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4 532578371360564600 PDF
4 532578371360564600 PDF
Roberto Acerbis
Harry Asche
Guido Barbieri
Tiziano Collotta
Introduction during the design phase, primarily of structures during the construction
Geotechnical engineering involves due to limited information about the phase, to compare the actual loads
uncertainties, arising from soil properties and behaviour. It is and stresses with those anticipated
simplifications which are necessary important to monitor the performance during design. For concrete structures,
strain gauges can be installed inside structure and orientated parallel to the casting, to allow for replacement of
the structure during casting in order to instrument. The strain gauge has to be malfunctioning strain gauges;
directly record the strain state during installed with its main axis parallel Perform a data acquisition imme-
different construction phases. From to the direction of the strain (with its diately after wiring so as to verify
these measurements, stresses and consequent stress) to be measured. In operation of the data acquisition
internal forces can then be derived. To order to derive axial force and bending system.
obtain reliable estimates of the forces moment of a structural element, strain
and stresses, one must use correct gauges have to be installed parallel to Conversion Procedure
assumptions about concrete behaviour the longitudinal axis of the structural
as well as a proper conversion procedure. element and at least two should be Assumptions
The creep behaviour of concrete, installed: one at the extrados and As previously stated, in order to obtain
shrinkage and hardening should all a second at the intrados. In plain reliable information about stresses
be considered to avoid macroscopic concrete structures, strain gauges are within the structure, a proper conversion
errors. This is particularly true with embedded within the concrete during procedure should be adopted to obtain
regard to concrete structures which casting, whereas in reinforced concrete stresses from measured strains.
undergo loads only a few days after elements they are usually welded As first step, if the instrument is not
casting, such as temporary supports, or glued to reinforcement bars (see thermally self-compensated, as it is the
tunnel linings or pier foundations. In Figure 1a, 1b). The sensor records the case for vibrating wire gauges, a cor-
the following, a conversion procedure deformation electronically, hence it rection must be applied to the readings.
aimed to properly simulate concrete is possible to connect the instrument A procedure will usually be described
behaviour is described and its to a data acquisition system so as to by the instrument manufacturer, in
application to real monitoring cases record data and to undertake real-time order to compensate readings for the
is presented. We show the effect of monitoring. Strain gauges are usually thermal errors in the gauge itself (as op-
each strain contribution and the errors equipped with a thermal sensor in order posed to the effect that temperature has
which could result as a consequence of to record the surrounding temperature on the strain in the concrete or steel). If
following too simplified a conversion during the readings and to estimate the resistive sensors are used instead, they
procedure. contribution of thermal strain to the are usually self-compensated by the
structural element. Wheatstone bridge system.
General Description of Strain During installation, it is important Once the total strain (corrected
Gauges and Their Installation to take some precautions to obtain ac- for thermal errors in the gauge itself)
Procedure curate and reliable results: is measured, various concrete strain
Strain gauges are the most commonly Protect strain gauges by a proper components have to be considered, in
used instruments for measuring strains, shield to avoid possible damages addition to instantaneous strain due
and consequently for determination during concreting due to the con- to stress increments, in order to take
of stresses in concrete structures. crete flow or concrete vibrators; into account the complex behaviour
As a possible alternative, fibre optic this can be achieved by placing of concrete. Thermal (concrete and
systems have been developing during a polystyrene casing around the steel) strain, shrinkage and creep strain
the last decade. These are able to gauge, if welded gauges are used, should all be considered. Moreover,
provide extensive information, but or a steel sheet around the sensor the effect of variations in the Youngs
are considerably more expensive than when placing embedded gauges; modulus of concrete during the hard-
other methods, and hence are usually Protect cables by PVC pipes to ening process has to be assessed with
only used for special applications. A avoid potential damage during the regard to the relationship between elas-
strain gauge measures, by means of different construction phases; tic strain and stresses. A proper estima-
a vibrating wire or resistive sensor, Verify operation of each instrument tion of such contributions is critical to
the relative displacement between by taking a first reading before understanding the strain behaviour of
two supports that are fixed to the concrete structures, particularly if the
Figure 1a. Strain gage welded to steel bar. Figure 1b. Strain gage embedded in concrete.
30 Geotechnical News March 2011
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
structure undergoes loading immedi- and instant ti, Es is the steel Youngs forces over the effective section, in-
ately after casting (see Collotta et al modulus (210 GPa) and s is the steel ternal actions (axial force and bending
[2010]). thermal coefficient. moment), can be derived.
In the following, the proposed con- As for the computation of concrete
version procedure is described, based stress in any given point in the cross- Application to Real Structures
on the following assumptions: section, a step-by-step procedure The proposed procedure is applicable
There is perfect bonding of the steel has been adopted (see Ghali A. et al in every case where performance
bars to surrounding concrete; [2002]), so as to properly take into ac- monitoring of concrete structures is
The strain distribution is linear count the contribution of shrinkage and required. In the following section, the
within the monitored section (ac- creep strains and the effects of Youngs results obtained from two different
cording to traditional beam theory); modulus variations over time. Know- applications are presented: first, a
The concrete is linear elastic, but ing the corrected total strain at a cer- concrete ring beam support for a shaft
with a tension cut-off (at the aver- tain point on the section, from t0 to ti, excavation; second, the permanent
age concrete tensile strength); the concrete stress at the same point lining of a highway tunnel. Both
The variation of Youngs modulus in each interval between consecutive examples are derived from a large
with time, the creep coefficients measurements is obtained using the construction site for the development of
and the development of shrinkage following formula, as a function of the a new highway route between Bologna
strain follows the rules proposed total strain at all the previous measur- and Florence in the central part of Italy.
in the CEB-FIB Model Code 1990 ing instants: In the first case, the reinforced con-
(Comit Euro-International du B- crete ring beam was cast after excavat-
ton [CEB], 1991); ing down to the ring beam location.
The monitored cross-section under- Further excavation of the shaft transfers
goes axial force and bending mo- the force to the ring beam. To counter-
ment around an axis orthogonal to balance the radial thrust acting all over
the virtual line passing through the where cs,i is the shrinkage strain at its circumference, a compressive axial
two strain gauges. instant ti, i,j is the creep coefficient force develops; gauges have been in-
between instants tj and ti and Ec,i is the stalled to compare the actual values of
Procedure concrete Youngs modulus at instant ti the axial force to the design assump-
In the following formulas, subscript i and Ai-1 is a function of the previous tions and to check for unexpected
means that the quantity is computed at load steps as follows: bending moments due to unsymmetri-
the time of measurement ti. At all times, cal thrusts or geometric imperfections.
correcting for the gauge thermal error, The ring beam is thus loaded just one
the total strain at time ti is tot,i, being the or two days after casting, when harden-
difference between the measured strain ing is still taking place.
at the gauge and the initial measurement. In the second case (the Buttoli tun-
On the basis of the assumption of a The curves of such quantities versus nel), the permanent lining is cast all
linear strain distribution, the total strain time can be obtained from National around the tunnel boundary, usually in
at any given point along the cross- codes, Eurocodes or other relevant two or more pours (first, the invert and,
section is derived from the total strain codes. In this case, we have adopted the then, the crown) in order to sustain part
at the two measuring points within suggestions given by CEB-FIP Model of the soil pressure in the short-term
the monitored cross-section. Thus the Code 1990 (Comit Euro-International and all of it in the long-term. Moreover
strain can be computed at the extreme du Bton [CEB], 1991). it is designed to protect the tunnel inner
fibres of the concrete section as well Having derived the stresses in the space from humidity and possible wa-
as at the positions of the reinforcing reinforcement and in the concrete sec- ter ingress. The gauges have been in-
bars. Assuming perfect bonding, the tion borders for each time of measure- stalled to measure the actual values of
corrected measured strain is assumed to ment, it is possible to verify whether axial force and bending moments act-
apply both to the concrete and the steel. the concrete section cracks. If it does ing on the lining both in the short and
The stress in the steel bars can then not, i.e. if it is completely compressed in the long term. During tunnelling, the
be easily derived in each measuring or if the maximum computed stress in excavation continues immediately after
instant by the computed total strain the concrete is lower than its tensile the casting of the concrete and there-
(stot,i), taking into account the thermal resistance, the whole concrete section fore the initial loading of the concrete
contribution: has to be considered in the calcula- occurs just after the casting.
tions. Otherwise, the effective concrete In order to estimate the axial force
section has to be calculated at each in- and possible bending moments in the
stant by computing at what height the annular beam, four instrumented sec-
where Ti and T0 are respectively the concrete stress reaches its mean tensile tions are provided, each formed by a
measured temperature at instant t0 resistance. Then, by integrating the two strain gauges, located one at the
Geotechnical News March 2011 31
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Figure 2a. Ring beam - Measured in strain vs time. Figure 2b. Ring beam Computed axial force vs time.
intrados and one at the extrados in cir- and the remaining ones to the two in- N2: shrinkage and aging (i.e. chang-
cumferential direction. The four sec- termediate points. In the total strain ing Youngs modulus with time);
tions are equally spaced around the versus time figures, temperature inside N3: creep and aging;
ring circumference. In order to esti- the concrete is also plotted. In Figure N4: creep and shrinkage;
mate axial force and bending moment 2a, the effect of the temperature rise N5: considering concrete as simply
in the permanent lining of the Buttoli due to concrete casting on the strain an elastic material (i.e. disregard-
tunnel, a cross section was provided values is clear, whereas, in a similar ing all time-dependent effects).
with five pairs of strain gauges, equally way, the effect of seasonal temperature As is clear by comparison between
distributed along the lining: a pair for variation on the concrete strain can be N1 and N5, if the conversion procedure
each side, one at the crown and other seen in Figure 3a. The maximum val- is too simplified, the stresses can be
two intermediate points. The invert was ues of axial force derived by the mea- overestimated by a factor of nearly six.
not instrumented. In both the example surements turned out to be in both case Conclusions
cases, the strain gauges were welded to studies within the design values: in the In order to obtain reliable estimates
steel bars. first case, the measured value is almost of stress by installing strain gauges
In the following figures, the cor- 70 % of the design one, whereas in the embedded in concrete structures or
rected measured total strains, averaged second case the maximum measured welded to reinforcement bars, a proper
in each instrumented section between value is equal to 65% of the design val- conversion procedure must be adopted.
extrados and intrados, and the corre- ue. Such differences can be explained The proposed procedure takes into
sponding axial forces, computed by by precautionary assumptions adopted account the complex behaviour of
the proposed procedure, are shown for in the design phase. concrete by considering the effect of
both the ring beam (Figure 2a, 2b) and The importance of applying the cor- shrinkage, creep strain and hardening.
the tunnelling example (Figure 3a, 3b). rect conversion procedure is shown in Such a procedure can be easily
Each curve refers to a pair of strain Tables 1 and 2. For each of the two implemented by an Excel spreadsheet
gauges; as for the tunnelling example, considered examples, the final axial and a Visual Basic routine. As shown
1.1-1.2 and 5.1-5.2 correspond to the forces computed by the proposed pro- by the examples, the proposed
pairs of strain gauges placed on the cedure (N1) are compared to the ones procedure leads to results that can be
left and right sides of the tunnel lining, derived by disregarding respectively: compared to the design estimations,
3.1-3.2 to the one placed at the crown whereas adopting too simplified a
Figure 3a. Tunnel lining Measured strain vs time. Figure 3b. Tunnel lining Computed axial force vs time.
32 Geotechnical News March 2011
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Table 1. Ring beam - computed axial forces Table 2. Tunnel lining - computed axial forces
Ring N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N5/N1 Sez.. N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N5/N1
[kN] [kN] [kN] [kN] [kN] [-] [kN] [kN] [kN] [kN] [kN] [-]
III 1415 1600 2425 2740 3950 2.8 1.1-1.2 1650 1985 3290 3645 3645 2.2
2.1-2.2 1240 1580 2170 2585 2585 2.1
procedure which disregards all the 3.1-3.2 190 515 580 1095 1095 5.7
effects previously listed can lead to 4.1-4.2 2100 2440 3830 4155 4155 2.0
significant overestimation of stresses.
5.1-5.2 2530 2865 4634 4925 4925 2.0
References
T. Collotta, G. Barbieri, M. Mapelli
(2010) Shotcrete Tunnel Linings
with Steel Ribs: Stress Redistribu-
tion due to Creep and Shrinkage,
Proc. 3rd Intern. Conf. on Engineer-
ing Developments in Shotcrete,
New Zealand.
Comit Euro-International du Bton
Intuitive interface Open interface
(CEB), 1991. CEB-FIP Model Compatible with global
Web, GIS, 3D, smartphone
Code 1990. Final Draft, CEB Bul- information management
letin dInformation, N. 203, July systems
1991, Lausanne. Data
Ghali, A., Favre, R. & Elbadry, M., Acquisition
2002. Concrete Structures. Stresses Real-time
and Deformations, 3rd ed., Spon multi-sensor
alarms
Press, London & New York.
Open information
ascheh@ap.aurecongroup.com
Maxwell Geosystems have promoted record for one project is 25 million Powerful Analysis Options
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Observational Engineering
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programme data is fully integrated into Maxwell Geosystems Ltd.
Figure 1. Construction and instrument the software. 1701-1702 Bonham Strand Trade
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lationships in data.
Geotechnical News March 2011 35
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Alarms
Four basic types of alarms are
supported, calculations to include one
or more data or calculated elements
can also be configured with alarms for
virtually unlimited alarm configuration.
For example, the calculation engine
includes aggregate and historical
functions to reduce data and alarm
based on time periods or other criteria.
Notifications
Five types of notifications are
supported, alarms being just one type.
Other notifications include scheduling
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Figure 1. Sample project view with event and inclinometer outputs shown.
36 Geotechnical News March 2011
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Geocomps iSiteCentralTM service Device pollers handle data upload numerical manipulation of measured
shown in Figure 1 has been operational from most commonly used data data. A virtual sensor is built using
since 1998 and provides integrated loggers; website facilities to en- the data from one or more sensors and
data collection, reporting and alerting ter data manually and via direct mathematical equations that relate the
capabilities for a wide variety of sensor spreadsheet upload. measured data to the quantity desired.
inputs, data loggers and applications. A client version of iSiteCentralTM is Examples range from simple pressure
The system provides a single data also available for installation at a cli- transducer corrections for atmospheric
delivery interface for traditional ents facility. Configuration is based on pressures or tilt from deformation mon-
data loggers, robotic total stations, clients specific needs for redundancy, itoring points (see Figure 1) to more
seismographs, cameras and many other mirroring and backup. complex calculations of bending strain
non-standard data feeds/sources. from multiple gages, to linear and non-
Operations: The iSiteCentralTM User Interface and Reporting linear trend calculations that may be
software and hardware reside in Geo- Tools used for evaluating rates of change and
comps offices in Massachusetts. All interactions between the customer for predicting future values. A scripting
These systems operate continuously to and iSiteCentralTM are through language is used inside iSiteCentralTM
monitor data from sensors all over the password-controlled WEB browser via the website to set up these virtual
world. The data are stored into a secure interface that allows clients and users sensor calculations. This capability
Microsoft SQL database. Some fea- to view and report data whenever he/ also allows users to create complex
tures include: she desires. iSiteCentralTM contains alerts based on multiple sensor inputs
Automatic backups of the database reporting elements that permit users to give automated early warnings and
every 30 minutes to create charts, graphs and tables to perform cross-evaluation of data
Automatic rollover to second server to meet a specific project needs and sources in real-time.
if primary server fails requirements. Graphical forms include Alerting services: The Alarm Ser-
Separate modules for data exchange time history, x-y and multiple y axes. vice option of iSiteCentralTM monitors
and data storage to protect integrity Links to plots, tables and sub-plans can all readings to determine if a sensor
of the database be placed onto images at the website reading has exceeded a present alarm
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poll the data from outside the iSite- current readings. The instrument alarm levels up to 15. Each alarm level
Central system symbols can be color coded to indicate can be programmed to cause iSiteCen-
Extended data records permits stor- sensors in an alarm state. tralTM to take specific notification ac-
age of information about quality of Interpretation aids: The iSite- tions. These include sending emails,
each data point CentralTM system utilizes the concept text messages and synthesized voice
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an alarm via the WEB.
Figure 1.
Geotechnical News March 2011 37
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Andres Thorarinsson,
CEO of Vista Engineering and
Vista Data Vision,
andres@vista.is,
www.vistadatavision.com,
http://demo.vistadatavision.com
Product Overview including GIS (Geographical Informa- Virtual sensors can be created to
ARGUS is named after Argus tion System) functionalities, construc- calculate specific values such as
Panoptes a giant in Greek mythology. tion progress information management averages, absolute or relative mea-
He was famous in legend for having and is compliant to AGS (The Associa- surements, corrected and uncor-
100 eyes that made him a perfect tion of Geotechnical and Geoenviron- rected data etc.
watchman. ARGUS was originally mental Specialists) data format. Automatic generation of PDF re-
developed in 2004 by Interfels in ports and distribution via e-mail.
Germany, becoming an ITM-Soil ARGUS Features Reports can be customized by the
product when ITM-Soil acquired In addition to all the standard functions user to include sensor plots, sensor
Interfels in 2007. of a web-based instrumentation data values, alarms and other relevant
ARGUS has been developed for the management system, such as storage, information.
open-source LAMP system (Linux, calculations, graphical presentation Built-in functions allowing users
Apache, MySQL & PHP). It is 100% (Figure 1), alarm messaging, and to create backups & archives from
web-based software. Users interact reporting, ARGUS also has some data and configuration settings in
with ARGUS using industry standard unique features as follows: the database to the users PC.
web-browsers, there is no need to in- Users have the option to purchase Built-in FileManager and LogBook
stall any software or plug-ins on their ARGUS to run on their own server, functions for user to input addition-
PC. Working with ARGUS is platform- or rent web spaces on ITM-Soil se- al project information.
independent and can be accomplished cured and fault-tolerant servers. The latest version incorporates GIS
in a local network or over the Internet Support for multiple languages cur- functionalities (Fig 2), TBM (tun-
from any location in the world. Multi- rently including Dutch, German, nel boring machine) data, multi-
ple users can access the system simul- English, French, Chinese, Spanish, media records (videos and pho-
taneously. There is no license to pay for Swedish and Finnish. Additional tographs) and permission group
each user. new languages can be added as re- management.
Since its introduction, ARGUS has quired.
been used in many small as well as User definable formula with refer- Hai-Tien Yu,
major projects around the world with ences to any sensor in the project. ARGUS Web-based Data Management
a well proven track record including Support for dual Y-axis allowing Software by ITM-Soil,
a number of underground projects in- you to present two different engi- ITM-Soil,
cluding the Crossrail project in London neering units in one plot Bell Lane, Uckfield, East Sussex,
and several Subway projects in New Watchdog function to generate an TN22 1QL, UK,
York. email alarm if no data received Tel: +44 1825 765044,
ARGUS is under constant develop- since x minutes email: hai@itm-ltd.com,
ment to satisfy new user requirements www.itm-ltd.com
Figure 1. Typical ARGUS project view. Figure 2. ARGUS with GIS interface.
Geotechnical News March 2011 39
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Vista Engineering Hofdabakki 9c 110 Reykjavik Iceland Tel: +354 587 8889 Fax: +354 567 3995 Email: vdv @ vistadatavision.com