US-Germany Cooperative Research: Development of Methods for Early Detection of Degradation of Civil Infrastructure Materials

该奖项支持Masoud Ghandehari和纽约理工大学的学生与德国布伦瑞克工业大学建筑材料、大型结构和消防研究所的Karim Hariri合作。这项合作将通过交换美国和德国两所院校的学生，为民用基础设施建立一个正式的联合光纤传感器研究项目。大多数民用基础设施的恶化是在其发展到严重物理损坏的程度时发现的。这种情况发生在道路和桥梁等运输结构、管道和输电网等公用设施以及卫生设施和燃料储存设施中。与人类细胞一样，基础材料中的大多数老化机制涉及由离子传输控制速率的化学反应。对这一老化过程提供早期预警的传感系统将能够及时采取预防和补救行动，延长实体设施的使用寿命，并最终在基础设施维修方面节省大量费用。在美国和德国集团进行初步研究后，一些在两国都设有子公司的公司对产品开发很感兴趣。此外，根据我们对两国交通和基础设施维护官员的调查，本研究的预期结果将直接影响两国设施管理实践中决策的质量和时机。该奖项的更广泛影响包括在土壤、空气和水的长期环境监测中的应用。

0340606GhandehariThis award supports Masoud Ghandehari and students from the Polytechnic University of New York in a collaboration with Karim Hariri of the Institute for Building Materials, Large Structures, and Fire Protection at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. The collaboration will establish a formal joint fiber-optic sensor research program for civil infrastructure through exchange of students from two institutions in the U.S. and Germany. Most deterioration in civil infrastructure is detected when it has progressed to a point of severe physical damage. This occurs in transportation structures such as roadways and bridges, in utilities such as pipelines and power delivery grids as well as sanitation and fuel storage facilities. As with human cells, most aging mechanisms in the infrastructure materials involve chemical reactions that are rate-controlled by ionic transport. A sensing system that provides early warning of this aging process would enable the implementation of timely prevention and remedial action and a greater service life for the physical facilities and ultimately results in substantial cost savings in infrastructure maintenance. There are companies with subsidiaries in both countries that are interested in product development following the preliminary research conducted by the US and German groups. Furthermore, based on our surveys with transportation and infrastructure maintenance officials in both countries, the expected outcome of this research will have direct impact on the quality and timing of decisions made in the facilities management practice in both countries. Broader impacts of the award include application in long-term environmental monitoring for soil, air, and water.