Eigenverlag BAM
The tradition of discussing the newest achievements in the consideration of NDE reliability was continued with the 5th European American Workshop on Reliability of NDE (5th EAW) in Berlin in 2013. The Focus of this workshop was to determine the 'delta' between the laboratorylike conditions, in which reliability assessments are usually carried out, and the everyday field conditions. Which obstacles need to be still overcome and how do we get closer with our estimations to the real field reliability? With the joint effort of international researchers and in-field practitioners the up-to-date research was presented and discussed, culminating in a half-a-day long 'Open Space Technology' discussion. This paper presents the main conclusions of the workshop.
Since the beginnings of the European American Workshops (EAW) in 1997, the aim was to gather the experts in NDE reliability and discuss burning topics with the aim of identifying crucial problems and suggesting ways to move forward. This was usually achieved during the so-called break-out sessions, in which predetermined topics were discussed. During the 5th EAW, held in Berlin in 2013, this approach was replaced by an Open Space Technology (OST) approach. The benefit of this approach is seen in the freedom of topic choices, i. e., the topics are not predetermined but rather arise at that moment in that space and by the participants choice. The following topics arose: new reliability methods (Bayesian, MAPOD,
), structural health monitoring, definition of requirements of NDE by customer versus provider, what value of POD is good enough?, human factors, manual versus automated inspection, and basic concepts of reliability of NDE. The participants were encouraged to walk from one session to another and openly express their opinions. These were in the end summarized by a chosen group of moderators and presented in this paper.
Die dauerhafte messtechnische Überwachung von Brückenbauwerken ist nach wie vor eine neuartige Verfahrensweise zur Bestimmung des Ist-Zustandes von Tragwerken. Der Fachbereich 7.2 Ingenieurbau der BAM befasst sich seit mittlerweise mehr als 25 Jahren mit der Entwicklung von Methoden und Verfahren dieser Form der Bauwerksüberwachung. Die damit verbundene Tätigkeit umfasst die Beschreibung theoretischer Grundlagen, die Entwicklung von Algorithmen zur Erfassung, Bearbeitung und Auswertung von Messsignalen, die Bewertung der Ergebnisse bezüglich Tragsicherheit, Gebrauchstauglichkeit und Restnutzungsdauer und nicht zuletzt die Untersuchung und Verifizierung der praktischen Anwendbarkeit.
Dabei standen insbesondere die sogenannten dynamischen Verfahren im Blickpunkt der Aktivitäten. Ursprünglich zur Überwachung von rotierenden Maschinenkomponenten entwickelt und dann auch erfolgreich zur Überwachung von Bauteilen der Flugzeug-, Raumfahrt- und Automobilindustrie weiterentwickelt, weckten diese Verfahren weltweit das Interesse der sich mit der Sicherheit bestehender Baukonstruktionen befassenden Wissenschaftler und Ingenieure.
Ein beachtenswertes Projekt der BAM in diesem Zusammenhang ist die Dauerüberwachung der Westendbrücke in Berlin, das Mitte der 90er Jahre von der damaligen Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung von Berlin (ehemals Bauen, Wohnen und Verkehr) in Auftrag gegeben und über viele Jahre gefördert wurde. Im Rahmen dieses Aufsatzes werden am Beispiel dieses Projektes, das sich wie ein roter Faden durch die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Monitorings an der BAM zieht, die Motivationen und Zielstellungen dargelegt, das Überwachungssystem vorgestellt und die gemachten Erfahrungen anhand einiger Ergebnisse erläutert. In einem weiteren Kapitel wird ein Ausblick auf die Zukunft des Monitorings mit angepassten Zielvorstellungen, neuen Methodiken und Strategien geworfen.
This thesis reports on the development of a system for distributed strain measurement in silica optical fibers. The system was developed to provide a solution for monitoring the structural health of river embankments with a measurement length > 5 km and a spatial resolution < 5 m. It is based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), a nonlinear optical effect which converts the mechanical strain of an optical fiber into a frequency shift of the backscattered light of an optical signal. The measurement technique that is employed and significantly advanced within this work is the Brillouin optical frequency domain analysis (BOFDA). Prior to this work, this technique had been presented as a laboratory setup providing its proof of concept; however, at this development stage, the technique had been limited in performance, theoretical foundation, integrability and robustness for real-life applications when compared to the state-of-the-art Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA). The thesis comprises the theoretical background of the measurement system, advancements regarding its implementation into a practically applicable device – including the proposal of techniques for performance enhancements in signal processing – as well as the evaluation of the system performance in experimental studies. First, the physical nature of SBS in optical fibers is analyzed. Here, special focus is set on the frequency domain properties of the interaction between the optical signals, which provides a deep understanding of the system behaviour in the special case of distributed measurements in the frequency domain. The BOFDA technique is then presented with a thorough analysis from a system point of view and considerations on its implementation in a practical setup. The laboratory setup is presented with all components and different aspects of advancement in accuracy and efficiency over the state of development prior to this work, along with representative measurement results. As the major advancement regarding the system implementation, a digital approach to frequency domain measurements is presented, with a system description, a demonstrator setup and measurement results. A detailed analysis of the physical occurrences within the system that lead to a limitation of its spatial resolution is given, founding on the description of SBS earlier in the thesis. It comprises a novel point of view on the measurement artifacts that degrade frequency domain measurements of SBS; a connection to corresponding studies that apply to the BOTDA technique is made. From here, a novel approach to overcome the limitations by means of signal correction in post-processing is presented. Finally, the application of the measurement system in dike monitoring is presented. A method for integrating optical fibers into geotextiles is introduced, together with considerations on the coating material and handling on construction sites. By presenting several experimental tests in the laboratory and the field, the feasibility of the system for monitoring of the structural health of river embankments is confirmed. With the advancements achieved within this work, the BOFDA technique meets the specifications in accuracy and resolution of state-of-the-art BOTDA devices, while offering new perspectives in terms of dynamic range, robustness and cost efficiency.