Real-time Digital Image Correlation System for the Evaluation of Critical Infrastructure Assets

数字图像相关(DIC)是一种使用相机测量结构表面数百个位置的位移和应变的技术。在过去的十年里，DIC技术的快速发展导致了精度的提高和更有效的算法，使用户能够实时地可视化结果。这些进展为科学家和工程师提供了一个独特的机会，可以在实验室和现场利用DIC，以改善对已建成基础设施行为的基本了解。NSERC RTI建议的目标是通过支持购买实时DIC系统来转变皇后大学基础设施工程研究团队的发现、创新和培训能力，以形成可部署在实验室或现场的创新型非接触和移动结构行为和安全评估系统，该系统是其研究生研究人员开发下一代安全、可持续和有弹性的基础设施所迫切需要的。建筑：加拿大减少温室气体(GHG)排放和应对气候变化的努力推动了对可持续建筑的需求。然而，这些结构往往很复杂，因为它们使用了新的可持续材料，或者它们优化了几何结构，使得使用传统的离散传感器无法测量和理解它们的行为。迫切需要所需的DIC系统来测量裂纹模式、位移场和应力集中，这些对可持续结构的发展至关重要。桥梁：加拿大的桥梁库存正在恶化。再加上气候变化的影响越来越大，迫切需要监测现场现有桥涵的状况，以确保公共安全。所需的DIC系统将能够实时评估桥梁和涵洞的活载响应，可用于评估这些关键结构，并提供传统上使用目测或离散传感器无法提供的定量性能测量，并确保加拿大的交通网络保持正常运行、弹性和安全。铁路：加拿大的铁路网对货物和服务的运输至关重要，但这些结构正在承受更重的负荷，气候变化正在改变它们的运行条件。迫切需要所要求的DIC系统来监测现场的轨道状况，了解现实世界的状况是如何影响性能的，以防止故障和保护公共安全。所要求的设备将在未来5年内为50名HQP提供尖端的动手培训机会，并将为他们提供在工业界和学术界非常受欢迎的先进专业知识。

Digital image correlation (DIC) is a technique that uses cameras to measure displacement and strain at hundreds of locations over the surface of a structure. Rapid advances over the last decade in DIC technology have resulted in improved accuracy and more efficient algorithms that allow users to visualize results in real-time. These advances provide a unique opportunity for scientists and engineers to exploit DIC in the laboratory and in the field to improve the fundamental understanding of the behaviour of built infrastructure. The objective of this NSERC RTI proposal is to transform the discovery, innovation, and training capabilities of the infrastructure engineering research group at Queen's University by supporting the purchase of a real-time DIC system to form an innovative non-contact and mobile structural behaviour and safety evaluation system that can be deployed in the laboratory or in the field and that is urgently needed by their graduate student researchers to develop the next generation of safe, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure. Buildings: Efforts in Canada to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  and combat climate change have fueled the demand for sustainable structures. However, these structures are often complex, because they use novel sustainable materials, or they have optimized geometry that makes it impossible to measure and understand their behaviour using traditional discrete sensors. The requested DIC system is urgently needed to enable measurement of crack patterns, displacement fields, and stress concentrations that are critically important in the development of sustainable structures. Bridges: Canada's bridge inventory is deteriorating. Coupled with the increasing effects of climate change, there is an urgent need to monitor the condition of existing bridges and culverts in the field to ensure public safety. The requested DIC system will enable real-time assessment of the live load response of bridges and culverts, which can be used to evaluate these critical structures and provide quantitative performance measurements beyond what has traditionally been possible using visual inspection or discrete sensors and ensure Canada's transportation networks remain functional, resilient, and safe. Railways: Canada's railway networks are essential for transportation of goods and services, but these structures are being subjected to heavier loads and climate change is altering the conditions in which they operate. The requested DIC system is urgently needed to monitor rail condition in the field and understand how real-world conditions are affecting performance, to prevent failure and protect public safety. The requested equipment will offer cutting-edge, hands-on training opportunities for 50 HQP over the next 5 years and will prepare them with advanced expertise that is highly sought-after in industry and academia.