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Novel assessment of bridge retrofitting measures through Interface Efficiency Indices (InterFeis) using a Guided Wave-based monitoring method

Project description

News ways to assess retrofitting of existing bridges

First developed for the aerospace industry, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have proven beneficial in bridge engineering. They have replaced traditional materials for structural elements like girders, bridge decks and stay cables but there are factors that may reduce the level of integration of the FRP system with the bridge. The EU-funded BriFace project will apply structural health monitoring techniques to measure the efficiency of the strengthening measure and quantify these with interface efficiency indices (InterFeis). The project will define the indices. A first in bridge inspection, a long-distant inspection method of guided waves will be used. The findings will be useful for developing bridge design guidelines and an EU strategy on infrastructure safety..

Objective

Modernisation of our deficient transportation networks and in particular bridges is a pressing requirement imposed by the growing EU economy, vital to societal coherence and safety. Frequent retrofitting solutions include the use of versatile Fiber Reinforced Polymers systems (FRPs), which have been proven to enhance the capacity and deflections of bridges. Nevertheless, it is surprising that only a few, if any, research results are available with regard to the efficiency and appropriateness of FRP systems used on bridge retrofitting schemes, whilst international design guidelines neglect the level of integration of the measures with the existing bridge components. In practice, and especially in bridge decks were deterioration is expected, there is a number of limitations that reduce the level of integration of the FRP system with the bridge. This gave the BriFace project a strong motivation to utilise Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques to assess the efficiency of the strengthening measure and quantify those, for the first time in the international literature, with the Interface Efficiency Indices (InterFeis), by measuring reliably the interface deflections and strains and by taking into account the failure modes and the limit stress states of bridge components. The novel objectives of BriFace are: 1) To define the Interface Efficiency Indices, 2) To utilize an expedient, long-distant inspection method of guided waves for the first time in bridge inspection, 3) To increase the interface efficiency by chemical means potentially by using nanoparticles and 4) To use InterFeis as a reliable indicator toward the quantification of the redundancy of the retrofitted bridge, as a means to assess its capacity and thus its resilience. The research outcomes will also benefit stakeholders and fuel bridge design guidelines and align them with the EU strategy on infrastructural safety and resilience.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 212 933,76
Address
Stag Hill
GU2 7XH Guildford
United Kingdom

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Region
South East (England) Surrey, East and West Sussex West Surrey
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 212 933,76
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