Profile

Ernst Niederleithinger holds diploma, PhD and habiltation degrees in Geophysics. He is the head of division “NDT methods for civil engineering” at BAM and lectures at RWTH Aachen. He works on NDT and SHM applications for concrete in infrastructure and the nuclear sector.

Abstract

Long term monitoring of concrete structures using innovative NDT and SHM approaches: NDT-CE 4.0

In Germany, a large amount of reinforced and/or prestressed concrete structures are approaching the end of their life cycle. Many of them already show a significant reduction of operability or capacity. The issue is most obvious, but not limited to traffic or energy related infrastructure. These structures have to be inspected and assessed on a regular basis. More and more permanent monitoring systems are installed to follow the degradation and to give pre-warning before failure.

While the basic mandatory inspection (e. g. of bridges) is still limited to visual examination and tap tests, more advanced investigation tools as ultrasound or radar are used more and more often. Monitoring e. g. by acoustic emission systems is increasingly used e.g. for detection of wire breaks in prestressed structures. The presentation gives an overview on the state of the art and an outlook on innovative systems, including the integration in modern data processing, evaluation, display and archive systems.