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- ja (21)
Die Verwendung pyrotechnischer Gegenstände in Menschenmengen (u. a. in Fußballstadien) hat in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. Zur Verwendung gelangen vorrangig sonstige pyrotechnische Gegenstände der Kategorie P1. Diese Gegenstände sind frei verkäuflich für Personen ab einem Alter von 18 Jahren. Am häufigsten werden pyrotechnische Gegenstände verwendet, die Rauch und Licht in verschiedenen Farben erzeugen.
Das Schienennetz der DB und anderer Bahngesellschaften wird regelmäßig mit Schienenprüfzügen inspiziert. Die mit den Prüfzügen aufgenommenen Messdaten werden offline zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt ausgewertet. Um Prüfbefunde manuell nachprüfen und ggf. Reparaturmaßnahmen einleiten zu können, ist eine möglichst exakte Zuordnung der Befunde zum Prüfort notwendig.
Theoretisch ist jeder Ort des Schienennetzes durch Streckennummer, Richtungskennzahl und Kilometrierung exakt beschrieben. In der Praxis treten jedoch bei der Zuordnung diverse Probleme auf: Die Kilometrierung wird während der Prüfung manuell erfasst, indem die Beschriftung der Kilometer- bzw. Hektometertafeln in das Prüfsystem eingegeben und deren Position beim Vorbeifahren per Tastendruck in die Messdaten „eingeblitzt“ wird. Die Hektometertafeln stehen jedoch nicht an der aufgedruckten Position, sondern sind am nächstgelegenen Mast montiert. Dagegen ist die Ungenauigkeit des manuellen „Einblitzens“ vernachlässigbar. Außerdem ist die Kilometrierung nicht immer eindeutig, da nach Umbaumaßnahmen Kilometersprünge (sowohl fehlende als auch doppelte Kilometer) auftreten können.
Abhilfe verspricht der Einsatz des satellitengestützten GPS, vorausgesetzt, die Strecken sind exakt vermessen. Um eine ausreichende Positionsgenauigkeit auch bei schlechten Empfangsbedingungen zu erreichen, ist jedoch ein erheblicher Aufwand notwendig. Die Positionsgenauigkeit eines Standard-GPS-Empfängers genügt hier nicht.
Es wird ein Verortungssystem hoher Positionsgenauigkeit auf der Basis des GPS vorgestellt, das sich derzeit in der Erprobung befindet.
Das Schienennetz der DB und anderer Bahngesellschaften wird regelmäßig mit Schienenprüfzügen inspiziert. Die mit den Prüfzügen aufgenommenen Messdaten werden offline zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt ausgewertet. Um Prüfbefunde manuell nachprüfen und ggf. Reparaturmaßnahmen einleiten zu können, ist eine möglichst exakte Zuordnung der Befunde zum Prüfort notwendig. Theoretisch ist jeder Ort des Schienennetzes durch Streckennummer, Richtungskennzahl und Kilometrierung exakt beschrieben. In der Praxis treten jedoch bei der Zuordnung diverse Probleme auf: Die Kilometrierung wird während der Prüfung manuell erfasst, indem die Beschriftung der Kilometer- bzw. Hektometertafeln in das Prüfsystem eingegeben und deren Position beim Vorbeifahren per Tastendruck in die Messdaten 'eingeblitzt' wird. Die Hektometertafeln stehen jedoch nicht an der aufgedruckten Position, sondern sind am nächstgelegenen Mast montiert. Dagegen ist die Ungenauigkeit des manuellen 'Einblitzens' vernachlässigbar. Außerdem ist die Kilometrierung nicht immer eindeutig, da nach Umbaumaßnahmen Kilometersprünge (sowohl fehlende als auch doppelte Kilometer) auftreten können. Abhilfe verspricht der Einsatz des satellitengestützten GPS, vorausgesetzt, die Strecken sind exakt vermessen. Um eine ausreichende Positionsgenauigkeit auch bei schlechten Empfangsbedingungen zu erreichen, ist jedoch ein erheblicher Aufwand notwendig. Die Positionsgenauigkeit eines Standard-GPS-Empfängers genügt hier nicht. Es wird ein Verortungssystem hoher Positionsgenauigkeit auf der Basis des GPS vorgestellt, das sich derzeit in der Erprobung befindet.
Seit 1981 veranstalten die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) und die Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) gemeinsam die Kolloquien dieser Reihe, um die Teilnehmer über aktuelle Ergebnisse und Entwicklungen auf dem Gebiet der chemischen und physikalischen Sicherheitstechnik zu informieren. Die Themen dieses Berichtsbandes informieren über Explosionsschutz zur Vermeidung explosionsfähiger Lösemittel-Dampf-Luft-Gemischen in Trocknern, Zündquellensicherheit zu Gas/Luft-, Staub/Luft- und Staubschichten, Zünddurchschlagssprozesse in Wasserstoff/Luft-Gemischen, stellen Prüfmethoden und Einflussgrößen auf die gefährlichen Eigenschaften von Ammuniumnitrat und ammoniumnitrathaltigen Zubereitungen vor, berichten über Einflüsse auf Brandverhalten und -gefahren bei Schüttgutlagerung und speziellen Werkstoffen, geben Auskunft über die Schwierigkeiten bei Anwendung neuer technischer Regeln und Richtlinien auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene und liefern neue Ansätze zur probabilistischen Riskionbetrachtung für die sichere Auslegung von Treibgasspeichern. Bei dieser Jubiläumsveranstaltung haben die Teilnehmer darüber hinaus die Gelegenheit, die neuen Versuchseinrichtungen der BAM auf dem Freiversuchsgelände in Horstwalde zu besichtigen. Dieses etwa 50 km südlich von Berlin gelegene, 12 km² große Freiversuchsgelände verfügt über einen Sprengplatz von 400 m Durchmesser für Brand- und Explosionsversuche mit Sprengwirkungen bis 150 kg TNT. Mit diesem im europäischen Raum einmaligen Gelände hat die BAM Möglichkeiten, Untersuchungen an und mit Explosivstoffen und Gegenständen mit Explosivstoff sowie Gefahrstoffen und Gefahrgütern, insbesondere im großem Maßstab und mit moderner Laborausstattung durchzuführen. Zu den Versuchsanlagen gehören unter anderem Brandwallanlagen, Modellgebäude, Schwadenkammer, Sprengkammer bzw. Sprenggrube, 12-m-Fallturm, Bunkerräume, Laboratorien und ein spezieller Lagerkomplex. Neben den Prüfungen für die Zulassung von Stoffen und Gegenständen werden diese Anlagen auch für Untersuchungen bei Schadensaufklärungen sowie in Forschungsprojekten genutzt. Allen vortragenden und an der Organisation beteiligten Kolleginnen und Kollegen sei herzlich gedankt. Ihre Beiträge und Unterstützung haben wesentlich zum Gelingen dieses 10. Kolloquiums beigetragen.
There is no applicable existing standard for the determination of safety characteristics for hybrid mixtures. While developing a new standard in a joint research project in Germany first results from parameter studies led to a standard procedure that can be adopted by laboratories that are already testing dusts in the so called 20L-sphere with as little additional effort as necessary. In fact, one of the main objectives of this research project was to keep modifications and adjustments from the generally accepted dust testing procedures as easy and minimal as possible so as to limit potential deviations from one laboratory to another.
In this first round robin test on hybrid mixtures ever, with methane as gas component and a specific corn starch as dust sample, the practicality of the whole procedure, the scattering of the results and the deviation between the testing apparatuses is investigated. This paper summarizes the experimental procedure adopted and objectives of the first round-robin phase involving three of the four original German companies, plus volunteering laboratories from Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Poland and P.R. China. The results will have an impact on the new standard and may lead to robust data for later simulation purposes.
2015 Tianjin explosions
(2016)
In 2015 a series of explosions occurred at a container storage station at the Port of Tianjin, China, on Wednesday, 12 August 2015, that killed over one hundred people and injured hundreds of firemen and others. The first two explosions happened within 30 seconds of each other at the facility. The second explosion was larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tons of ammonium nitrate. The cause of the explosions was not known at first, but an investigation of the Chinese authorities concluded in February 2016 that an overheated container of dry nitrocellulose was the cause of the initial explosion. Colleagues of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology and BAM worked together to analyze the reasons and the process of that incident based on knowledge about the properties of the involved substances, particularly ammonium nitrate and nitrocellulose, and potential mechanism of initiation and propagation.
2015 Tianjin Explosions
(2016)
In 2015 a series of explosions occurred at a container storage station at the Port of Tianjin, China, on Wednesday, 12 August 2015, that killed over one hundred people and injured hundreds of firemen and others. The first two explosions happened within 30 seconds of each other at the facility. The second explosion was larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tons of ammonium nitrate. The cause of the explosions was not known at first, but an investigation of the Chinese authorities concluded in February 2016 that an overheated container of dry nitrocellulose was the cause of the initial explosion. Colleagues of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology and BAM worked together to analyze the reasons and the process of that incident based on knowledge about the properties of the involved substances, particularly ammonium nitrate and nitrocellulose, and potential mechanism of initiation and propagation.
One-part-geopolymers, produced by addition of water to a mixture of solid silica and sodium alumi-nate, are a less exhaustively studied approach to form geopolymeric binders. Depending on the silica source, the reaction products show significant amounts of zeolite Na-A besides amorphous compounds. Previously, 29Si MAS NMR has been used to analyze the chemical structure of such one-part geopolymers, having crystalline structures and amorphous phases (Q2, Q3, Q4).
In this work, pure zeolites and three different one-part-geopolymers cured for 1 day were investigated by 29Si-27Al TRAPDOR NMR. It was used to identify aluminum phases in overlapping silicon sites. Zeolites Na-X (Si/Al=1.4) and Na-Y (Si/Al=2.7) served as model systems to measure the TRAPDOR effect of the structural units Q4(mAl). Both materials show several Q4(mAl) signals, which are all separated by their chemical shifts. The more aluminum surrounds the silicon tetrahedron the higher are the normalized TRAPDOR difference signals (S0/∆S). The intensity ratios between Q4(mAl) to Q4({m-1}Al) of these signals is fixed but vary slightly between both zeolites. These results are transferred to the complex geopolymer structure.
The influence of starting materials and synthesis route on the properties and the structure of cementitious sodium aluminosilicate gels is not fully understood, partly due their amorphous nature and the fact that they often contain residual reactants, which can make the results of single-pulse NMR spectroscopy applied to these materials difficult to interpret or ambiguous. To overcome some of these limitations, 29Si{27Al} TRAPDOR NMR as well as 27Al{29Si} and 27Al{1H} REDOR NMR spectroscopy were applied to materials synthesized by the one-part alkali-activation route from three different amorphous silica starting materials, including rice husk ash. The latter led to formation of a fully amorphous sodium aluminosilicate gel (geopolymer), while the materials produced from the other silicas contained amorphous phase and crystalline zeolites. Application of the double-resonance NMR methods allowed to identify hydrous alumina gel domains in the rice husk ash-based material as well as significantly differing amounts of residual silica in the three cured materials. Four-coordinated Al existed not only in the aluminosilicate gel framework but also in a water-rich chemical environment with only a small amount of Si in proximity, likely in the alumina gel or possibly present as extra-framework Al in the aluminosilicate gel. The results demonstrate how the employment of different silica starting materials determines the phase assemblage of one-part alkali-activated materials, which in turn influences their engineering properties such as the resistance against chemically/biologically aggressive media.
Die Oberflächentexturierung der Betonfahrbahndecken mittels Grinding- und Grooving steht seit einigen Jahren im Mittelpunkt der Forschung und Entwicklung des Betonstraßenbaus in Deutschland. In den vergangenen Jahren wurden die vorteilhaften Oberflächenperformances derartiger Texturen wie z.B. Griffigkeit, Ebenheit, Lärmminderung in zahlreichen Forschungsprojekten umfassend untersucht und daraus die Technologie „Texturgrinding“ entwickelt.
Im Kontext des gegenwärtig verfolgten ganzheitlichen performanceorientierten Ansatzes liegt der Fokus nun verstärkt auf der Analyse und Charakterisierung der Oberflächentopografie von Grinding- bzw. Groovingtexturen. Insbesondere gilt ein Hauptaugenmerk hierbei der zeitlichen Entwicklung der Oberflächentexturen in Abhängigkeit von äußeren Einwirkungen durch Klima und Verkehr.
Dieser Beitrag zeigt, dass durch den Einsatz eines auf Streifenlichtprojektion basierenden Messsystems, eine hochaufgelöste dreidimensionale Erfassung der Oberflächentopografie verschiedenartiger Grinding- und Groovingtexturen möglich ist. Darauf aufbauend wurden messtechnische Voraussetzungen zur Gewährleistung reproduzierbarer Messungen geschaffen, die eine Dokumentation der zeitlichen Texturveränderungen infolge klimatischer Beanspruchung ermöglichen. Anschließend wurden Auswerteroutinen zur quantitativen und statistischen Charakterisierung der Oberflächentextur entwickelt und angewandt, um exemplarisch die Veränderungen der Oberflächentopografie infolge klimatischer Beanspruchung quantitativ abzubilden.
Die Oberflächentexturierung der Betonfahrbahndecken mittels Grinding und Grooving steht seit einigen Jahren im Mittelpunkt der Forschung und Entwicklung des Betonstraßenbaus in Deutschland. In den vergangenen Jahren wurden die vorteilhaften Oberflächenperformances derartiger Texturen, wie z.B. Griffigkeit, Ebenheit, Lärmminderung, in zahlreichen Forschungsprojekten umfassend untersucht. Im Kontext des gegenwärtig verfolgten ganzheitlichen performanceorientierten Ansatzes liegt der Fokus nun verstärkt auf der Analyse und Charakterisierung der Oberflächentopografie von Grinding- bzw. Groovingtexturen. Insbesondere gilt ein Hauptaugenmerk hierbei der zeitlichen Entwicklung der Oberflächentexturen in Abhängigkeit von äußeren Einwirkungen durch Klima und Verkehr.
Im Rahmen eines von der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) geförderten Forschungsvorhabens wurden zunächst die messtechnischen Voraussetzungen für eine hochaufgelöste dreidimensionale Erfassung der Oberflächentopografie von Grinding- und Groovingtexturen in situ geschaffen. Das schließt auch die Entwicklung einer Messanordnung, die eine Wiederholbarkeit der 3D-Messungen gewährleistet und somit die Erfassung der zeitlichen Texturveränderungen ermöglicht. Basierend darauf wurden Auswerteroutinen zur qualitativen und quantitativen Beschreibung der Oberflächentexturen und deren Veränderungen entwickelt und angewandt. Anschließend wurde der Zustand von Grinding- und Groovingtexturen an ausgewählten Praxisstrecken in definierten Zeitintervallen erfasst. Unter Verwendung der erarbeiteten Auswerteroutinen wurden die erfassten Oberflächen analysiert und repräsentative Texturkennwerte abgeleitet.
In diesem Beitrag werden Verfahren und Strategien basierend auf optischen und thermografischen Methoden zur Lokalisierung, Erfassung und Bewertung von Putzablösungen, Ablösungen von Fassadenelementen und Rissen vorgestellt. Abgelöste Fassadenbereiche und Risse zeigen dabei sowohl geometrische als auch thermische Auffälligkeiten, die im Rahmen eines Monitoring auch über größere Zeiträume verfolgt werden können. Als optische Verfahren werden die trackingbasierte taktile 3D‐Erfassung von Oberflächenmerkmalen und die Stereophotogrammetrie eingesetzt. Zur Charakterisierung verdeckter Ablösungen und Bauteile wird die aktive Thermografie mit natürlicher und künstlicher Erwärmung der Bauteiloberfläche verwendet. Systematische Untersuchungen an Probekörpern und Fallstudien (Magdeburger Dom, Wandbild in Cobbelsdorf, Giebichensteinbrücke) zeigen, wie u. a. mit der Verfahrenskombination die Schäden charakterisiert werden können.
Components in the Aerospace, Power and Automotive engineering sectors are frequently subjected to cyclic stresses induced by thermal fluctuations and mechanical loads. For the design of such components, reliable material property data are required which need to be acquired using well accepted and reproducible test procedures for thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) loading. Available materials TMF property data are limited so that there is a need for further TMF data generated by TMF testing. The TMF behaviour of materials is often desired to be simulated in models which describe the cyclic stress-strain behaviour, the fatigue life and the cyclic crack growth behaviour. There is a continuous need for the development and amendment of such models. Models can be validated by using materials in industrial applications which are subjected to TMF loading.
The fire-induced spalling behaviour of concretes has a huge effect on the fire resistance of concrete components. Therefore, fire performance must be taken into account in the design and dimensioning of concrete structures. The use of new types of concrete and different types of cement or binder must also be considered. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms underlying the spalling phenomenon are not yet fully understood. However, knowledge about these mechanisms is the prerequisite for predicting the spalling behaviour as accurately as possible.
Experimental research from material characterisation on the micro scale up to full-sized fire tests as well as the simulation and modelling of fire-induced damage processes offer the opportunity to investigate the spalling behaviour of concrete. Thereby, a variety of influencing parameters must be regarded. Against this background, the effect of avoidance strategies can be evaluated.
Since 2009, the International Workshop on Concrete Spalling due to Fire Exposure (IWCS) offers a platform to get in touch with researchers and practitioners, exchange the latest research results and newly acquired data from real fire scenarios, and discuss current developments in the field of concrete spalling. After the successful workshops in Leipzig (Germany), Delft (Netherlands), Paris (France), Borås (Sweden) and Sheffield (United Kingdom), the 7th International Workshop IWCS took place in Berlin at BAM. It provided insights into the work of two RILEM Technical Committees. Based on this, various results of screening tests and large-scale tests for the assessment of the fire-induced spalling behaviour of concretes were presented, taking into account a large number of influencing parameters. Further topics of the workshop were the analysis of the mechanisms for the spalling phenomenon as well as the modelling and simulation of the spalling processes. A large part of the workshop was devoted to the high-temperature behaviour of various types of concrete.
The workshop was dedicated to Prof. Diederichs, who passed away on 20 January 2022. With his death, the spalling community lost an internationally renowned expert in the field of fire behaviour of concrete and reinforced concrete components. He played a decisive role in the design of all previous RILEM TCs on the high temperature and fire behaviour of concretes and reinforced concrete components.
We present, to our knowledge for the first time, a 100-km Brillouin Optical Frequency-Domain Analysis (BOFDA) employing a 200-km fiber loop. Compared to our previous publication, enhanced sensor length, sensor accuracy and spatial resolution are presented. The performance improvements are achieved by applying distributed Raman amplification (DRA) and a digital high-pass filter. We report on temperature measurements over sensing distances of 75 km and 100 km both with a 12.5-m spatial resolution. Temperature changes of 5 °C have been measured along 75 km sensing fiber. A temperature change of 30 °C has been detected at 99.5 km.
Simulation-based digital twins have emerged as a powerful tool for evaluating the mechanical response of bridges. As virtual representations of physical systems, digital twins can provide a wealth of information that complements traditional inspection and monitoring data. By incorporating virtual sensors and predictive maintenance strategies, they have the potential to improve our understanding of the behavior and performance of bridges over time. However, as bridges age and undergo regular loading and extreme events, their tructural characteristics change, often differing from the predictions of their initial design. Digital twins must be continuously adapted to reflect these changes. In this article, we present a Bayesian framework for updating simulation-based digital twins in the context of bridges. Our approach integrates information from measurements to account for inaccuracies in the simulation model and quantify uncertainties. Through its implementation and assessment, this work demonstrates the potential for digital twins to provide a reliable and up-to-date representation of bridge behavior, helping to inform decision-making for maintenance and management.
Simulation-based digital twins have emerged as a powerful tool for evaluating the mechanical response of bridges. As virtual representations of physical systems, digital twins can provide a wealth of information that complements traditional inspection and monitoring data. By incorporating virtual sensors and predictive maintenance strategies, they have the potential to improve our understanding of the behavior and performance of bridges over time. However, as bridges age and undergo regular loading and extreme events, their structural characteristics change, often differing from the predictions of their initial design. Digital twins must be continuously adapted to reflect these changes. In this article, we present a Bayesian framework for updating simulation-based digital twins in the context of bridges. Our approach integrates information from measurements to account for inaccuracies in the simulation model and quantify uncertainties. Through its implementation and assessment, this work demonstrates the potential for digital twins to provide a reliable and up-to-date representation of bridge behavior, helping to inform decision-making for maintenance and management.
A systematic approach was used to investigate the weathering-induced degradation of a common water–based intumescent coating. In this study, the coatings are intended for humid indoor applications on steel substrates. The coating contains ammonium polyphosphate, pentaerythritol, melamine, and polyvinyl acetate. By replacing each ingredient with a less water-soluble substance, the most vulnerable substances, polyvinyl acetate and pentaerythritol, were identified. Furthermore, the weathering resistance of the system was improved by exchanging the ingredients. The coatings were stressed by artificial weathering tests and evaluated by fire tests. Thermogravimetry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were used to study the thermal decomposition. This study lays the foundation for the development of a new generation of water-based intumescent coatings.
The screening of coatings shows that the modification by adding individual pigment was not sufficient to protect carbon steel even during a short-term exposure, indicated by the discoloration after only seven days of exposure.
Electrochemical tests indicated that the coating cathodically protects carbon steel or slows down the corrosion reaction.
A long-term exposure test confirmed that the PANI/SiO2 modified coating successfully protects the carbon steel in the Sibayak artificial geothermal water at 150 °C for 6 months.
Corrosive geothermal brines are a major challenge to geothermal power-plants. For cost reasons, plant designers favorize low alloyed steels, e.g., carbon steel, which are susceptible to uniform and localized corrosion when exposed to geothermal brines having acidic and saline properties. To solve such problem, coatings or inhibitors would be a protective solution as an alternative to the use of high alloyed materials.
This study investigated a coating system consisting of polyaniline/silicon dioxide basing on locally available resources. Protection against corrosion of carbon steel is shown by long-term exposure and electrochemical tests of coated carbon steels, performed in an artificial acidic and saline geothermal brine, comparable to real conditions at a site in Indonesia.
Therefore, an integrated coating system is presented for corrosion protection, combining the electro-chemical functionality of polyaniline and the physical advantages of silica.
There is no consensus on which hydration stoppage method is optimal to preserve the microstructure and mineral composition of samples, especially considering the specific aspects of different testing methods, such as TGA, MIP, or XRD. This paper presents a quantitative comparison between the most popular hydration stoppage strategies and parameters such as the sample piece size, the soaking time in a solvent, and the type, as examined on cement paste hydrated for 7 days. It was found that the carbonation appears either for samples smaller than 2.36 mm and bigger than 4.75 mm or samples soaked in a solvent for longer than 1 h. Fast solvent replacement leads to ettringite diminution and total pore volume increase. Among others, solvent replacement with subsequent gentle heating under a vacuum was found to be the most efficient, whereas it was experimentally demonstrated that isopropyl alcohol stops hydration faster than ethanol and acetone.
Liquefied Hydrogen (LH2) or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) establish themselves as important energy carriers in the transport sector. Its storage requires tanks with Thermal Super Insulations (TSI) to keep the transported fluid cold. TSI has proven itself in various applications over a long time, but not in the land transport sector, where accidents involving collisions, fires, and their combination are to be expected. The focus of this study is to investigate the behavior of different types of TSI when exposed to a heat source that represents a fire. Therefore, a High-Temperature Thermal Vacuum Chamber (HTTVC) was used that allows the thermal loading of thermal insulation material in a vacuum and measuring the heat flow through the TSI in parallel. Within this study, 5 samples were tested regarding 3 different types of MLI, rock wool, and perlites. The thermal exposure caused different effects on the samples. In practice, this can be connected to the rapid release of flammable gases as well as a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE). These results are relevant for the evaluation of accident scenarios, the improvement of TSI, and the development of emergency measures.
A comparison between the results obtained from a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation and from the application of an empirical formula for determining the temperature distribution inside a tunnel in case of fire is presented. The temperature is measured and calculated at different distances from the location of the fire and at different time intervals. The fire considered varies with time following a time-heat release rate curve which has a parabolic growing phase, a constant period and a linear decay. The comparison reveals differences in the results. The temperatures calculated with the empirical formula resulted higher than the temperatures obtained by means of the CFD simulation. A list of possible reasons for this limited correspondence is also presented and commented. A proposal for further studies to better define the limitations of both the procedures and to define the influence of each parameter involved is finally presented.
A comparison between the results obtained from a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation and from the application of an empirical formula for determining the temperature distribution inside a tunnel in case of fire is presented. The temperature is measured and calculated at different distances from the location of the fire and at different time intervals. The fire considered varies with time following a time-heat release rate curve which has a parabolic growing phase, a constant period and a linear decay. The comparison reveals differences in the results. The temperatures calculated with the empirical formula resulted higher than the temperatures obtained by means of the CFD simulation. A list of possible reasons for this limited correspondence is also presented and commented. A proposal for further studies to better define the limitations of both the procedures and to define the influence of each parameter involved is finally presented.
It is important to protect critical buildings (shopping centres, government buildings and embassies), infrastructure and utilities, train and underground stations against being damaged, destroyed or disrupted by deliberate acts of terrorism, criminal activity and malicious behaviour. Normal regulations and building guidelines do not generally take into account these threats. The introduction of appropriate regulations or guidelines, where deemed necessary, should enhance the resilience of buildings and infrastructure against explosion incidents. In order to protect the built infrastructure, methods are required to quantify the resistance of structural components against explosive loading and to assess the hazards resulting from the failure of an element. The applicable state-of-the-art techniques may include either experimental or numerical methods, or a combination of both. Therefore, the thematic group (TG) on the resistance of structures to explosion effects was formed in order to bring the required expertise together, make it commonly available and to find and define harmonised methods and solutions which can be provided to the decision-makers responsible for critical infrastructure protection. This report discusses the differences between the existing standards for testing blast-resistant glazing and windows and it presents basic recommendations for the future development of the suite of European standards in this area.
The critical chloride content C(crit) is an indicator for the corrosion resistance of reinforcing steels in concrete. In this article, several experimental methods for determining the critical chloride content C(crit) of mild and an alloyed (12% Cr) steel in cementitious materials are compared. The methods used include accelerated polarization tests and tests using more natural (unpolarized) conditions in which chloride ingress occurs by diffusion and capillary uptake. The advantages and disadvantages of the methods are discussed, in particular, with the objective of reaching a compromise between applicability to practice and feasibility in laboratory testing.
Turning maneuvers originate higher forces exerted on the rail and the loss of locomotive energy, at a rate that is function of several parameters that influence the magnitude of the developed horizontal wheel-rail forces, including the friction at the centre plate and the bogie´s yaw stiffness. However, such a friction at the contact surfaces of the centre plate is needed to mitigate the Hunting phenomenon when the train moves on straight track segments. In this paper, a self-centering centre plate is proposed, consisting of a lubricated centre plate, equipped with a spring- and damper-based self-centering mechanism. Simulation results of the proposed mechanism suggest that the energy performance in turns of a train car equipped with such self-centering centre plate is comparatively better, as the peak friction forces linked to the dry friction at the contact surfaces of current centre plate designs, are avoided. The assessment of the hunting performance of the proposed device in straight track segments is proposed as the continuation of this work.
The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to analyze locally (at the element level) the contact behavior of a soil-pile contact problem. Therefore, a 2D shear test is modeled using the Finite Element Method. The formulation of a 4 nodded zero-thickness Interface element of Beer is chosen with a linear interpolation function. Four constitutive contact models adapted for contact problems have been implemented. The Mohr-Coulomb and Clough and Duncan models were chosen initially, due to the ease of implementation and few number of parameters needed. After, more complicated models in the framework of
elasto-plasticity such as: Lashkari and Mortara were implemented for the first time into the finite element code of the shear test problem. They include other phenomena such as:
relative density of soil, the stress level and sand dilatancy. From the results the relation between shear displacement and shear stress has been deduced. Finally, a discussion of the advantages and the drawbacks during computation of each model is given at the end.
The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to analyze locally (at the element level) the contact behavior of a soil-pile contact problem. Therefore, a 2D shear test is modeled using the Finite Element Method. The formulation of a 4 nodded zero-thickness interface element of Beer is chosen with a linear interpolation function. Four constitutive contact models adapted for contact problems have been implemented. The Mohr-Coulomb and Clough and Duncan models were chosen initially, due to the ease of implementation and few number of parameters needed. After, more complicated models in the framework of elasto-plasticity such as: Lashkari and Mortara were implemented for the first time into the finite element code of the shear test problem. They include other phenomena such as: relative density of soil, the stress level and sand dilatancy. From the results the relation between shear displacement and shear stress has been deduced. Finally, a discussion of the advantages and the drawbacks during computation of each model is given at the end.
Lifetime aspects including fatigue failure of concrete structures were traditionally only of minor importance. Because of the growing interest in maxing out the capacities of concrete, its fatigue failure under compression has become an issue. A variety of interacting phenomena such as e.g. loss of prestress, degradation due to chemical reactions or creep and shrinkage influence the fatigue resistance. Failure due to cyclic loads is generally not instantaneous, but characterized by a steady damage accumulation. Therefore, a reliable numerical model to predict the performance of concrete over its lifetime is required, which accurately captures order effects and full three-dimensional stress states.
Many constitutive models for concrete are currently available, which are applicable for specific loading regimes, different time scales and different resolution scales.
However, a key limitation of those models is that they generally do not address issues related to fatigue on a structural level. Very few models can be found in the literature that reproduce deterioration of concrete under repeated loading-unloading cycles. This is due to the computational effort necessary to explicitly resolve every cycle which exceeds the currently available computational resources. The limitation can only be overcome by the application of multiscale methods in time.
The objective of the paper is the development of numerical methods for the simulation of concrete under fatigue loading using temporal multiscale methods.
First, a continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses [1]. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from static tests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level.
Second, a multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach [2]. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
Finally, the developed methods will be validated and compared to experimental data.
[1] Vitaliy Kindrachuk, Marc Thiele, Jörg F. Unger. Constitutive modeling of creep-fatigue interaction for normal strength concrete under compression, International Journal of Fatigue, 78:81-94, 2015
[2] Vitaliy Kindrachuk, Jörg F. Unger. A Fourier transformation-based temporal integration scheme for viscoplastic solids subjected to fatigue deterioration, International Journal of Fatigue, 100:215-228, 2017
Lifetime aspects including fatigue failure of concrete structures were traditionally only of minor importance. Because of the growing interest in maxing out the capacities of concrete, its fatigue failure under compression has become an issue. A variety of interacting phenomena such as e.g. loss of prestress, degradation due to chemical reactions or creep and shrinkage influence the fatigue resistance. Failure due to cyclic loads is generally not instantaneous, but characterized by a steady damage accumulation. Therefore, a reliable numerical model to predict the performance of concrete over its lifetime is required, which accurately captures order effects and full three-dimensional stress states.
Many constitutive models for concrete are currently available, which are applicable for specific loading regimes, different time scales and different resolution scales.
However, a key limitation of those models is that they generally do not address issues related to fatigue on a structural level. Very few models can be found in the literature that reproduce deterioration of concrete under repeated loading-unloading cycles. This is due to the computational effort necessary to explicitly resolve every cycle which exceeds the currently available computational resources. The limitation can only be overcome by the application of multiscale methods in time.
The objective of the paper is the development of numerical methods for the simulation of concrete under fatigue loading using temporal multiscale methods.
First, a continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from static tests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level.
Second, a multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
Finally, the developed methods will be validated and compared to experimental data.
A continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from statictests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level. A multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
A continuum damage model for concrete is developed with a focus on fatigue under compressive stresses. This includes the possibility to model stress redistributions and capture size effects. In contrast to cycle based approaches, where damage is accumulated based on the number of full stress cycles, a strain based approach is developed that can capture cyclic degradation under variable loading cycles including different amplitudes and loading frequencies. The model is designed to represent failure under static loading as a particular case of fatigue failure after a single loading cycle. As a consequence, most of the material parameters can be deduced from statictests. Only a limit set of additional constitutive parameters is required to accurately describe the evolution under fatigue loading. Another advantage of the proposed model is the possibility to directly incorporate other multi-physics effects such as creep and shrinkage or thermal loading on the constitutive level. A multiscale approach in time is presented to enable structural computations of fatigue failure with a reduced computational effort. The damage rate within the short time scale corresponding to a single cycle is computed based on a Fourier based approach. This evolution equation is then solved on the long time scale using different implicit and explicit time integration schemes. Their performance and some limitations for specific loading regimes is discussed.
An analysis has been presented pertaining to the use of a convex
bottom tank shape instead of an elliptical, for a road tanker.
Two analyses have been made, concerning the static and the dynamic
relative performance expectations of such tank shape when compared
with the elliptical shape performance.
The outputs of both analyses suggest that the level of average benefit
due to using the proposed shape, is around 10%, with a maximum
benefit observed in the dynamic performance in the case of the
minimum fill level.
Correlation between static and dynamic outputs. Manufacturing.
The potential benefits to the roll stability of a road tanker, derived from using a convex-bottom tank, instead of a concave-bottom one, are assessed. The convex-bottom tank consists of a modified elliptical figure to which the concave bottom is substituted by a convex one. The concave-bottom consists of an elliptical shape. Static and dynamic analyses are performed, for which the proposed shape revels enhancements on the order of 10%. The static rollover stability factor, and the lateral load transfer ratio, are used as performance measures for the static and the dynamic analysis, respectively. The dynamic analysis derives from a simplified model, for which the sloshing mass is substituted by a calibrated simple pendulum. Other potential benefits of the proposed tank shape are discussed, including a reduction in the aerodynamic drag, and a longer life for the vehicle components.
FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data usage is one of the main principals that many of the research and funding organizations include in their strategic plans, which means that following the main principals of FAIR data is required in many research projects. The definition of data being FAIR is very general, and when implementing that for a specific application or project or even setting a standardized procedure within a working group, a company or a research community, many challenges arise. In this contribution, an overview about our experience with different methods, tools and procedures is outlined.
We begin with a motivation on potential use cases for the applications of FAIR data with increasing complexity starting from a reproducible research paper over collaborative projects with multiple participants such as Round-Robin tests up to data-based models within standardization codes, applications in machine learning or parameter estimation of physics-based simulation models.
In a second part, different options for structuring the data are discussed. On the one hand, this includes a discussion on how to define actual data structures and in particular metadata schema, and on the other hand, two different systems for storing the data are discussed. The first one is the openBIS system, which is an open-source Lab notebook and PostgreSQL based data management system. A second option are a semantic representations using RDF based ontologies for the domain of interest.
In a third section, requirements for workflow tools to automate data processing are discussed and their integration into reproducible data analysis is presented with an outlook on required information to be stored as metadata in the database.
Finally, the presented procedures are exemplarily demonstrated for the calibration of a temperature dependent constitutive model for additively manufactured mortar. Metadata schemata for a rheological measurement setup are derived and implemented in an openBIS database. After a short review of a potential numerical model predicting the structural build-up behaviour, the automatic workflow to use the stored data for model parameter estimation is demonstrated.
By means of a small-scale truss bridge, the ability of the Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis to detect and localize damage was examined. Although there was no noteworthy difficulty in detecting damage, it turned out that damage localization responds sensitively to systematic influences, i.e. non-modelled properties of the mechanical model. Therefore, another experiment is being conducted to re-examine the Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis. For this purpose, the bending test is carried out as it has been already theoretically respectively numerically discussed. In this attempt, the systematic influences such as residual stress are kept as low as possible.
Using continuum damage mechanics (CDM) for lifetime prediction requires numerical integration of evolving damage until the onset of failure. The primary challenge for the simulation of structural fatigue failure is caused by the enormous computational costs due to cycle-by-cycle temporal integration throughout the whole loading history, which is in the order of 103–107 cycles. As a consequence, most approaches circumvent this problem and use empirical methods such as Wöhler curves. They are well suited for approximating the lifetime, but they are not capable to capture a realistic degradation of the material including redistribution of stresses. The main objective of the paper is to provide a technique for finite element (FE) simulations of structures under fatigue loading while reducing computational costs.
A Fourier transformation-based temporal integration (FTTI) scheme is proposed, which adapts the conventional FE method for modeling the viscoplastic deterioration in a structure subjected to cyclic loading. The response fields are represented by a Fourier series which assumes a temporal scale separation: a microchronological (short time) scale arises from the oscillatory loading and a macrochronological (long time) scale is due to the slow material relaxation resulting from yielding and damage evolution. The original dynamic boundary value problem (BVP) is approximated by the stationary BVP on the microchronological scale. Alternation of the displacement field on the macrochronological scale is correlated with evolution of the history variables by means of a high order adaptive cycle jump method. Performance and significant acceleration of the FE simulations is demonstrated at different loading scenarios for a constitutive damage model where the progressive damage accumulation is driven by viscoplastic yielding.
The presentation gives an overview about the testing of packagings according to the UN-Recommendations. After an introduction of the worldwide recommendations and the European regulations some packaging tests are presented. Examples of the current work of the UN Subcommittee on packaging testing and some on going research on packaging tests are presented.
The response of many geotechnical systems, whose structural behavior depends on shearing effect, is closely related to soil structure interaction phenomenon. Experimentally it is found that the localisation of these effect happens at a narrow soil layer next to the structure. Numerically, this behavior can be modelled through inter-face elements and adequate constitutive models. In this work, a constitutive model in the framework of Gen-eralized Plasticity for sandy soils has been chosen to be adapted for the interface zone. From the direct shear experiments a sandy soil at loose and dense states under different normal pressures is considered. The adapted constitutive model is able to reproduce contraction and dilatation of the soil according to its relative density and it shows a good agreement with the experimental data.
The response of many geotechnical systems, whose structural behavior depends on shearing effect, is closely related to soil structure interaction phenomenon. Experimentally it is found that the localisation of these effect happens at a narrow soil layer next to the structure. Numerically, this behavior can be modelled through interface elements and adequate constitutive models. In this work, a constitutive model in the framework of Generalized Plasticity for sandy soils has been chosen to be adapted for the interface zone.
From the direct shear experiments a sandy soil at loose and dense states under different normal pressures is considered. The adapted constitutive model is able to reproduce contraction and dilatation of the soil according to its relative density and it shows a good agreement with the experimental data.
Systems that assess the driving styles and provide a feedback about the driving style (ECO driving App; Ecological Drive Display on Dashboard). Smoothness of driving, with decelerations and accelerations in a given range. -The issue of safety Vs Eco driving –Keeping the right distance with the vehicle in front.
Driven steel piles are commonly used as deep foundations for a wide range of engineering structures, particularly in the offshore branch. They are also an interesting example among the broad spectrum of geotechnical applications where the fluid-solid interaction at the pore-scale can play a major role for the macromechanical behaviour of the whole system.
In the context of the geotechnical practice for offshore wind-farm structures, both the industrial design and the actual dimensions of the large piles used as foundations in the seabed are often driven by factors such as the soil resistance to driving (SRD), which are still not well understood and often estimated based on mere empirical correlations or overly simplified one-dimensional models. In particular, the role of the micromechanical effects during the installation process (e.g. local dilatancy or contractancy) and their consequences on the pore pressure levels at the pile-tip and on the effective resistance to driving, are generally either disregarded or at most assumed to be covered by the simplified engineering “black-box” solutions.
Here, we propose a general framework to address such local aspects of a geotechnical application involving fluid-saturated soils while retaining the focus on the micro-scale phenomena. We advocate for an approach that combines the relative simplicity of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) for the solid mechanics with the capabilities of the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for the fluid dynamics. In this sense, we aim to compile some useful techniques and practical recommendations for an efficient GPU-based implementation of a micromechanical LBM-DEM simulation tool.
A hyper reduced domain decomposition approach for modeling nonlinear heterogeneous structures
(2019)
Many of today's problems in engineering demand reliable and accurate prediction of failure mechanisms of mechanical structures. Herein it is necessary to take into account the often heterogeneous structure on the fine scale, to capture the underlying physical phenomena. However, an increase of accuracy by dissolving the fine scale inevitably leads to an increase in computational cost. In the context of multiscale simulations, the FE2 method is widely used. In a two-level computation, the fine scale is depicted by a boundary value problem for a representative volume element (RVE), which is then solved in each integration point of the macro scale to determine the macroscopic response. However, the FE2 approach in general is computationally expensive and problematic in the special case of concrete structures. Here rather large RVEs are necessary to sufficiently represent the meso-structure, such that separation of scales cannot be assumed.
Therefore, the aim is to develop an efficient approach to modeling nonlinear heterogeneous structures using domain decomposition and reduced order modeling.
The repair of earthen structures is not an easy task. Earth as a construction material has comparatively weak mechanical properties. It is also susceptible towards liquid water, were it can lose cohesion very quickly if certain moisture contents are exceeded. Repair concepts of structures built with such materials are therefore challenging. Historical earthen structures often exhibit damages in form of extensive cracking, which may have been caused by static or dynamic loads. Frequently these cracks are insufficiently or inappropriately repaired because of lack of knowledge and / or technology. In particular, the behaviour of crack repair by grouting poses a challenge in earthen materials and demands specific requirements for the grouting mortar, such as low water content, good water retention, low shrinkage. Grouting materials require additional specifications such as compatible strengths and Young’s modulus as well as good adhesion to the earthen substrates. In addition, grouts have to be sufficiently flowable to fill small cracks and voids without segregation or bleeding. Therefore, the rheological behaviour has to be well understood and controlled to gain the desired effects.
The repair of cracks in earthen buildings is traditionally done by stuffing manually mortar into the gap. Naturally, this method is only usable for cracks with large widths. Another disadvantage is that cracks going through thicker walls cannot be completely reached by the tools used for stuffing the mortar into the crack. Lime based grouts for earthen materials were usually used for re-attachment of plasters but less for structural reasons. Due to the nature of earthen materials grouts based on formulated or hydraulic lime (according to the definition in EN 459-1) have to meet considerable demands on a variety of properties, which are related to compatibility, durability and in particular to the ability of being injected. The goal of this study was to create a grout, which can be used to re-establish structural continuity in cracked earthen masonry or other massive earth walls (rammed earth and cob) with the focus on grouting cracks. The grout material was based on hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) with additions of pozzolana and lime stone filler.
A systematic series of flexible polyurethane foams (FPUF) with different concentrations of flame retardants, bis([dimethoxyphosphoryl]methyl) phenyl phosphate (BDMPP), and melamine (MA) or expandable graphite (EG) was prepared. The mechanical properties of the FPUFs were evaluated by a universal testing machine. The pyrolysis behaviors and the evolved gas analysis were done by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and TGA coupled with Fourier-transform infrared (TG-FTIR), respectively. The fire behaviors were studied by limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL 94 test for horizontal burning of cellular materials (UL 94 HBF), and cone calorimeter measurement. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the cellular structure's morphology and the postfire char residue of the FPUFs. LOI and UL 94 HBF tests of all the flame retarded samples show improved flame retardancy. BDMPP plays an essential role in the gas phase because it significantly reduces the effective heat of combustion (EHC). This study highlights the synergistic effect caused by the combination of BDMPP and EG. The measured char yield from TGA is greater than the sum of individual effects. No dripping phenomenon occurs during burning for FPUF-BDMPP-EGs, as demonstrated by the result of the UL 94 HBF test. EG performs excellently on smoke suppression during burning, as evident in the result of the cone calorimeter test. MA reduces the peak heat release rate (pHRR) significantly. The synergistic effect of the combination of BDMPP and EG as well as MA offers an approach to enhance flame retardancy and smoke suppression.
A facility is proposed in this paper to apply a selective carburizing process to the lateral faces of a railways´ head, aiming to increase its carbon content and to decrease the friction coefficient in case that the flange of the railway car wheel gets in contact with the rail during turning. Such a treatment would reduce the energy that is lost during the turning maneuvers performed by the vehicle, further improving the energy efficiency of the railway car. The facility consists of a furnace, which should be set next to the rails´ hot-rolling facility, in order to use the available enthalpy. The proposed furnace is equipped with what is necessary to avoid the decarbonization of the remaining rail material, based upon batteries of oxy-acetylene burners that are installed at the bottom of the furnace, on the opposite side to the carburizing surface. An experimental facility is necessary to validate the operational principles for the equipment proposed in this paper. On the other hand, a study should also be carried out to assess the effect of any rail welding process on the carburized surfaces.
This work presents machine learning-inspired data fusion approaches to improve the non-destructive testing of reinforced concrete. The principal effects that are used for data fusion are shown theoretically. Their effectiveness is tested in case studies carried out on largescale concrete specimens with built-in chloride-induced rebar corrosion. The dataset consists of half-cell potential mapping, Wenner resistivity, microwave moisture and ground penetrating radar measurements. Data fusion is based on the logistic Regression algorithm.
It learns an optimal linear decision boundary from multivariate labeled training data, to separate intact and defect areas. The training data are generated in an experiment that simulates the entire life cycle of chloride-exposed concrete building parts. The unique possibility to monitor the deterioration, and targeted corrosion initiation, allows data labeling.
The results exhibit an improved sensitivity of the data fusion with logistic regression compared to the best individual method half-cell potential.
The interaction of the vehicles with the pavements imply damaging effects on both systems, as a function of the operating conditions and design characteristics of both systems. These effects influence the road pricing as well as the maintenance costs of the vehicles. In this paper, a simulation scheme has been proposed to analyze such interaction in massive way, involving a multivehicle models was the uncoupling of the roll and pitch responses. Results suggest that the damaging effects on the pavement and the vehicle, depends on the position along the road profile. However, the vertical design of the road would mainly affect the pavement damage, while the turning maneuvers would strongly influence the damage of the vehicle. Many uses can be identified for the proposed simulation scheme, involving different design and operating conditions for both systems.
The interaction of the vehicles with the pavements imply damaging effects on both systems, as a function of the operating conditions and design characteristics of both systems. These effects influence the road pricing as well as the maintenance costs of the vehicles. In this paper, a simulation scheme has been proposed to analyze such interaction in massive way, involving a multivehicle models was the uncoupling of the roll and pitch responses. Results suggest that the damaging effects on the pavement and the vehicle, depends on the position along the road profile. However, the vertical design of the road would mainly affect the pavement damage, while the turning maneuvers would strongly influence the damage of the vehicle. Many uses can be identified for the proposed simulation scheme, involving different design and operating conditions for both systems.
In spite that transport activities do not represent the biggest contributor of pollutants emissions, their reduction has been a priority as some other externalities are associated to such emissions and to the transport itself. A crucial element to characterize the behavior of the vehicles against the environment are the losses that such vehicles exhibit in a passive way, that is, without any involvement of power conditions. The energy loses due to the rolling, the drag and to the friction in mechanical components, have been assessed so far in terms of the stopping acceleration when the vehicle idles on a ramp. However, such a testing procedure produces some uncertainties due to the dynamic conditions that are considered. To avoid such critical limitations, in this paper a testing procedure and facility are proposed, which are based on static conditions of the vehicle at the initiation and at the ending of the test, which are assumed to provide a better reliability to the testing. Some preliminary theoretical analysis should be made in order to validate the operational principles proposed herein for such testing facility.
Fiber-reinforced concretes (FRCs) offer significant improvements in tensile strength and durability compared to most other concrete mixes.
However, for safe and efficient use of FRC in large structures, anisotropy of fiber orientation needs to be understood and properly controlled. In this project, both cored samples extracted from a FRC slab and FRC samples cast individually in molds were assessed using X-ray computed tomography (CT) and measurements of fiber orientation were extracted from the resulting CT images. These results showed that fibers within the slab were highly anisotropic in orientation while fibers in individually cast samples showed a much more heterogeneous distribution of orientations.
This indicates that fiber orientation is highly dependent on the casting process and suggests that FRC can only be safely and efficiently utilized if anisotropic fiber orientation is properly accounted for during design and optimized casting methods are used during construction.
The passage of the train is dominated by the impulses of the static axle loads. The response of the regular homogeneous and irregular soils has been calculated by the finite-element method in frequency domain. The superposition of the impulse responses yields the quasi-static component of the ground vibration which is restricted to very low frequencies and to the close near-field of the track. In case of an irregular soil or ballast of which the stiffness varies randomly in space, a mid-frequency ground vibration component is generated by the scattering of the axle impulses. Measurements will be shown which prove the existence of the mid-frequency ground vibration component and the unique explanation by the scattered axle impulses: many international measurements with a raised mid-frequency component, axle-box measurements with a too low mid-frequency dynamic load, amplitude-speed dependencies which are incompatible with irregularity-induced dynamic loads, and ground vibration reductions due to stiff track elements.
The passage of the train is dominated by the impulses of the static axle loads. The response of the regular homogeneous and irregular soils has been calculated by the finite-element method in frequency domain. The superposition of the impulse responses yields the quasi-static component of the ground vibration which is restricted to very low frequencies and to the close near-field of the track. In case of an irregular soil or ballast of which the stiffness varies randomly in space, a mid-frequency ground vibration component is generated by the scattering of the axle impulses. Measurements will be shown which prove the existence of the mid-frequency ground vibration component and the unique explanation by the scattered axle impulses: many international measurements with a raised mid-frequency component, axle-box measurements with a too low mid-frequency dynamic load, amplitude-speed dependencies which are incompatible with irregularity-induced dynamic loads, and ground vibration reductions due to stiff track elements.
In this work, a cost-effective optofluidic system is proposed and preliminary experimental results are presented. A microfluidic channel monolithically integrated into a photonic integrated circuit technology is used in conjunction with a cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) substrate to provide fluidic in- and output ports. We report on initial experimental results as well as on the simple and cost-effective fabrication of this optofluidic system by means of micro-milling.
Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a chemical reaction within concrete which can lead over time to cracking and spalling. Due to the complexity of the problem, it still causes damage to concrete constructions worldwide.
The publication aims to illustrate the interdisciplinary research of the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) within the last 20 years, considering all aspects of ASR topics from the macro to the micro level. First, methods for characterization and assessment of ASR risks and reaction products used at BAM are explained and classified in the international context. Subsequently the added value of the research approach by combining different, preferably nondestructive, methods across all scales is explained using specific examples from a variety of research projects. Aspects covered range from the development of new test-setups to assess aggregate reactivity, to analysis of microstructure and reaction products using microscopical, spectroscopical and X-ray methods, to the development of a testing methodology for existing concrete pavements including in-depth analysis of the visual damage indicator and the de-icing salt input using innovative testing techniques. Finally, research regarding a novel avoidance strategy that makes use of internal hydrophobization of the concrete mix is presented.
A new approach towards performance-related design and scientific evaluation of joint sealing systems
(2020)
While there is a permanent improvement of concrete pavement mixtures and pavement construction types over the last decades, the state-of-the-art joint sealing materials and joint constructions seem to stagnate on an antiquated empirical level. This status has been reaffirmed in the latest European standard.
The consequences in the motorway network due to unsatisfying capability and durability of joint sealing systems are unacceptable. In addition, inadequate traffic performance (noise emissions, roll-over comfort) and traffic safety losses in the joint area of concrete pavements are existing challenges. These deficits and weaknesses reflect a demand for joint sealing materials and constructions whose approval requirements take functional aspects into account. Furthermore a sufficient analysis of decisive loads and a practice-oriented method to evaluate the requirements towards performance and durability is still missed.
In this contribution decisive loads to German highways are analyzed. The design of test specimen for representative functional testing of joint sealing systems is discussed. The focus is on the geometry of the test specimens and the used concrete mixture. Finally, a new approach for a function-orientated test concept that considers representative load functions is presented. The potential of this approach to validate the durability and capability of various joint sealing systems is also presented using an example.
While there is a permanent improvement of concrete pavement mixtures and pavement construction types over the last decades, the state-of-the-art joint sealing materials and joint constructions seem to stagnate on an antiquated empirical level. This status has been reaffirmed in the latest European standard. The consequences in the motorway network due to unsatisfying capability and durabilty of joint sealing systems are unacceptable. In addition, inadequate traffic performance (noise emissions, roll-over comfort) and traffic safety losses in the joint area of concrete pavements are existing challenges. These deficits and weaknesses reflect a demand for joint sealing materials and constructions whose approval requirements take functional aspects into account. Furthermore a sufficient analysis of decisive loads and a practice-oriented method to evaluate the requirements towards performance and durability is still missed. In this contribution decisive loads to German highways are analyzed. The design of test specimen for representative functional testing of joint sealing systems is discussed. The focus is on the geometry of the test specimens and the used concrete mixture. Finally, a new approach for a function-orientated test concept that considers representative load functions is presented. The potential of this approach to validate the durability and capability of various joint sealing systems is also presented using an example.
Safety characteristics are used to keep processes, including flammable gases, vapors, and combustible dusts, safe. In the standards for the determination of safety characteristics of gases and vapors, the induction spark is commonly used. However, classic transformers are hard to obtain, and replacement with new electronic transformers is not explicitly allowed in the standards. This article presents the investigation of five gases that are normally used to calibrate devices for the determination of safety characteristics, the maximum experimental safe gap (MESG), with an electronic transformer, and the values are compared to the ones that are obtained with the standard transformer. Additionally, calorimetric measurements on the net energy of both ignition sources were performed as well as open-circuit voltage measurements. It is concluded that the classic type of transformer can be replaced by the new type obtaining the same results for the MESG and introducing the same amount of energy into the system.
Organic peroxides are capable to form fireballs with explosive violence. Only fireball models for liquid hydrocarbon fuels are available for the assessment of the thermal radiation properties. Because the development of such fireballs usually differ from those of organic peroxides the properties need to be characterized by modified equations. In this study liquid organic peroxide fireballs from 16 kg to 155 kg substance masses are characterized and compared to selected existing correlations. Flame characteristics and irradiances are measured with infrared cameras and heat flux sensors. All fireballs are consequences of simulated worst case scenarios where filled steel drums are engulfed by fire with varying heat impact. The differences of the given semi-empirical equations and the presented experimental work are explained. A new model is proposed for organic peroxide fireballs by modifying the constants of the known equations. The thermal radiation impact and safety distances are calculated and compared.
In impact simulations, the instantaneous change of velocity in the contact area can lead to artificial oscillations. These oscillations might significantly influence the results, especially when nonlinear and rate dependent constitutive formulations are used.
In this work, a nonlinear penalty formulation similar to a soft contact formulation is presented.
Additive manufacturing of alkali-activated materials currently attracts a lot of attention, because of the possibility to produce customized high-performance elements for a range of applications, potentially being more resource-efficient than conventionally produced parts. Here, we describe a new additive manufacturing process for alkali-activated materials that is based on selective laser-heating of lithium aluminate/microsilica slurries. The new process-material combination allows to manufacture elements with complex geometries at high building rates and high accuracy. The process is versatile and transferrable to structures of sizes differing by orders of magnitude. The mechanical strength of the obtained materials was in the range of values reported for conventional metakaolin-based geopolymers, and superior to what has been hitherto reported for alkali-activated materials produced by additive manufacturing. This mechanical performance was obtained despite the fact that the degree of reaction of the lithium aluminate and the microsilica was low, suggesting that significant reactions took place only at the surface of the microsilica particles.
This paper presents a three dimensional numerical model which is can be used to
investigate the effects on the track and in its vicinity due to a train passage. The numerical
model for train track interaction is based on a time domain dynamic finite
element model. Due to the unbounded nature of the soil the truncated boundary of the
finite element domain is modelled with the scaled boundary finite element method,
which is a semi-analytical approach. The application for a heterogeneous track along
the track line is exemplified by a track with a bridge structure, where close attention
is paid to the wheel-rail contact force. The results indicate that the wheel-rail contact
force is not symmetrical around the bridge structure and an optimisation in terms of a
backfilling area and under-sleeper-pads can improve such a transition.
This paper presents a three dimensional numerical model which is can be used to investigate the effects on the track and in its vicinity due to a train passage. The numerical model for train track interaction is based on a time domain dynamic finite element model. Due to the unbounded nature of the soil the truncated boundary of the finite element domain is modelled with the scaled boundary finite element method, which is a semi-analytical approach. The application for a heterogeneous track along the track line is exemplified by a track with a bridge structure, where close attention is paid to the wheel-rail contact force. The results indicate that the wheel-rail contact force is not symmetrical around the bridge structure and an optimisation in terms of a backfilling area and under-sleeper-pads can improve such a transition.
This thesis addresses numerical simulations of self-compacting concrete (SCC) castings and suggests a novel modelling approach that treats reinforcement zones in a formwork as porous media.
As a relatively new field in concrete technology, numerical simulations of fresh concrete flow can be a promising aid to optimise casting processes and to avoid on-site casting incidents by predicting the flow behaviour of concrete during the casting process. The simulations of fresh concrete flow generally involve complex mathematical modelling and time-consuming computations. In case of a casting prediction, the simulation time is additionally significantly increased because each reinforcement bar occurring in succession has to be considered one by one. This is particularly problematic when simulating SCC casting, since this type of concrete is typically used for heavily reinforced structural members. However, the wide use of numerical tools for casting prediction in practice is possible only if the tools are user-friendly and simulations are time-saving.
In order to shorten simulation time and to come closer to a practical tool for casting prediction, instead to model steel bars one by one, this thesis suggests to model zones with arrays of steel bars as porous media. Consequently, one models the flow of SCC through a reinforcement zone as a free-surface flow of a non-Newtonian fluid, propagating through the medium. By defining characteristic parameters of the porous medium, the influence on the flow and the changed (apparent) behaviour of concrete in the porous matrix can be predicted. This enables modelling of any reinforcement network as a porous zone and thus significantly simplifies and fastens simulations of reinforced components’ castings.
Within the thesis, a computational model for SCC flow through reinforced sections was developed. This model couples a fluid dynamics model for fresh concrete and the macroscopic approach for the influence of the porous medium (formed by the rebars) on the flow. The model is implemented into a Computational Fluid Dynamics software and validated on numerical and experimental studies, among which is a large-scale laboratory casting of a highly reinforced beam. The apparent rheology of concrete within the arrays of steel bars is studied and a methodology to determine unknown input parameters for the porous medium is suggested. Normative tables defining characteristic porous medium parameters as a function of the topology of the rebar zone for different reinforcement cases are generated. Finally, the major contribution of this work is the resulting numerical package, consisting of the numerical solver and the parameter library. The thesis concludes on the ability of the porous medium analogy technique to reliably predict the concrete casting behaviour, while being significantly easier to use and far less time consuming than existing tools.
A filling process of the pressure bottle used for the air storage was investigated by numerical simulations. During the filling process, the temperature was rising up to maximal value and after that started to decline. The good match was found between experimental and numerical results. In order to reproduce the experimental conditions, the process of the filling bottle was controlled by the pressure which varied in time. This filling strategy influenced furthermore the mass flow rate and the air flow velocity. Because of the geometrical symmetry, the simulation was calculated as an axisymmetric problem.
This article deals with the relevance and practical feasibility of micromechanical simulations for their application to general geomechanical problems involving fluid-saturated granular assemblies, whether frictional or cohesive. A set of conceptual and numerical tools is here presented, advocating for a parallel computation using graphical processing units (GPUs) to treat large numbers of degrees of freedom with conventional Desktop computers. The fluid phase is here simulated with a particle-resolved approach in the frame of the Lattice Botzmann Method (LBM) while the granular solid phase is modelled as a collection of discrete particles from a Molecular Dynamics DEM perspective. The range of possible material behaviours for the solid granular phase is intended here to cover a broad spectrum from purely frictional to viscous cohesive materials with either brittle or transient debonding features. Specific details of the implementation and some validation cases are put forward.
Finally, some exemplary applications in the fields of soil erosion and geotechnical profile installation are provided along with a discussion on the parallel performance of the presented models. The results show that a micromechanical approach can be feasible and useful in practice, providing meaningful insights into complex engineering problems like the erosion kinetics of a soil under an impinging jet or the penetration resistance of a deep foundation in a layered soil profile.
This paper describes a new ultrasonic measuring device called “W-Box”. It was developed based on the requirements of the DFG Forschergruppe (research unit) CoDA for a portable device for monitoring of concrete specimens, models and actual structures using embedded ultrasonic transducers as well as temperature and humidity sensors. The W-Box can send ultrasonic pulses with a variable frequency of 50–100 kHz to one selectable transducer and records signals from up to 75 multiplexed channels with a sample rate of 1 MHz and a resolution of 14 bits. In addition, it measures temperature and humidity with high accuracy, adjustable amplification, restarts automatically after a power failure and can be fully controlled remotely. The measured data are automatically stored locally on-site data quality checks and transferred to remote servers. The comparison of the W-Box with a laboratory setup using commercial devices proves that it is equally reliable and precise, at much lower cost. The W-Box also shows that their measurement capacities, with the used embedded ultrasonic transducers, can reach above 6 m in concrete.
In this work, a method for vehicle load identification is proposed. It involves Bayesian
Analysis and (quasi-)static importance functions in order to estimate vehicle positions,
velocities and weights. The structure is modeled with finite elements in order to generate
model predictions for different load configurations. The model predictions are compared to
the actual measured data to identify the most probable loading configuration for that
measurement. This involves the use of enhanced Monte Carlo simulations such as MCMC to
reduce the computational effort.
Growth of vehicle traffic density can be observed in many countries all over the world. This accretion is caused by world-wide population growth on the one hand, but also by increasing freight volumes and, thus, freight transports on the streets on the other hand.
This increased exposure becomes more and more of a problem for the civil infrastructure such as bridges. Many of these bridges are nowadays stressed to their limits by higher loads than they were originally designed for and/or operating times beyond the initially predicted life span. This raises questions about structural safety and lifetime prediction, of course, and therefore illustrates the need for accurate structural monitoring.
Since the lifetime of bridge structures is primarily influenced by their traffic loading, an accurate identification of load configurations over the whole length of a structure is most desirable.
In this paper, a method for vehicle load identification is proposed. It involves Bayesian Analysis and (quasi-)static importance functions in order to estimate vehicle positions, velocities and weights. The structure is modeled with finite elements in order to generate model predictions for different load configurations. The model predictions are compared to the actual measured data to identify the most probable loading configuration for that measurement. This involves the use of enhanced Monte Carlo simulations such as MCMC to reduce the computational effort. The measured data from different kinds of sensors can (and should) be combined for accuracy gain – in this case a combination of measured displacements and inclinations.
Since the measurements take place over some time during the passage of the vehicle, these estimations are carried out for several time instants for which the estimation is carried out. The advantage of using Bayesian Updating Method is the embodied learning effect leading to an improvement of the estimation when adding new information in a new calculation step.
Using the estimates for the loading conditions of a bridge structure as well as measurements of the structural responses, Bayesian analysis is again used in order to estimate localized structural parameters such as Young's modulus or Moments of Inertia in form of probability density functions yielding most probable values for the parameters.
Considering the difficulties for load identification close to the support poles of the bridge and therefore for the proposed structural parameter identification procedure, it is clear that this problem is ill posed. Bayesian regularization methods also have proven to be very effective when handling ill posed problems.
Avoiding road crashes has been the purpose behind many specialized software and hardware systems, involving both active and passive safety principles. Global Positioning technologies were incorporated into the transportation systems with the main purpose of acquiring the position of the vehicle under a continuous basis, for security and economy purposes. However, the GPS data can also be used for assessing the level of safety at which the vehicle is driven. On the basis of the essential data available from commercial GPS devices, in this paper we propose a combined performance measurement to assess the road safety level at which the vehicle is being driven. Such performance measure uses GPS data of the vehicle displacement, including the speed and the acceleration, as well as the course (latitude and longitude coordinates), in an integral driving assessment formulation that can run in real time. Results from the experimental use of this formulation suggest that the level of safety in the driving is time dependent, and that there are risky situations when different factors converge.
GPS-data based calculation scheme for assessing, in real-time, the level of safety exerted during driving, has been described and used. The several variables involved considered the main factors that lead to road mishaps, including the speed, the acceleration and the effects that these variables have on the vehicle when it is negotiating a turn. The performance measure combines three individual performance outputs: speed, acceleration and a hybrid performance measure considering the speed, the acceleration and the change in latitude/longitude. The measures are designed in such a way that weighting factors can be calibrated in order to establish certain critical parameters. On the other hand, the terms in the equations preclude any division by zero of the involved ratios. On the other hand, the simplicity of the equations makes it possible to carry out the assessment in real time. The use of the resultant performance measure to a relatively long path, together with its current average value, indicates that the safe performance of the driving changes with time, and that, for the selected values of the calibration constants, the traveling speed dominates the overall safety performance of the driving. Furthermore, the different calibration constants provide the possibility of considering different types of hazmat carrying vehicles. While many other formulation components could be integrated into the performance measure, this three-component performance measure could be used to assess the driving of a hazmat-carrying vehicle, in order to detect and to prevent dangerous conditions, such as driver fatigue.
Finally, the implementation of the different performance measure formulations in a system such as the one described in the introduction of this paper, could be straightforward.
Remote gas sensors like those based on the Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) enable mobile robots to scan huge areas for gas concentrations in reasonable time and are therefore well suited for tasks such as gas emission surveillance and environmental monitoring. A further advantage of remote sensors is that the gas distribution is not disturbed by the sensing platform itself if the measurements are carried out from a sufficient distance, which is particularly interesting when a rotary-wing platform is used. Since there is no possibility to obtain ground truth measurements of gas distributions, simulations are used to develop and evaluate suitable olfaction algorithms. For this purpose several models of in-situ gas sensors have been developed, but models of remote gas sensors are missing. In this paper we present two novel 3D ray-tracer-based TDLAS sensor models. While the first model simplifies the laser beam as a line, the second model takes the conical shape of the beam into account. Using a simulated gas plume, we compare the line model with the cone model in terms of accuracy and computational cost and show that the results generated by the cone model can differ significantly from those of the line model.
A regularized model for impact in explicit dynamics applied to the split Hopkinson pressure bar
(2016)
In the numerical simulation of Impact phenomena, artificial oscillations can occur due to an instantaneous change of velocity in the contact area. In this paper, a nonlinear penalty regularization is used to avoid these oscillations. Aparticular focus is the investigation of higher order methods in space and time to increase the computational efficiency. The spatial discretization is realized by higher order spectral element methods that are characterized by a diagonal mass matrix. The time integration scheme is based on half-explicit Runge–Kutta scheme of fourth order. For the conditionally stable scheme, the critical time step is influenced by the penalty regularization. A framework is presented to adjust the penalty stiffness and the time step for a specific mesh to avoid oscillations. The methods presented in this paper are applied to 1D-simulations of a split Hopkinson pressure bar, which is commonly used for the investigation of materials under dynamic loading.
The hybrid mixture of combustible dusts and flammable gases/vapours widely exist in various industries, including mining, petrochemical, metallurgical, textile and pharmaceutical. It may pose a higher explosion risk than gas/vapor or dust/mist explosions since the hybrid explosions can still be initiated even though both the gas and the dust concentration are lower than their lower explosion limit (LEL) values. Understanding the explosion threat of hybrid mixtures not only contributes to the inherent safety and sustainability of industrial process design, but promotes the efficiency of loss prevention and mitigation. To date, however, there is no test standard with reliable explosion criteria available to determine the safety parameters of all types of hybrid mixture explosions, nor the flame propagation and quenching mechanism or theoretical explanation behind these parameters. This review presents a state-of-the-art overview of the comprehensive understanding of hybrid mixture explosions mainly in an experimental study level; thereby, the main limitations and challenges to be faced are explored. The discussed main contents include the experimental measurement for the safety parameters of hybrid mixtures (i.e., explosion sensitivity and severity parameters) via typical test apparatuses, explosion regime and criterion of hybrid mixtures, the detailed flame propagation/quenching characteristics behind the explosion severities/sensitivities of hybrid mixtures. This work aims to summarize the essential basics of experimental studies, and to provide the perspectives based on the current research gaps to understand the explosion hazards of hybrid mixtures in-depth.
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.
Within the scope of a DIN INS project, a flash thermography round robin test that evaluates reliability, comparability and efficiency of different testing situations is organized. The results give information about the detectability of defects e.g. by their size and depth, the evaluation method and by the materials used. Besides, the influence of equipment and parameters used by the participants on the results were analysed. All of the quantitative results as well as the feedback given by the participants will be presented in a DIN committee in order to contribute to a flash thermography standard.
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.
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 capabilities of pedestrians for evacuation have a significant impact on the time required to reach a safe place. Usually, the evacuation is split into two main stages: pre-movement-phase and movement-phase. For both a large number of studies investigate different representations of behaviour and impacts. But the influence of impairments is usually not taken into account. In addition, most of the scientific researches focus the investigation of the movement phase.
This publication presents a novel approach to score the need for assistance and to estimate the effect on evacuation performance. The proposed score considers characteristic impairments in three dimensions of behaviour: reception, perception and realisation.
In an unannounced evacuation training in a sheltered workshop, the evacuation behaviour and pre-movement phase were analysed. The analysis indicates that the pre-movement time depends on the kind of impairment as well as on organisational boundaries. Despite the special needs for assistance, the evacuation process in a sheltered workshop is quite similar to other sub-populations.
The capabilities of pedestrians for evacuation have a significant impact on the time required to reach a safe place. Usually, the evacuation is split into two main stages: pre-movement-phase and movement-phase. For both a large number of studies investigate different representations of behaviour and impacts. But the influence of impairments is usually not taken into account. In addition, most of the scientific researches focus the investigation of the movement phase.
This publication presents a novel approach to score the need for assistance and to estimate the effect on evacuation performance. The proposed score considers characteristic impairments in three dimensions of behaviour: reception, perception and realisation.
In an unannounced evacuation training in a sheltered workshop, the evacuation behaviour and pre-movement phase were analysed. The analysis indicates that the pre-movement time depends on the kind of impairment as well as on organisational boundaries. Despite the special needs for assistance, the evacuation process in a sheltered workshop is quite similar to other sub-populations.
The determination of the blast protection level of laminated glass windows and facades is of crucial importance, and it is normally done by using experimental investigations. In recent years numerical methods have become much more powerful also with respect to this kind of application. This report attempts to give a first idea of a possible standardisation concerning such numerical simulations. Attention is drawn to the representation of the blast loading and of the behaviour of the material of the mentioned products, to the geometrical meshing, as well as to the modelling of the connections of the glass components to the main structure. The need to validate the numerical models against reliable experimental data, some of which are indicated, is underlined.
A simplified methodology is proposed to estimate the dynamic pressures developed within partially filled cylindrical vertical tanks when subjected to earthquake-related horizontal accelerations. The total pressure at the bottom of the tank is calculated as the superposition of vertical and horizontal pressures. While the magnitude of the vertical pressure depends on the free surface height of the liquid, the horizontal pressure depends on the magnitude of the horizontal acceleration and on the diameter of the tank. The liquid free surface oscillation angle is simulated based upon the principles of the simple pendulum analogy for sloshing. The length of the pendulum, however, is set on the basis of a methodology to calculate the free sloshing frequency of partially filled containers. Such a methodology is experimentally verified in this work. The outputs of the model for full scale situations, suggest that the lateral perturbation - sloshing phenomenon (earthquake effect) can generate an increase in the total pressure of 56% above the no lateral perturbation situation, further suggesting that such an overpressure should be taken into account when designing tanks that could be potentially subjected to earthquake-related perturbations.
The Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis (MeMoS) integrates a finite element model into least squares adjustment and thus allows to evaluate a mechanical model and measurements in a combined analysis. To examine the capability to detect and localise damage using this integrated analysis MeMoS, a small-scale truss bridge made of aluminium profiles is built as a test specimen for this purpose.
To examine the capability to detect and localise damage using the Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis (MeMoS), a small-scale truss bridge (1520 mm × 720 mm × 720 mm) made of aluminium profiles is built as a test specimen for this purpose. The truss frame of the test bridge is made of aluminium profiles with a sophisticated design of the cross-sectional area. In comparison, with solid profiles, only a fraction of the material is needed to produce the profiles, while their bending resistance decreases slightly. The profiles are built into a truss frame by connecting them by means of fastening sets made of steel. The bridge model is mounted on four steel bearings which each of them consist of a cylinder arranged between two plates. Fixed bearings are made by holding onto one end of the bridge. The bridge is subjected by an external load by placing a heavy object beneath it. At the same time, measurements can be conducted below the bridge. Therefore, the bridge specimen is elevated by attaching it on a pedestal with four columns. Damages can be induced by loosening the
fastening pieces.
To examine the capability to detect and localise damage using the Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis (MeMoS), a small-scale truss bridge (1520 mm × 720 mm × 720 mm) made of aluminium profiles is built as a test specimen for this purpose. The truss frame of the test bridge is made of aluminium profiles with a sophisticated design of the cross-sectional area. In comparison, with solid profiles, only a fraction of the material is needed to produce the profiles, while their bending resistance decreases slightly. The profiles are built into a truss frame by connecting them by means of fastening sets made of steel. The bridge model is mounted on four steel bearings which each of them consist of a cylinder arranged between two plates. Fixed bearings are made by holding onto one end of the bridge. The bridge is subjected by an external load by placing a heavy object beneath it. At the same time, measurements can be conducted below the bridge. Therefore, the bridge specimen is elevated by attaching it on a pedestal with four columns. Damages can be induced by loosening the fastening pieces.
The existing cement and concrete standards are not capable of making full use of the current technology capacity due to strong focus on conventional concrete and thus they are not fit for the current and future challenges of construction industry. The paper highlights shortcomings with regard to the implementation of the existing standards. It can be seen that future-oriented standards are generally required to contribute to a lower-carbon footprint of the industry. These changes are significantly more relevant in sub-Saharan Africa, due to the rapidly increasing urbanisation challenge and the enormous potentials to develop lower-carbon technologies than elsewhere in the world.
Right from the beginning of applying SHM to bridge structures it was obvious that environmental based perturbations on the measurement significantly influence the ability to identify structural damage.
Strategies are needed to classify such effects and consider them appropriately in SHM. Various methods have been developed and analyzed to separate environmental based effects from damage induced changes in the measures. Generally, two main approaches have emerged from research activity in this fields: (a) statistics based tools analyzing patterns in the data or in computed parameters and (b) methods, utilizing the structural model of the bridge taking into account environmental as well as damage based changes of stiffness values.
With the back-ground of increasing affordability of sensing and computing technology, effort should be made to increase sensitivity, reliability and robustness of procedures, separating environmental from damage caused changes in SHM measures. The contribution describes both general strategies and points out their Advantages and drawbacks. As basis, a review on relevant methods was conducted. The aim of the study is to classify approaches for separating damage describing information from environmental based perturbations in dependency of the SHM objective. And such, it is intended to describe a best practice in designing concepts for Monitoring infrastructure, naturally effected by environmental influences.
South Africa and recently Nigeria are the only net exporter of cement in Africa, yet cements are imported into the country mainly on the basis of price competitiveness. This poses potential for scatter in the properties of the cements in the South African market as pricing seems to be the only determining factor that affects Portland cements imported. A survey of cements of grade 42.5N in the South African cement market was carried out to identify major players in the industry. The identified cements, which included four locally produced and one imported cement were then analysed for both chemical composition and physical properties in line with the Eurocode EN 196. Tests carried out include loss on ignition, chloride content, sulphate content, specific surface (Blaine), standard consistence, initial setting time, final setting time, soundness and flexural and compressive strength at 2, 7 and 28 days. The testing program was initiated as part of on-going Africa-wide cement testing competency program in partnership with BAM and PTB in Germany. The performance of the identified cements from the different local manufacturers and the imported cement were analysed and are presented in this paper. These results reveal some similarities and differences in the properties. Particularly of interest is the marked difference in the 28 days compressive strength of the cements. This paper shows that there is need for further tests across the cement industry as some of the cements failed to meet certain requirement as set by EN 196. The paper also recommends the use of proficiency testing schemes in the cement industry of the country to ensure the cement laboratories are providing results of high quality and at the same time act as a check to make sure these laboratories are not failing to meet standard requirements.
In many regions of the world the urbanisation process is accelerating dramatically. This puts pressure on urban planners but also politics to develop strategies for sustainable city growth. With the rapidly increasing demand for living space in urban areas, cities typically grow vertically. This is largely driven by real estate markets and sometimes also by the desire for status symbols.
Certainly, vertical urban growth makes sense, when horizontal growth destroys important flora and Fauna (e.g. in rain forest regions), but in many cases vertical growth is result of real-estate business and Expansion limitation due to state or country borders. However, economics and borders are made by humans. They follow human-made rules. Gravity does not. Therefore, from a point of view of sustainable materials and resourceuse, the trending vertical growth of cities may come under scrutiny.
The following aspects should be considered, when a decision is taken between a new quarter with limited number of storeys or a new skyscraper.
Wheel forces generate stresses in the rail as a function of several vehicle and infrastructure characteristics and operating conditions. The different components of the wheel forces develop strains in the rail which contain an elastic and hysteretic (irreversible) components. The irreversible deformations of the rail would be associated with locomotive energy losses. In this paper, a testing facility is proposed to indirectly characterize the level of stresses in the rail, in terms of the energy that is lost during tuming maneuvers. Different potentially influential factors are considered, including the friction at the Center plate, the wheelbase length, the distance between bogies and the radius of the curved track. The change
in the potential energy during a U-turn displacement is measured. In this respect, an experimental model under this operating principle, aimed at validating such a principle of Operation, reveals a significant effect of the friction at the center plate on the energy lost during turning maneuvers, and consequently, on the level of stresses in the rail.