Wouter Botte

Update WP3

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update WP3 – Assessment and optimization of combined inspection and monitoring strategies

Vibration-based Monitoring (VBM) is a widely used non-destructive approach for monitoring civil infrastructure. Changes in modal characteristics are used for damage detection and localisation. Within a large experimental campaign conducted within WP3, the effects of corrosion damage on different modal characteristics of reinforced concrete beams are studied using data from a lab setup. The beams are subjected to an accelerated corrosion process up to a target corrosion degree of 15%. Modal tests are conducted at 6 evenly spaced moments in time during the corrosion process to identify different modal characteristics (natural frequencies, displacement mode shapes and strain mode shapes). The natural frequencies of the torsional modes decrease strongly due to longitudinal corrosion cracking of the beam. Local corrosion damage is detected and localised using strain mode shapes of the bending modes.

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Update WP5 – Performance prediction

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uPDATE wp5 – Performance prediction

Quantification of the effect of preventive interventions on the ingress of chloride into concrete structures

Chloride ingress is a common issue in concrete structures that can result in reinforcement corrosion. In order to extend the lifetime of a structure, several preventive repair methodologies are available, which reduce the ingress of chlorides. In this work, the computational efficiency of the analytical model for a two-material diffusion problem has been improved to model the effect of a mortar overlay or partial cover replacement, and is further implemented to model the influence of a coating. This enables the assessment of each repair method in a probabilistic framework using Latin hypercube samples within an acceptable timeframe. A parameter study executed in both a deterministic and probabilistic framework demonstrated the model efficiency and the importance of the timing and quality of the intervention for successful repair when applying a repair intervention in the initiation phase.

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Diagnostic load test on concrete bridge in Flanders

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On May 16th – 17th 2023 a diagnostic load test was executed on a prestressed concrete bridge located in Flanders. The results of this load test will be used to validate the methodologies developed within the lifeMACS project in relation to structural reliability assessment, Bayesian updating based on monitoring information and predictions of the remaining lifetime.

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