Motivation

Germany’s transport infrastructure is ageing in many cases, but there is a lack of capacity and financial resources for comprehensive new construction. In addition, the climate footprint of the construction sector is problematic, especially in the new construction sector. In order to avoid a traffic collapse and at the same time protect the climate, the maintenance management of the building stock is becoming a central and increasingly demanding task. However, this can only be done efficiently if up-to-date information on the actual condition of the structures is available.

The metrological recording of transport structures is currently only the last step in structural health monitoring (SHM), as the use of conventional tactile 1D sensors is very time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Activities

The use of profile scanning (PLS) to monitor infrastructure structures harbours great potential in this context. The load-bearing structure of a building is scanned from a flexible sensor platform with a high-frequency, contactless laser beam without having to enter the building. The spatially distributed measurement values obtained in this way replace a large number of individual sensors and also enable measurements to be taken in previously inaccessible locations, e.g. above rivers.

The underlying measuring principle simultaneously records the geometry of the structure, so that the actual geometry is documented in addition to the derivation of deformations. In combination with 3D recording, which is also possible with the same measuring device, this unlocks further potential, e.g. the combination of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with the measurements obtained in this way as part of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM).

However, intelligent and, in particular, adaptive evaluation methods that enable automated analysis are required in order to utilise the enormous amounts of data generated for practical purposes. A prototypical spatio-temporal evaluation concept has already been developed for this purpose.

This integrated approach should lead to a better understanding of the condition of the transport infrastructure in the future, allowing maintenance management to be planned more efficiently and in a more condition-orientated manner.