Structural Health Monitoring of bridge structures
In addition, Prof. Waldmann has a large experience regarding monitoring and real-scale tests of bridge structures which includes condition assessment of civil engineering structures by the observation of non-linear dynamic and static behaviour. Prof. Waldmann had the opportunity to realise extensive static and dynamic in-situ tests on bridge structures prior to their demolition. These undamaged and intact bridges were made accessible prior to their demolition by the Bridge and Road Administration in Luxembourg so that the Prof. Waldmann’s research group was allowed to damage the respective bridges and to analyse the impact of the successively introduced damage on their dynamic and static properties. This led to the development of the Deformation Area Difference Method (DAD-Method) and to the application of most modern measurement techniques such as photogrammetry combined to drones. As the preparation of these in-situ tests needed a very careful planning and analysis of the structures in the run-up of these tests, Prof. Waldmann gained a large experience in bridge design as well as condition assessment and monitoring of bridge structures.
Material and Component Bank
In order to develop the high potential of a Circular Economy within the construction industry, the reuse of components extracted from old buildings at their end-of-life has to be promoted as a main driver to increase sustainability in the sector. The main barriers to enable promotion and design of circular buildings are related to the uncertainties on the warranty of structural components for reuse. Thus, as a first step, a thorough condition assessment of these components must take place to assess their residual capacity and remaining service life. Most literature has not focused on methods neither for assessing the condition of building components by integrating physical factors such as geometry, dimensions, ageing and location; nor including environmental aging factors such as temperature and humidity. Thereby, the aim is to develop a novel condition assessment model for structural components by integrating physical and environmental factors in order to pave the way for efficiently prepare and assess the transition of structural components obtained from old buildings to future new buildings. The developed condition assessment model will be embedded in a BIM-based digital system, so that the database of the system will be populated along the use of the system with required information which allows designers of future buildings to easily identify the availability of the reusable components and their (current and future) condition.
