present a probabilistic physics-based fatigue deterioration model of a wind farm that accounts for the stochastic dependence among the fatigue behavior of different hotspots at turbine and wind farm level. The dependence exists because of uncertain common influencing factors such as similar material properties, fabrication qualities and load conditions. These system effects signify that an inspection of one hotspot provides indirect information of the condition of the remaining hotspots and thus enable an optimization of the inspection effort for a wind farm.
The wind farm model consists of two levels: A turbine support structure (level 1 system model) is represented by its fatigue hotspots and their stochastic dependence. The fatigue performance of a hotspot is described by a probabilistic fracture mechanics (FM) fatigue model. The probabilistic model of the parameters of the FM fatigue model is calibrated based on design data and is thus directly linked to the design of the turbine support structures. Dependence among the fatigue performances of different hotspots in a turbine support structure is modeled by introducing correlations between the stochastic parameters of the FM fatigue models. A wind farm (level 2 system model) consists of different turbine support structures (level 1 system models). Additional correlations are introduced at wind farm level to account for the dependence among the fatigue behavior of hotspots belonging to different turbine support structures. The wind farm model enables the computation of (marginal) hotspot fatigue reliabilities, system fatigue reliabilities of individual turbine support structures and the system fatigue reliability of an entire wind farm. The probabilistic model of the parameters of the two-level system model can be consistently updated with inspection outcomes using Bayesian methods. The updated probabilistic model of the model parameters then forms the basis for updating the estimates of the fatigue reliabilities.
We implement the wind farm model in a software tool named SysPark. The tool provides the means for planning inspections at wind farm level using an adaptive reliability-based threshold approach. In this approach, the first inspection campaign is planned in the year before the fatigue failure rates of the hotspots with the lowest fatigue reliabilities exceed a threshold failure rate. Once inspection results become available, the probabilistic model of the parameters of the wind farm model is updated. If repairs are performed, the wind farm model is additionally modified to describe the behavior of the repaired hotspots. The updated and modified model then enables the planning of the next inspection campaign and so on. The software tool is demonstrated in a case study considering a generic wind farm consisting of turbines with jacket support structures.
The reliability of deteriorating structures at time t is quantified by the probability that failure occurs within the period leading up to time t. This probability is often referred to as cumulative failure probability and is equal to the cumulative distribution function of the time to failure. In structural reliability, an estimate of the cumulative failure probability is obtained based on probabilistic engineering models of the deterioration processes and structural performance. Information on the condition and the loading contained in inspection and monitoring data can be included in the probability estimate through Bayesian updating. Conditioning the probability of failure on the inspection or monitoring outcomes available at time t (e.g. detections or no detection of damages) can lead to a reduction in that probability.
Such a drop in the cumulative failure probability might seem counterintuitive since the cumulative failure probability is a non-decreasing function of time. In this paper, we illustrate—with the help of a numerical example—that such a drop is possible because the cumulative probability before and after the updating is not based on the same information, hence not on the same probabilistic model.
In this presentation, we discuss the potential of probabilistic approaches to the design and assessment of offshore foundations. The potential is demonstrated in a numerical example considering a laterally loaded monopile. As an outlook, we present a concept for managing the risk associated with installing large monopiles.
In this presentation, a framework for integrating vibration-based structural health monitoring data into the optimization of inspection and maintenance of deteriorating structural systems is presented. The framework is demonstrated in an illustrative example considering a steel frame subject to fatigue.
Owners or operators of offshore wind farms perform inspections to collect information on the condition of the wind turbine support structures and perform repairs if required. These activities are costly and should be optimized. Risk-based methods can be applied to identify inspection and repair strategies that ensure an optimal balance between the expected total service life cost of inspection and repair, and the achieved risk reduction. Such an optimization requires explicit modeling of repairs. In this paper, the impact of different repair models on the results of a risk-based optimization of inspection and repair strategies is quantified in a numerical example considering a jacket-type steel frame subject to high-cycle fatigue. The example showed that, in this specific application, there is no need for detailed modeling of the behavior of repaired welded connections.
Owners or operators of offshore wind farms perform inspections to collect information on the condition of the wind turbine support structures and perform repairs if required. These activities are costly and should be optimized. Risk-based methods can be applied to identify inspection and repair strategies that ensure an optimal balance between the expected total service life cost of inspection and repair, and the achieved risk reduction. Such an optimization requires explicit modeling of repairs. In this paper, the impact of different repair models on the results of a risk-based optimization of inspection and repair strategies is quantified in a numerical example considering a jacket-type steel frame subject to high-cycle fatigue. The example showed that, in this specific application, there is no need for detailed modeling of the behavior of repaired welded connections.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) method is an efficient approach to imposing radiation conditions at the bounded region of interest in case of wave propagation in unbounded domains. This paper presents and validates 3D FE/PML numerical schemes based on two different PML formulations for homogeneous and inhomogeneous geological media exhibiting discrete or continuous inhomogeneity. In the equation of motion for the PML domain the applied stretching behavior is expressed either as complex material properties or as complex coordinates. Both PML formulations are implemented in the FEM and verified against analytical solutions. Three different types of material inhomogeneity are considered: layered half-space, continuously inhomogeneous half-space with linear velocity profile and continuously inhomogeneous half-space with nonlinear velocity profile. Sensitivity analyses are conducted, and the performance of the developed numerical schemes is investigated taking into account a broad variation of the PML parameters. Recommendations are given for the optimal values of the PML parameters for the case of homogeneous and inhomogeneous geological media.
This article presents a solid cohesion model for the simulation of bonded granular assemblies in the frame of 3D discrete element approaches (DEM). A simple viscoplastic cohesion model for 2D geometries is extended to 3D conditions, while its yield criterion is generalized as a hyper-surface in the space of bond solicitations to include torsional moments. The model is then calibrated using experimental results of uniaxial traction at both the microscopic and macroscopic scales with an artificial granular cohesive soil. The paper finally presents some simulated results on the macromechanical sample traction application and briefly discusses the model's current limitations and promising prospects for subsequent works.
This article presents a solid cohesion model for the simulation of bonded granular assemblies in the frame of 3D discrete element approaches (DEM). A simple viscoplastic cohesion model for 2D geometries is extended to 3D conditions, while its yield criterion is generalized as a hyper-surface in the space of bond solicitations to include torsional moments. The model is then calibrated using experimental results of uniaxial traction at both the microscopic and macroscopic scales with an artificial granular cohesive soil. The paper finally presents some simulated results on the macromechanical sample traction application and briefly discusses the model's current limitations and promising prospects for subsequent works.
Explosion-induced ground vibrations have been measured at several places. Results about the wave propagation are shown in this contribution. The particle velocities of the soil have been measured at up to 1000 m distance from the explosion and are presented as time records (seismograms) and one-third octave band spectra (transfer functions). The results are compared with the results of hammer impacts. The seismograms clearly show different wave types, compressional waves of the air, the water and the soil, and the Rayleigh wave. The hammer impacts yield good results up to 100 m and incorporate higher frequencies at about 50 Hz, whereas the explosion results in a ground vibration with frequencies around 10 Hz and a longer range of influence. Explosion and hammer excitations are evaluated for the wave velocities of the soil by using the wavenumber and the spatial auto-correlation method. The attenuation of the ground vibration amplitudes A with distance r can well be presented by a power law A ~ r -q. This type of amplitude-distance law and the corresponding power q > 1 are substantiated in the contribution. The influence of the charge weight W is evaluated as an additional power law A ~ W -p for each measuring site. The power is found quite similarly around q 0.6 as all sites have a medium soft soil such as sand and clay. The obtained amplitude-charge-distance law can be used to predict the explosion-induced ground and building vibrations at other sites.
Measured train passages and hammer impacts in combination with track-soil calculation have been successfully used for the detection of damaged slab tracks. This approach is now extended to intact slab and ballast tracks. The vibrations of many tracks have been measured at several levels from rail, sleeper, track plate, base plate, base layer to the subsoil by velocity or acceleration sensors. The time histories have to be integrated once or twice to get the displacements. The displacement signals include an arbitrary time-dependent shift which must be eliminated or respected in the interpretation. On the other hand, the calculation of slab and ballast tracks have been done in frequency-wavenumber domain. The displacements along the track and the frequency-dependent compliance transfer functions can be calculated. The latter can be compared with the results of the hammer impacts on the track. The deformation of the track can be transformed to time histories for a whole train and compared to the measured train passages. Many slab (and ballast) tracks have been measured at different sites. The displacements of the tracks are presented, and the following parameters have been analysed in the measurement results: slab track vs. ballast track, different types of slab tracks, damaged slab tracks, different trains, switches at different measuring points, an elastic layer, the mortar layer, different soils at different places. The soil should have the dominant influence on the track-plate displacements. Slab and ballast track yield also big differences in maximum displacement and width of deformation. Some of the preceding aspects will be analysed in comparison of measurement and theory.
Explosion-induced ground vibrations have been measured at several places. Results about the wave propagation are shown in this contribution. The particle velocities of the soil have been measured at up to 1000 m distance from the explosion and are presented as time records (seismograms) and one-third octave band spectra (transfer functions). The results are compared with the results of hammer impacts. The seismograms clearly show different wave types, compressional waves of the air, the water and the soil, and the Rayleigh wave. The hammer impacts yield good results up to 100 m and incorporate higher frequencies at about 50 Hz, whereas the explosion results in a ground vibration with frequencies around 10 Hz and a longer range of influence. Explosion and hammer excitations are evaluated for the wave velocities of the soil by using the wavenumber and the spatial auto-correlation method. The attenuation of the ground vibration amplitudes A with distance r can well be presented by a power law A ~ r -q. This type of amplitude-distance law and the corresponding power q > 1 are substantiated in the contribution. The influence of the charge weight W is evaluated as an additional power law A ~ W -p for each measuring site. The power is found quite similarly around q 0.6 as all sites have a medium soft soil such as sand and clay. The obtained amplitude-charge-distance law can be used to predict the explosion-induced ground and building vibrations at other sites.
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.
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.
In case one wants to predict or design the bearing capacity of a foundation pile and there are no possibilities to perform an in-situ test, such as a Cone Penetration Test, the pile bearing capacity is in most cases estimated with analytical formulas. The most known and used method is the Meyerhof method published some decades ago. There are also other design methods such as derived from a certain failure mechanism around the pile tip, which is, in most cases, wedge failure mechanism. This failure mechanism was originally developed for a shallow (infinite) strip foundation, though. Therefore, it represents a plane failure mechanism.
Numerical simulations on loaded foundation piles performed with the Plaxis software Show however, that the failure mechanism of a foundation pile represents a far more complex threedimensional failure mechanism around the pile tip.
In addition, the existing analytical methods for foundation piles are based on the vertical stresses in the soil, as if the failure mechanism is the same as of a shallow foundation. Numerical simulations, performed in Plaxis show that, not the vertical, but the horizontal stresses, play an important role on the pile bearing capacity. Plaxis represents the stresses in the soil by using the procedure. So, different horizontal soil stresses are obtained for different values of the lateral earth pressure coefficient. The results show that the pile tip bearing capacity depends strongly on the horizontal stresses in the soil, but only for. The same results were observed by using a Material Point Method (MPM). Consequently, the analytical methods should estimate the pile bearing.
Cerro do Jarau is a conspicuous, circular morpho‐structural feature in Rio Grande do Sul State (Brazil), with a central elevated core in the otherwise flat “Pampas” terrain typical for the border regions between Brazil and Uruguay. The structure has a diameter of approximately 13.5 km. It is centered at 30o12′S and 56o32′W and was formed on basaltic flows of the Cretaceous Serra Geral Formation, which is part of the Paraná‐Etendeka Large Igneous Province (LIP), and in sandstones of the Botucatu and Guará formations. The structure was first spotted on aerial photographs in the 1960s. Ever since, its origin has been debated, sometimes in terms of an endogenous (igneous) origin, sometimes as the result of an exogenous (meteorite impact) event. In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted in order to investigate its nature and origin. Although the results have indicated a possible impact origin, no conclusive evidence could be produced. The interpretation of an impact origin was mostly based on the morphological characteristics of the structure; geophysical data; as well as the occurrence of different breccia types; extensive deformation/silicification of the rocks within the structure, in particular the sandstones; and also on the widespread occurrence of low‐pressure deformation features, including some planar fractures (PFs). A detailed optical microscopic analysis of samples collected during a number of field campaigns since 2007 resulted in the disclosure of a large number of quartz grains from sandstone and monomict arenite breccia from the central part of the structure with PFs and feather features (FFs), as well as a number of quartz grains exhibiting planar deformation features (PDFs). While most of these latter grains only carry a single set of PDFs, we have observed several with two sets, and one grain with three sets of PDFs. Consequently, we here propose Cerro do Jarau as the seventh confirmed impact structure in Brazil. Cerro do Jarau, together with Vargeão Dome (Santa Catalina state) and Vista Alegre (Paraná State), is one of very few impact structures on Earth formed in basaltic rocks.
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.
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.
Today, short- and long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) of bridge infrastructures and their safe, reliable and cost-effective maintenance has received considerable attention. From a surveying or civil engineer’s point of view, vibration-based SHM can be conducted by inspecting the changes in the global dynamic behaviour of a structure, such as natural frequencies (i. e. eigenfrequencies), mode shapes (i. e. eigenforms) and modal damping, which are known as modal parameters. This research work aims to propose a robust and automatic vibration analysis procedure that is so-called robust time domain modal parameter identification (RT-MPI) technique. It is novel in the sense of automatic and reliable identification of initial eigenfrequencies even closely spaced ones as well as robustly and accurately estimating the modal parameters of a bridge structure using low numbers of cost-effective micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers. To estimate amplitude, frequency, phase shift and damping ratio coefficients, an observation model consisting of: (1) a damped harmonic oscillation model, (2) an autoregressive model of coloured measurement noise and (3) a stochastic model in the form of the heavy-tailed family of scaled t-distributions is employed and jointly adjusted by means of a generalised expectation maximisation algorithm. Multiple MEMS as part of a geo-sensor network were mounted at different positions of a bridge structure which is precalculated by means of a finite element model (FEM) analysis. At the end, the estimated eigenfrequencies and eigenforms are compared and validated by the estimated parameters obtained from acceleration measurements of high-end accelerometers of type PCB ICP quartz, velocity measurements from a geophone and the FEM analysis. Additionally, the estimated eigenfrequencies and modal damping are compared with a well-known covariance driven stochastic subspace identification approach, which reveals the superiority of our proposed approach. We performed an experiment in two case studies with simulated data and real applications of a footbridge structure and a synthetic bridge. The results show that MEMS accelerometers are suitable for detecting all occurring eigenfrequencies depending on a sampling frequency specified. Moreover, the vibration analysis procedure demonstrates that amplitudes can be estimated in submillimetre range accuracy, frequencies with an accuracy better than 0.1 Hz and damping ratio coefficients with an accuracy better than 0.1 and 0.2 % for modal and system damping, respectively.
Planar tomography and numerical analysis for damage characterization of impact loaded RC plates
(2020)
The damage analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) is of high interest for reasons of effective maintenance and structural safe-ty of buildings. The damage structures of RC plates loaded by an impact were investigated, applying X-ray planar tomogra-phy and finite element method (FEM). Planar tomography allows getting three-dimensional information of the RC elements and the damage including crack, spalling and scabbing. The FEM model validated on the tomography data justifies the appli-cation for further predictions of the damage description. In this study, we investigated concrete plates of three different thick-ness subjected to impacts at different low- and medium-velocity, whereby the used impactor had a flat tip, which resulted in small penetrations on the front side and scabbing on the rear side. In order to quantify the damage, the damage volume and its distribution through the plate were computed and the correlations between degree of damage and impact velocity were found out.
Prediction of dynamic effects of reinforced concrete structures under impact loading is a technical challenge. This is a consequence of the great variability of the physical properties resulting from the wide adaptability of reinforced concrete and a consequence of the wide range of impact loading. Experiments and numerical investigations are normally used on a small scale to address the problem. In this paper, impact tests on reinforced conrete plates with the lateral dimensions of 1.5 m x 1.5 m and a thickness of 30 cm are presented. In bending reinforcement, besides the velocity two properties are varied, the diameter and the spatial distribution of the rebars. Experiments are performed at the Otto-Mohr-Laboratory of the Institute of Concrete Structures of the Technische Universit¨at Dresden. Due to the accelerated fall of the impactor the velocity ranges between 20 and 70 m/s. In addition to the measured quantities such as bearing forces, accelerations are also measured at 4 different positions on and under the plate, as well as the deflection at several positions. The measured data are used for the analysis of the damage form and the numerical examinations with the program Ansys Autodyn and the material model after Drucker-Prager.
Numerical investigations support the tests, with detailed analysis of individual effects. These numerical computations and the planar tomographic investigations were carried out at BAM in Berlin. With the help of planar tomographic evaluation, the damaged structure is
made visible and compared with the numerical results. Influences of the bending reinforcement are explained on the basis of damage evaluation in the local area and on selected measured values. In addition to the test evaluation, the tomographic and numerical methods are presented.
Due to the wide range of applications, the easy production and the large field of use, reinforced concrete (RC) is a widespread building material. This variety of applications is reflected in a wide range of physical material properties. Not only therefor it still is a technical challenge to provide all necessary test conditions for experimentally reproducing dynamic effects under impact loading of RC structures. In this paper we present investigations on the thicknesses of RC plates under low and medium high velocity impact loading by a flat-tipped impactor. The planar tomography setup at BAM is used to visualize the impact damage and to characterize the damage features such as cracks, scabbing and spalling. Further, the comparison of tomography results with those of an applied numeric simulation analysis is used to verify the numeric models for future damage prognosis under impact loading. Using the results of both, the tomographic as well as the FE analysis, different damage features were investigated and compared regarding their validity. Crack damage plays a leading part and the significance of summarized crack values as well as their distribution is analyzed. The total damage value but also the determined damage distribution both provide an input for describing damage as a function of the impactor velocity and plate thickness.
Reinforced concrete (RC) is used as structural material in most diverse civil engineering applications. For the variability of its physical properties it is still an engineering challenge to meet all necessary requirements for the prediction of dynamic effects under impact loading. In this paper, investigations are shown within the scope of quantifying and evaluating the damage caused by an impact. The experimental investigations are performed in the field of low- and medium-velocity impact. The chosen flat nose shape results in small penetrations on the top side and scabbing on the bottom side. The plate is scanned with an adapted planar tomographic examination after the impact, and the damage is analysed, afterwards. Cracks and spalling are made visible with a reconstruction. The numerical model validated on the tomographic results justifies the application for further predictions of the damage description.
Prediction of dynamic effects of reinforced concrete structures under impact loading is a technical challenge. This is a consequence of the great variability of the physical properties resulting from the wide adaptability of reinforced concrete and a consequence of the wide range of impact loading. Experiments and numerical investigations are normally used on a small scale to address the problem. In this paper, impact tests on reinforced conrete plates with the lateral dimensions of 1.5 m x 1.5 m and a thickness of 30 cm are presented. In bending reinforcement, besides the velocity two properties are varied, the diameter and the spatial distribution of the rebars. Experiments are performed at the Otto-Mohr-Laboratory of the Institute of Concrete Structures of the Technische Universit¨at Dresden. Due to the accelerated fall of the impactor the velocity ranges between 20 and 70 m/s. In addition to the measured quantities such as bearing forces, accelerations are also measured at 4 different positions on and under the plate, as well as the deflection at several positions. The measured data are used for the analysis of the damage form and the numerical examinations with the program Ansys Autodyn and the material model after Drucker-Prager. Numerical investigations support the tests, with detailed analysis of individual effects. These numerical computations and the planar tomographic investigations were carried out at BAM in Berlin. With the help of planar tomographic evaluation, the damaged structure is made visible and compared with the numerical results. Influences of the bending reinforcement are explained on the basis of damage evaluation in the local area and on selected measured values. In addition to the test evaluation, the tomographic and numerical methods are presented.
Due to the many possible applications, the uncomplicated production and the high application range, reinforced concrete is a widely used building material. This large range of physical material properties still poses an engineering challenge in determining all necessary requirements for predicting dynamic effects under impact load.
Many aspects of impact have already been examined and some correlations have been studied intensively. Examples are the work of Lastunen and Booker, who studied the influence of projectile properties on the impact form. Li has also investigated the local effects of an impact. The field of detailed damage analysis has not been in focus so far.
This presentation shows some studies in medium-velocity impact with the focus on post-impact damage evaluation. The impactor is modified so that the test plates show low penetration on the top and scabbing on the bottom. With the unique tomography lab test stand at BAM the plate is scanned after the impact and the damage is analyzed. Cracks and scabbing are made visible with a reconstruction. The comparison of simulation and tomography allows to create prognosis models for damage characterization.
Reinforced concrete (RC) is used as structural material in most diverse civil engineering applications. For the variability of its physical properties it is still an engineering challenge to meet all necessary requirements for the prediction of dynamic effects under impact loading. In this paper, investigations are shown within the scope of quantifying and evaluating the damage caused by an impact. The experimental investigations are performed in the field of low- and medium-velocity impact. The chosen flat nose shape results in small penetrations on the top side and scabbing on the bottom side. The plate is scanned with an adapted planar tomographic examination after the impact, and the damage is analysed, afterwards. Cracks and spalling are made visible with a reconstruction. The numerical model validated on the tomographic results justifies the application for further predictions of the damage description.