Damage assessment of concrete structures through dynamic testing methods. Part 1 - Laboartory Test

in Journal of Engineering Structures (2012), 34

The present paper is split into two parts: Part 1 is about laboratory tests whereas the second part deals with experiments on real bridges. This article aims at summarizing several experimental dynamic ... [more ▼]

The present paper is split into two parts: Part 1 is about laboratory tests whereas the second part deals with experiments on real bridges. This article aims at summarizing several experimental dynamic testing methods with different damage indicators to evaluate the state of prestressed as well as of passively reinforced concrete structures. First the differences between prestressed and passively reinforced concrete are repeated for static behavior, before the transition to dynamics is made. As it will be proved in the following that the amount of nonlinearities increases with damage, harmonic excitation is favorable to realize good testing conditions. It is applied to visualize variations in linear as well as in non-linear structural characteristics, which are subsequently used as damage indicators, e.g. the drop of the eigenfrequencies, the changes in damping and modeshapes, the occurrence of higher harmonics and a varying dependency of the eigenfrequency on excitation force amplitude. These different indicators will be used on passively reinforced beam elements and industrially produced prestressed slabs in the first part and on two real post-tensioned bridges in the second part. All these structures were in good order and condition before artificial damage was applied in multiple steps and the sensitivity of each damage indicator was analyzed. [less ▲]

Damage Identification and Localisation Using Changes in Modal Parameters for Civil Engineering Structures

in Proceedings of the International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering (2012)

Dynamische Methoden zur Schadensidentifikation an einer kontinuierlich geschädigten vorgespannten Zweifeldbrücke

in VDI-Berichte 2160 (2012)

Integrative analysis of the energy flow in a steel plant and a comprehensive approach to increase the energy efficiency

in Proceedings METEC InSteelCON 2011, Düsseldorf Germany, CCD Congress Center, Düsseldorf, 27.06-01.07. (2011, July)

Steel industry is a highly intensive energy consumer. The energy used by the studied electric steelmaking plant could supply 25,000 households with thermal energy and 100,000 households with electrical ... [more ▼]

Steel industry is a highly intensive energy consumer. The energy used by the studied electric steelmaking plant could supply 25,000 households with thermal energy and 100,000 households with electrical energy. Increasing the energy efficiency of a steel plant will not only have impact in the reduction of greenhouse emissions but also in an increase of the competitiveness of the plant. A Luxembourgish steel plant is studied in detail and several options for energy savings are identified. Promising energy efficiency gains can be achieved by the optimization of the electric arc furnace and the reheating furnaces and by the improvement of the logistics between the continuous casting and the reheating furnace. The possibilities of energy recovery for heating purposes and for the generation of electricity with ORC- (Organic Rankine Cycle) or KALINAtechnologies are studied. In addition there is the opportunity to deliver hot water to a near district-heating system using otherwise lost energy and creating regional synergies. Nevertheless there is a need to develop a comprehensive and integrative approach to find a good overall solution instead of treating each step separately. The University of Luxembourg in collaboration with a Luxembourgish steel plant is developing a methodology to assess the technical, economical and environmental aspects of each solution. The objective is to assist in the decision-making in the company’s energy efficiency strategy and to perform a comparative analysis of the different solutions in order to propose an optimized plant, based on its feasibility due to local restrictions and different energy price scenarios. This ideal plant will be composed of individual elements, which proved their effectiveness in different real plants, so that the approach stays applied [less ▲]

Detection and localization of damage in civil engineering structures by using static and dynamic assessment methods

in CD-Proceedings, Paper ID: 358 (2011)

Influence of environmental changes on modal characteristics

in Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) (2011)

Ambient Vibration and Forced Excitation Tests of a Composite Bridge: Environmental influences and nonlinear effects on the dynamic properties

in Proceedings of the International Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering, ISMA (2010)

Comparison of linear and nonlinear static and dynamic behaviour of prestressed and non-prestressed concrete slab elements

in Proceedings of the International Conference of Noise and Vibration Engineering (2010)

Entwicklung von hybriden Wärmedämmsteinen aus LAC

in Mauerwerk (2010), 14(1), 10-18

Dynamic simulations to develop a natural ventilation concept for an office building

in 8th International Conference on System Simulation in Buildings (2010)

The Sustainability Group of the University of Luxembourg defined for their new buildings a maximum thermal end-energy of 14 kWh/(m3a) and an electricity consumption for HVAC and lighting below 6 kWh/(m3a ... [more ▼]

The Sustainability Group of the University of Luxembourg defined for their new buildings a maximum thermal end-energy of 14 kWh/(m3a) and an electricity consumption for HVAC and lighting below 6 kWh/(m3a). Therefore it was necessary to avoid active cooling loads and mechanical ventilation in the offices and small lecture rooms. The well insulated and air-tight façade, including special outside shading elements which were designed as a grid over the complete building envelope, was an essential given architectural element of the building. Therefore further external shading devices were not applicable. The only possibility to have an influence on solar gains was to optimize the window size, the glazing type and potentially an internal shading device. Furthermore, to prevent the risk of overheating during the summer period, it was necessary to reduce the internal gains from lighting and IT-equipment. Hence detailed dynamic simulations using TRNSYS and TRNFLOW were done to evaluate the thermal comfort without air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation. The effects of optimizations like a state-of-the-art lighting control system or a window-based night ventilation, as well as the influence of the effective thermal inertia of the building were analyzed. The assumed natural ventilation rates were calculated by combining TRNFLOW and TRNSYS simulations and by the software LESOCOOL. [less ▲]