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Gdańsk University of Technology

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Publications from the year 2024

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  • Corrigendum to “The influence of α,ω-diols and SiO2 particles on CO2 absorption and NH3 escaping during carbon dioxide capture in ammonia solutions” [J. CO2 Util. 80 (2024) 102698]
    • Temesgen Amibo
    • Donata Konopacka-Łyskawa
    2024 Full text Journal of CO2 Utilization

    nie dotyczy

  • Corrosion damage identification based on the symmetry of propagating wavefield measured by a circular array of piezoelectric transducers: Theoretical, experimental and numerical studies
    • Beata Zima
    • Jochen Moll
    2024 Full text MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AND SIGNAL PROCESSING

    The article investigates the results obtained from numerical simulations and experimental tests concerning the propagation of guided waves in corroded steel plates. Developing innovative methodologies for assessing corrosion-induced degradation is crucial for accurately diagnosing offshore and ship structures exposed to harsh environmental conditions. The main aim of the research is to analyze how surface irregularities affect wave propagation characteristics. An investigation was conducted for antisymmetric fundamental mode A0. Specifically, the study examines the asymmetrical wavefronts generated by nonuniform thickness in damaged specimens. Initially, numerical analysis explores the impact of thickness variation on wave field symmetry. Corroded plates with varying levels of degradation are modeled using the random fields approach, with degradation levels ranging from 0 % to 60 %. Subsequently, the research investigates how the standard deviation of thickness distribution (from 5 % to 20 % of the initial thickness) and excitation frequency (from 50 to 150 kHz) influence recorded signals and the shape of reconstructed wavefronts. Each scenario compares wavefront symmetry levels estimated using rotational and bilateral symmetry degrees as indicative parameters. The numerical simulations are complemented by experimental tests conducted on plates with three different degradation levels. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed wave field analysis approach for assessing structural integrity, as evidenced by the agreement between numerical predictions and experimental observations.

  • Corrosion Monitoring in Petroleum Installations—Practical Analysis of the Methods
    • Juliusz Orlikowski
    • Agata Jazdzewska
    • Iwona Łuksa
    • Michał Szociński
    • Kazimierz Darowicki
    2024 Full text Materials

    This paper presents the most typical corrosion mechanisms occurring in the petroleum industry. The methods of corrosion monitoring are described for particular corrosion mechanisms. The field and scope of the application of given corrosion-monitoring methods are provided in detail. The main advantages and disadvantages of particular methods are highlighted. Measurement difficulties and obstacles are identified and widely discussed based on actual results. Presented information will allow the corrosion personnel in refineries to extract more reliable data from corrosion-monitoring systems.

  • Corrosion of AISI1018 and AISI304 steel exposed to sulfates
    • Ginneth Millan Ramirez
    • Miguel Angel Baltazar-Zamora
    • Ce Tochtli Méndez Ramírez
    • Maciej Niedostatkiewicz
    • Hubert Byliński
    2024 Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych

    This research analyses the behavior of corrosion, durability, and quality of reinforced concrete samples coated with two different materials when exposed to contaminated soil with sulfates. The initial assessment involved evaluating the water absorption rate of the coating materials before and after exposure to a solution containing 3%푁푎2푆푂4+3%푀푔푆푂4+3%퐾2푆푂4+3%퐶푎푆푂4to determine their durability. the corrosion potential and linear polarization resistance technique were employed to measure the corrosion rate. Carbon steel and AISI 304 steel bars were tested alongside a stainless counter electrode. The findings indicate that the solvent-based coating exhibited superior performance, demonstrating reduced corrosion and water absorption rates. Additionally, the presence of sulfates led to the formation of a surface layer on the concrete, initially aiding in limiting waterpenetration. However, over time, this layer eventually causes damage to the concrete from the inside out.

  • Cost-effective methods of fabricating thin rare-earth element layers on SOC interconnects based on low-chromium ferritic stainless steel and exposed to air, humidified air or humidified hydrogen atmospheres
    • Łukasz Mazur
    • Paweł Winiarski
    • Bartosz Kamecki
    • Justyna Ignaczak
    • Sebastian Molin
    • Tomasz Brylewski
    2024 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY

    Most oxidation studies involving interconnects are conducted in air under isothermal conditions, but during real-life solid oxide cell (SOC) operation, cells are also exposed a mixture of hydrogen and water vapor. For this study, an Fe–16Cr low-chromium ferritic stainless steel was coated with different reactive element oxides – Gd2O3, CeO2, Ce0.9Y0.1O2 – using an array of methods: dip coating, electrodeposition and spray pyrolysis. The samples underwent oxidation experiments carried out over 100 h in three different atmospheres at 800 °C: air, an air/H2O mixture, and an Ar/H2/H2O mixture. The influence of different atmospheres on the corrosion of the Fe–16Cr steel was determined via oxidation kinetics studies; the corrosion product was evaluated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and area-specific resistance (ASR) measurements. All coated samples exhibited lower parabolic oxidation rate constants than bare steel and most also had lower ASR. The applied modifications were found to be sufficiently effective to allow the investigated low-chromium steel to be considered for application as an interconnect material for SOCs.

  • Cost-Effective Piggyback Forward dc-dc Converter
    • Oleksandr Matiushkin
    • Oleksandr Husev
    • Hossein Afshari
    • Dmitri Vinnikov
    • Ryszard Strzelecki
    2024

    The novel piggyback dc-dc converter as a cost-effective solution is presented in this work. It provides a wide input voltage range of regulation with a low component count. The novel solution is an advanced forward dc-dc converter with an additional clamp output capacitor. The idea of such a type of converter is to transfer magnetizing energy of transformer to the output side, instead of using input clamp circuit. The design guidelines of the passive component of the proposed solution are discussed. A digital domain proportional integral controller is designed for the off-grid system validation, and it provides a stable output voltage in a wide range of the input voltage and power. Experimental prototype of the proposed piggyback converter along with experimental results of critical points are presented. The efficiency study of the proposed solution is done.

  • Cost-Efficient Globalized Parameter Optimization of Microwave Components through Response-Feature Surrogates and Nature-Inspired Metaheuristics
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Łukasz Gołuński
    2024 Full text IEEE Access

    Design of contemporary microwave devices predominantly utilizes computational models, including both circuit simulators, and full-wave electromagnetic (EM) evaluation. The latter constitutes the sole generic way of rendering accurate assessment of the system outputs that considers phenomena such as cross-coupling or radiation and dielectric losses. Consequently, for reliability reasons, the final tuning of microwave device parameters is commonly performed utilizing EM simulation software. As EM analysis is computationally heavy, parametric optimization entails significant costs, also for local algorithms. The expenses generated by global search procedures are incomparably higher, and often prohibitive. Still, global optimization is more and more often necessary, for example, when re-designing a structure over extended ranges of operating conditions (bandwidth, power split ratios, etc.), when more than a single local optimum exists (e.g., optimization of frequency selective surfaces), or simply due to the absence of quality initial design (e.g., compact circuits obtained using the slow-wave phenomenon). A possible workaround is surrogate-assisted optimization, yet a construction of accurate replacement models is a challenge by itself. This paper offers an innovative approach to a rapid globalized optimization of passive microwave components. It combines a machine learning procedure, specifically, an iterative construction and refinement of fast surrogates (with infill criterion being a minimization of the predictor-yielded objective improvement) with a response feature technology, where the metamodel targets suitably appointed characteristic points of the circuit outputs. These so-called response features are in a nearly linear relationship with the geometry parameters, which facilitates the search process and reduces the expenditures associated with surrogate model construction. Identification of the infill points is executed using a particle swarm optimization algorithm. Numerical experiments carried out using two microstrip circuits demonstrate the capability for a global search of the proposed algorithm, and its superior performance over direct nature-inspired-based optimization and surrogate-assisted search at the level of complete circuit characteristics.

  • Cost-Efficient Measurement Platform and Machine-Learning-Based Sensor Calibration for Precise NO2 Pollution Monitoring
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Marek Wójcikowski
    • Bogdan Pankiewicz
    • Artur Rydosz
    • Tuan-Vu Cao
    • Krystian Wojtkiewicz
    2024 MEASUREMENT

    Air quality significantly impacts human health, the environment, and the economy. Precise real-time monitoring of air pollution is crucial for managing associated risks and developing appropriate short- and long-term measures. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) stands as a common pollutant, with elevated levels posing risks to the human respiratory tract, exacerbating respiratory infections and asthma, and potentially leading to chronic lung diseases. Notwithstanding, precise NO2 detection typically demands complex and costly equipment. This paper explores NO2 monitoring using low-cost platforms, meticulously calibrated for reliability. An integrated measurement unit is first presented that contains primary and supplementary nitrogen dioxide sensors, as well as auxiliary detectors for evaluating outside and inside temperature and humidity. The calibration process utilizes data acquired over the period of five months from various reference stations. Employing machine learning with an artificial neural network (ANN)-based and kriging interpolation surrogate models, the correction strategy integrates additive and multiplicative enhancement, predicted by the ANN through auxiliary sensor data such as temperature, humidity, and the sensor-detected NO2 levels. Extensive verification studies showcase that this calibration approach notably enhances monitoring precision (r2 correlation coefficient surpassing 0.85 concerning reference data, and RMSE of less than four g/m3), rendering low-cost NO2 detection practical and dependable.

  • Cost-Efficient Multi-Objective Design of Miniaturized Microwave Circuits Using Machine Learning and Artificial Neural Network
    • Sławomir Kozieł
    • Anna Pietrenko-Dąbrowska
    • Leifur Leifsson
    2024

    Designing microwave components involves managing multiple objectives such as center frequencies, impedance matching, and size reduction for miniaturized structures. Traditional multi-objective optimization (MO) approaches heavily rely on computationally expensive population-based methods, especially when exe-cuted with full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis to guarantee reliability. This paper introduces a novel and cost-effective MO technique for microwave passive components utilizing a machine learning (ML) framework with artificial neural network (ANN) surrogates as the primary prediction tool. In this approach, mul-tiple candidate solutions are extracted from the Pareto set via optimization using a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) applied to the current ANN model. These solutions expand the dataset of available (EM-simulated) parameter vectors and refine the surrogate model iteratively. To enhance computational effi-ciency, we employ variable-resolution EM models. Tested on two microstrip cir-cuits, our methodology competes effectively against several surrogate-based ap-proaches. The average computational cost of the algorithm is below three hundred EM analyses of the circuit, with the quality of generated Pareto sets surpassing those produced by the benchmark methods.

  • Coupled DEM/CFD analysis of impact of free water on the static and dynamic response of concrete in tension regime
    • Marek Krzaczek
    • Andrzej Tejchman-Konarzewski
    • Michał Nitka
    2024 Full text COMPUTERS AND GEOTECHNICS

    W tym artykule zbadano numerycznie quasi-statyczne i dynamiczne zachowanie częściowo nasyconego płynem betonu w warunkach dwuwymiarowego (2D) jednoosiowego rozciągania w mezoskali. Obliczono, jaki wpływ ma zawartość wolnego płynu porowego (gazu i wody) na proces pękania i wytrzymałość betonu w rozciąganiu. Do symulacji zachowania betonu całkowicie i częściowo nasyconego płynem w warunkach quasi-statycznych i dynamicznych wykorzystano ulepszony model hydromechaniczny w skali porów, oparty na DEM/CFD. Podstawą koncepcji przepływu płynu była sieć kanałów na ciągłym obszarze pomiędzy dyskretnymi elementami. W bardzo porowatym, częściowo nasyconym betonie przyjęto dwufazowy laminarny przepływ płynu. Aby śledzić zawartość cieczy/gazu, wzięto pod uwagę położenie i objętość porów i rys. Symulacje numeryczne spójnych próbek ziarnistych o uproszczonej mezostrukturze sferycznej przypominającej beton przeprowadzono w warunkach suchych i mokrych dla dwóch różnych szybkości odkształcenia. Przeprowadzono badania wpływu ciśnienia porów płynu, nasycenia płynu i lepkości płynu na wytrzymałość i proces pękania betonu. Kwasi-statyczna wytrzymałość na rozciąganie spadała nieliniowo wraz ze wzrostem nasycenia płynu i lepkości płynu podczas migracji płynu przez pory i pęknięcia wskutek przyspieszenia procesu pękania. Jednakże podczas szybkiego dynamicznego odkształcenia przy rozciąganiu proces pękania został osłabiony z powodu ograniczenia migracji płynu wynikającego z niewystarczającego czasu płynu na opuszczenie porów. Spowodowało to nieliniowy wzrost dynamicznej wytrzymałości na rozciąganie wraz ze wzrostem nasycenia płynu i lepkości płynu.

  • Crack monitoring in concrete beams under bending using ultrasonic waves and coda wave interferometry: the effect of excitation frequency on coda
    • Magdalena Knak
    • Erwin Wojtczak
    • Magdalena Rucka
    2024 Full text

    Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. In recent years, various non-destructive testing (NDT) and structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques have been investigated to improve the safety and control of the current condition of concrete structures. This study focuses on micro-crack monitoring in concrete beams. The experimental analysis was carried out on concrete elements subjected to three-point bending in a testing machine under monotonic quasi-static loading. During the tests, the fracture process was characterized using ultrasonic waves. The recorded signals were further processed by coda wave interferometry (CWI). This technique allowed the detection of cracks using the decorrelation between ultrasonic wave signals collected at different stages of degradation. Different values of excitation frequencies in the range from 100 kHz to 400 kHz were used to investigate the influence of frequency selection on the effectiveness of the damage indication based on the decorrelation of coda waves. The results obtained from the experiments were intended to highlight the effect of the applied frequencies on the coda wave interferometry.

  • Crank–Nicolson FDTD Method in Media Described by Time-Fractional Constitutive Relations
    • Damian Trofimowicz
    • Tomasz Stefański
    • Jacek Gulgowski
    2024

    In this contribution, we present the Crank-Nicolson finite-difference time-domain (CN-FDTD) method, implemented for simulations of wave propagation in media described by time-fractional (TF) constitutive relations. That is, the considered constitutive relations involve fractional-order (FO) derivatives based on the Grünwald-Letnikov definition, allowing for description of hereditary properties and memory effects of media and processes. Therefore, the TF constitutive relations make it possible to include, in a dielectric response, diffusion processes which are modelled mathematically by the diffusion-wave equation. We formulate fundamental equations of the proposed CN-FDTD method, and then we execute simulations which confirm its accuracy and applicability. Additionally, we perform numerical tests of stability, which confirm unconditional stability of the method. The proposed method is useful for researchers investigating numerical techniques in media described by FO derivatives.

  • Creating private and public value in data-related management projects: a cross-border case study from Switzerland and Italy
    • Elide Garbani-Nerini
    • Elena Marchiori
    • Nadzeya Sabatini
    • Lorenzo Cantoni
    2024 Full text

    The literature in the field of smart cities shows a continuous emphasis and interest in the topic of big data due to the extensive use of Information and Communication Technologies by public and private institutions within each city. There is undoubtedly value in big data: in data lie insights on the city, its stakeholders, citizens, products, and services. Challenges, though, lie in data’s variety, volume, and velocity, but also in managing them, considering the complex interplay between stakeholders inside a city or a country. Another layer of complexity is added when we consider a smart city as a smart destination where the visitor - often an international tourist - becomes an additional stakeholder of a smart city bringing in additional data. Such challenges, though, are even stronger when tourists do not stop at geographical borders: smart destinations become cross-border destinations. While there is a physical border between them, but most importantly, a legal difference in how data should be collected, stored, managed, and re-used [56, 59], data flows do not stop at this border. This complexity has to be managed both by governmental and tourism agencies. However, the literature between eGovernment and tourism is often theoretical in nature, and while it highlights the potential benefits of smart destinations and data-management processes, it does not provide detailed guidelines on how to implement these concepts in practice [41], especially in the context of cross-border smart destinations. With regards to this, not only has the need for guidelines risen to help tourism destinations tackle smart data- and technology-related projects, but also to define how stakeholders can come together to determine data policies and governance in order to create private as well as public value [60]. This paper responds to such a need by presenting the results of a cross-border research project conducted in Switzerland and Italy, where the model of a smart destination’s structure proposed by Ivars-Baidal et al. [35] has been applied, and its dimensions have been operationalized in a data-related management project. This allowed the authors to understand how to create public and private value managing data flows in a cross-border context, while also elaborating on the model reflecting on data’s dual role as a starting point but also as a central component impacting other dimensions.

  • Cryptocurrencies as a Speculative Asset: How Much Uncertainty is Included in Cryptocurrency Price?
    • Tayyaba Ahsan
    • Krystian Zawadzki
    • Khan Mubashir
    2024 Full text SAGE Open

    The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between uncertainty indices (Geopolitical Uncertainty Index and Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index) and cryptocurrencies. This study evaluated the behavior of cryptocurrencies with the evolution of uncertainties (GPU, EPU) on returns and volatility in terms of safe heaven as in traditional specualtive assets it increases their volaitility and reduces risk. For this purpose, this study examines the relationship between uncertanities indices, gold returns and crptocurrency by using the OLS regression for the monthly data from April 2017 to April 2022. The findings of this study indicate that the return and volatility of cryptocurrency increases. In particular, we note that the cryptocurrency market could serve as a weak hedge and safe against GEPU during a bull market; It could be considered a strong hedge, but in most cases could not serve as a safety against GPR. However, in case of Gold it is found that it serves as weak hedge against uncertainity indices and is not considered as safe heaven against GEPU and GPR. This study expands the current research on uncertainity indices and provides unique insight about the speculative nature of cryptocurrencies and safe heaven.

  • Current advances in membrane processing of wines: A comprehensive review
    • Youssef El Rayess
    • Roberto Castro Munoz
    • Alfredo Cassano
    2024 Full text TRENDS IN FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

    Background Membrane-based operations, especially pressure-driven membrane operations, are today well-established procedures for various applications in the wine industry thanks to their intrinsic properties and undoubted advantages over traditional methods. Emerging membrane processes, such as pervaporation, electrodialysis and osmotic distillation, forward osmosis, membrane contactors, offer new and interesting perspectives to improve quality and develop new products without compromising organoleptic properties. Scope and approach This review provides a comprehensive overview on the use of membrane operations in wine processing. A bibliometric and scientometric analysis has been done to provide the current advances dealing with the application of these operations in different steps of wine manufacture, including clarification, stabilization, concentration, acidification, deacidification and dealcoholization. The current challenges and perspectives are highlighted to guide further advancements of membrane technology in this field. Key findings and conclusions The use of conventional and emerging membrane systems offers interesting opportunities to improve and optimize current practices of the wine processing industry. Considerable progress has been done concerning the development of low-fouling materials, identification of wine molecules responsible for membrane fouling and methods to mitigate such phenomenon in the clarification of wines by microfiltration membranes. Technological progress in electrodialysis makes this process a very attractive method for tartrate stabilization, acidification and deacidification of wines. Different conventional and emerging membrane processes offer valid post-fermentation strategies to remove ethanol in wines while preserving their original characteristics. The global results provide interesting perspectives for a wider implementation of membrane processes in the winemaking industry and to redesign the traditional vinification process under the process intensification strategy.

  • Cyclic behaviour modelling of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V lattice structures
    • Michał Doroszko
    • Andrzej Seweryn
    2024 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCES

    The present work is concerned with the numerical modelling of the cyclic behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V lattice structures. In the study, diamond structures of titanium alloy produced by the additive laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method with different degrees of relative density were used. Realistic geometric models of the studied mesostructures were generated using computed microtomography, taking into account the imperfections of the material resulting from the manufacturing process. The numerical calculations also took into account the actual material hardening curve in the elastic-plastic strain range. One of the achievements of this work is the numerical modelling of cyclic loading of realistic mesostructures with their imperfections. The areas of the mesostructures most susceptible to fatigue cracking have been identified and analysed. True hysteresis loops and values of local stress and strain amplitude were determined at the locations of highest stress concentration in cyclically loaded diamond structures. The main achievement of the present work was the modelling of the macroscopic fatigue life of the investigated mesostructures based on the true values of stress and strain at the locations most exposed to fatigue cracking. For this purpose, a stress criterion for fatigue cracking of Ti-6Al-4V lattice structures fabricated by the additive LPBF method was proposed.

  • Cyclic deformation and fracture behaviour of additive manufactured maraging steel under variable-amplitude loading
    • Zbigniew Marciniak
    • Ricardo Branco
    • Wojciech Macek
    • Michał Dobrzyński
    • C. Malça
    2024 THEORETICAL AND APPLIED FRACTURE MECHANICS

    The cyclic deformation and fracture behaviour of 18Ni300 maraging steel produced by laser beam powder bed fusion is studied under variable-amplitude loading. The tests were conducted under fully-reversed strain-controlled conditions with a loading sequence comprising three ascending cycles and three descending cycles repeated sequentially until failure. After the tests, fracture surfaces were examined using height and volume surface topography parameters to characterise the fractographic features. Fracture surfaces were also analysed through scanning electron microscopy to identify the main failure modes. Fatigue life was predicted by using the Smith-Watson-Topper and the Basquin-Coffin-Manson models with the Palmgren-Miner damage rule. The former approach was more accurate leading to mean errors close to zero. The values of the kurtosis parameter obtained from both sides of the fracture surfaces correlated well with the fatigue life. SEM analysis showed a mixed ductile-brittle mode of fracture with a predominance of brittle fracture. Crack initiation occurred from manufacturing defects located at the surface or near-surface.

  • Cytocompatibility, antibacterial, and corrosion properties of chitosan/polymethacrylates and chitosan/poly(4‐vinylpyridine) smart coatings, electrophoretically deposited on nanosilver‐decorated titania nanotubes
    • Łukasz Pawłowski
    • Michał Bartmański
    • Anna Ronowska
    • Adrianna Banach-Kopeć
    • Szymon Mania
    • Bartłomiej Cieślik
    • Aleksandra Mielewczyk-Gryń
    • Jakub Karczewski
    • Andrzej Zieliński
    2024 JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH PART B-APPLIED BIOMATERIALS

    The development of novel implants subjected to surface modification to achieve high osteointegration properties at simultaneous antimicrobial activity is a highly current problem. This study involved different surface treatments of titanium surface, mainly by electrochemical oxidation to produce a nanotubular oxide layer (TNTs), a subsequent electrochemical reduction of silver nitrate and decoration of a nanotubular surface with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and finally electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of a composite of chitosan (CS) and either polymethacrylate-based copolymer Eudragit E 100 (EE100) or poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) coating. The effects of each stage of this multi-step modification were examined in terms of morphology, roughness, wettability, corrosion resistance, coating-substrate adhesion, antibacterial properties, and osteoblast cell adhesion and proliferation. The results showed that the titanium surface formed nanotubes (inner diameter of 97 ± 12 nm, length of 342 ± 36 nm) subsequently covered with silver nanoparticles (with a diameter of 88 ± 8 nm). Further, the silver-decorated nanotubes were tightly coated with biopolymer films. Most of the applied modifications increased both the roughness and the surface contact angle of the samples. The deposition of biopolymer coatings resulted in reduced burst release of silver. The coated samples revealed potent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Total elimination (99.9%) of E. coli was recorded for a sample with CS/P4VP coating. Cytotoxicity results using hFOB 1.19, a human osteoblast cell line, showed that after 3 days the tested modifications did not affect the cellular growth according to the titanium control. The proposed innovative multilayer antibacterial coatings can be successful for titanium implants as effective postoperative anti-inflammation protection.

  • Damage detection in 3D printed plates using ultrasonic wave propagation supported with weighted root mean square calculation and wavefield curvature imaging
    • Erwin Wojtczak
    • Magdalena Rucka
    • Angela Andrzejewska
    2024 Full text

    3D printing (additive manufacturing, AM) is a promising approach to producing light and strong structures with many successful applications, e.g., in dentistry and orthopaedics. Many types of filaments differing in mechanical properties can be used to produce 3D printed structures, including polymers, metals or ceramics. Due to the simplicity of the manufacturing process, biodegradable polymers are widely used, e.g., polylactide (polylactide – PLA) with a practical application for manufacturing complex-shaped elements. The current work dealt with the application of ultrasonic guided waves for non-destructive damage detection and imaging in AM plates. Two specimens with defects were manufactured from PLA filament. Different sizes of damage areas were considered. The specimens were tested using the guided wave propagation technique. The waves were excited using a PZT actuator and recorded contactless with the scanning laser Doppler vibrometry (SLDV) in a set of points located at one surface of the sample. The collected signals were processed with two methods. The first was the weighted root mean square (WRMS) algorithm. Different values of the calculation parameters, namely, averaging time and weighting factor were considered. The WRMS damage maps for both samples were prepared to differentiate between intact and damaged areas. The second approach was wavefield curvature imaging (WCI) which allowed the determination of damage maps based on the curvature of the wavefront. The compensation of wave signals was performed to enhance the quality of results. It was observed that the size of the defect strongly influenced the efficiency of imaging with both methods. The limitations of the proposed approaches were characterized. The presented results confirmed that guided waves are promising for non-destructive damage imaging in AM elements.

  • Damage of a post-tensioned concrete bridge – Unwanted cracks of the girders
    • Bartosz Sobczyk
    • Łukasz Pyrzowski
    • Mikołaj Miśkiewicz
    2024 ENGINEERING FAILURE ANALYSIS

    The cracking of a post-tensioned T-beam superstructure, which was built using the incremental launching method, is analyzed in the paper. The problem is studied in detail, as specific damage was observed in the form of longitudinal cracks, especially in the mid-height zone of the girder at the interface of two assembly sections. The paper is a case study. A detailed inspection is done and non-destructive testing results of the girders are briefly discussed. The attention is especially focused on advanced and comprehensive numerical simulations of the bridge mechanical behavior. Linear and nonlinear static calculations are performed employing the Finite Element Method at global and local levels of precision, enabling deep insight into the bridge response during all the stages of bridge construction and after it is opened to traffic. The crack propagation process in local analyses is described by the application of the Concrete Damage Plasticity law, the parameters of which were carefully chosen. The predicted damage patterns closely resemble those observed at the site. The results reveal, that the girder damage process was initiated when centric prestressing was applied, because vertical reinforcement of the assembly section front-end surface was not designed. However, the damage did not compromise the safety of the bridge. Finally, the repair methods employed are described and also a discussion is presented on how to prevent the occurrence of such cracking.