INFRASTAR — Innovation and Networking for Fatigue and Reliability Analysis of Structures - Training for Assessment of Risk

Results in brief

Innovation and Networking for Fatigue and Reliability Analysis of Structures - Training forAssessment of Risk

Civil infrastructures are the basis of socio-economic wealth for modern societies and concrete is the most used material in volume in the world. However, a series of limitations hamper innovative solutions in the asset management of infrastructures. One of the most prevalent issues that directly influences the life expectancy of concrete structures, is fatigue. Although fatigue has been investigated for years for steel structures, recent findings suggest that concrete structures are also significantly subjected to fatigue that could lead to failure. A second issue relates to the current technological means to measure fatigue on structures like bridges and wind turbines, as these are outdated, imprecise and inappropriate. Finally, while structural reliability methods have been widely applied in some industrial applications, e.g. offshore oil and gas structures, practical application of probabilistic methods still needs theoretical and practical developments. INFRASTAR aims to develop knowledge, expertise and skills for optimal and reliable management of structures. The generic methodology is applied to bridges and wind turbines in relation to fatigue, offering the opportunity to deal with complementary notions while addressing three major challenges: 1) advanced modelling of concrete fatigue behaviour; 2) new non-destructive testing methods for early aged damage detection; and 3) probabilistic approach of structure reliability under fatigue. The project provided comprehensive work on innovative sensing techniques and a better connection to damage indicators (data fusion). Refined models and methods of the loading and behaviour of structural members have been elaborated. The potential cost- and material savings using reliability- and risk-based methods for existing structures demonstrated in the case studies will contribute to decreasing the Levelized Cost Of Energy in wind energy and to increased sustainability.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

INFRASTAR aims to develop knowledge, expertise and skill for optimal and reliable management of structures. The generic methodology will be applied to bridges and wind turbines in relation to fatigue offering the opportunity to deal with complementary notions (such as old and new asset management, unique and similar structures, wind and traffic actions) while addressing 3 major challenges: 1/advanced modelling of concrete fatigue behaviour, 2/new non destructive testing methods for early aged damage detection and 3/probabilistic approach of structure reliability under fatigue. Benefit of cross-experience and inter-disciplinary synergies will create new knowledge. INFRASTAR proposes innovative solutions for civil infrastructure asset management so that young scientists will acquire a high employment profile in close dialogue between industry and academic partners.Modern engineering methods, including probabilistic approaches, risk and reliability assessment tools, will take into account the effective structural behaviour of existing bridges and wind turbines by exploiting monitored data. Existing methods and current state-of -the art is based on excessive conservatism which produces high costs and hinders sustainability.INFRASTAR will improve knowledge for optimising the design of new structures, for more realistic verification of structural safety and more accurate prediction of future lifetime of the existing structures. That is a challenge for a sustainable development because it reduces building material and energy consumption as well as CO2 production.Within the global framework of optimal infrastructure asset management, INFRASTAR will result in a multi-disciplinary body of knowledge covering generic problems from the design stage process of the new civil infrastructures up to recycling after dismantlement. This approach and the proposed methods and tools are new and will allow a step forward for innovative and effective process.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERSITE GUSTAVE EIFFEL · MARNE-LA-VALLEECoordinatorFrance
AALBORG UNIVERSITET · AalborgDenmark
BUNDESANSTALT FUER MATERIALFORSCHUNG UND -PRUEFUNG · BerlinGermany
COWI AS · Kongens LyngbyDenmark
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE · LausanneSwitzerland
GUD CONSULT GMBH · BERLINGermany
NEOSTRAIN SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA · KRAKOWPoland
PHI-MECA ENGINEERING · Cournon-D'AuvergneFrance

INFRASTAR · Innovation and Networking for Fatigue and Reliability Analysis of Structures - Training for Assessment of Risk

Results in brief

Innovation and Networking for Fatigue and Reliability Analysis of Structures - Training forAssessment of Risk

Project objective

Participants

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