Kalicka, Malgorzata Weronika

ETH Zürich Malgorzata Weronika Kalicka Institut f. Baustatik und Konstruktion HIL E 34.1 Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 15 8093 Zürich Phone: +41 44 633 31 23 E-Mail:

Research

Structural Diagnosis of Concrete Bridges by Acoustic Emission

In order to obtain adequate information about structural performance, appropriate monitoring is necessary. Applied techniques should be capable of discovering, localizing and evaluating developing processes in a structure that are leading to local as well as global failures. Effective and early discovery and recognition of destructive processes will help in optimizing actions on structures namely planning of examination and repair.
The main aim of the study is to recognize and evaluate destructive processes initiating and developing inside a structure. Acoustic Emission (AE) that is a passive non-destructive technique is considered. The relevance of recorded events namely acoustic signals that correspond to active i.e. initiating and developing destructive processes will be evaluated. The acoustic signals will be recorded in the zones of a considered structure that are subject to elevated stresses. It is expected that higher acoustic activity is activated by heavy traffic. Therefore, the level of damage severity will be related to measured external parameters that are acceleration, strain and temperature. The monitoring will be performed under regular operating conditions. In order to capture unforeseen activities, the monitoring should be performed continuously over a long period of time. The study considers mainly field but also laboratory investigations.
The planned field monitoring will be performed on two existing prestressed concrete box girder bridges in Zurich. Both viaducts, built in the 70-ties, cross the SBB railway lines and are continuous girders with 9 and 15 spans, respectively. The investigations will consider signal propagation in two types of concrete i.e. light and normal, with respect to the operating traffic. The sensors will be installed inside the box on the soffit of the top slab. The readings will be automatically synchronized and activated by trigger events, namely vehicles passing over the considered measurement area. This solution should reduce and pre-select the recorded data. The planned outcome is a procedure that automatically detects warning signal activities and supports the prognosis of the structural safety and serviceability.

My recent publications

• Kalicka, M.; Vogel, T. (2011).
  Acoustic signal discrimination in prestressed concrete elements based on statistical criteria,
  Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure, Cancún, México, December 2011.
• Kalicka, M., Vogel, T. (2010).
  Acoustic Emission in Structural Health Monitoring – corrosion detection in post-tensioned girders,
  Proceedings of the 8th fib International PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, June 20-23, 2010.
• Kalicka, M. (2010).
  Acoustic Emission Signal Propagation through Welded Steel Bridge Joints,
  Proceedings of 10th ECNDT Conference, Extended abstract, Moscow, Russia, June, 2010.
• Kalicka, M. (2009).
  Acoustic Emission as a Monitoring Method in Prestressed Concrete Bridges Health Condition Evaluation,
  Journal of Acoustic Emission, 27, 2009, pp. 18-26.
• Kalicka, M. (2008).
  Acoustic Emission as a Smart Element in Prestressed Concrete Bridges Health Evaluation,
  IAES-19 Conference, Progress in Acoustic Emission XIV, The Japanese Society for NDI, Kyoto, Japan, December, 2008.
• Kalicka, M. (2008).
  Health Assessment of Prestressed Girder by Deterioration Processes Evaluation,
  IABSE Conference, ICT for Bridges and Construction Practice, Extended abstract, Helsinki, Finland, June, 2008 .
• Kalicka, M. (2007).
  Defect Development and Failure Evaluation in Prestressed Concrete Girder by Acoustic Emission,
  Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of Acoustic Emission, Lake Tahoe (NV), USA, October, 2007.
• Kalicka, M., Gołaski, L. (2007).
  Projekt Procedury Oceny Uszkodzeń w Konstrukcjach Żelbetowych,
  Materiały XI Krajowej Konferencji Mechanika Pękania, (in Polish, on CD) Kielce, Poland, September, 2007.
• Gołaski, L., Świt, G., Kalicka, M., Ono, K. (2007).
  Acoustic Emission Behavior of Prestressed Concrete Girders During Proof Loading,
  Journal of Acoustic Emission, 24, 2007, pp. 187-195.
• Kalicka, M., Gołaski, L. (2006).
  Acoustic Emission Method for Bridge Inspection Reports,
  Proceedings of the 49th Acoustic Emission Working Group Meeting, Extended abstract, Berkeley (CA), USA, June, 2006.

Teaching activities

Other activities

• Member of The International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib - fédération internationale du béton) CEB FIP, since June 2010.
• Member of The International Association for Bridges and Structural Engineering (IABSE), since October 2008.
• Member of Acoustic Emission Working Group (AEWG), since November 2007.