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

0340606 Ghandehari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。 该合作将通过美国和德国两所机构的学生交流，建立一个正式的民用基础设施光纤传感器联合研究计划。 大多数民用基础设施的恶化是在发展到严重的实际损坏程度时才发现的。 这发生在运输结构，如道路和桥梁，在公用事业，如管道和电力输送网，以及卫生和燃料储存设施。 与人类细胞一样，基础设施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。 如果有一个传感系统能对这种老化过程提供早期预警，就能及时采取预防和补救行动，延长有形设施的使用寿命，并最终大大节省基础设施维修的费用。 在美国和德国集团进行初步研究后，在这两个国家都有子公司的公司对产品开发感兴趣。 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间。 该奖项的更广泛影响包括应用于土壤，空气和水的长期环境监测。

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.