Media Note : Videos, images and additional
background information can be viewed and
downloaded at https://cornell.box.com/v/
pipelinetesting. You can also see one of the tests on
YouTube.
ITHACA, N.Y. – Like many of today’s household devices,
modern infrastructure is gaining the ability to collect
and exchange valuable data using wireless devices that
monitor the health of buildings and bridges, for example,
in real time. But wireless systems for underground
infrastructure, such as utility pipelines, are much more
difficult to test in the field, especially during rare and
extreme events such as earthquakes.
Engineers at the Cornell Geotechnical Lifelines Large-
Scale Testing Facility set out to change that by testing
several advanced sensors developed by researchers at
the University of California, Berkeley, and the University
of Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and
Construction. The sensors – which can collectively
measure strain, temperature, movement and leakage –
were installed along a 40-foot section of a hazard-
resilient pipeline being tested for earthquake fault-
rupture performance.
The pipeline itself is innovative, produced by the
company IPEX using a molecularly-oriented
polyvinylchloride material is engineered to stretch, bend
and compress as it withstands extreme ground
deformation similar to that occurring during earthquakes,
floods and construction-related activity. Engineers from
Oakland, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia,
traveled to Ithaca to watch as the pipe experienced a
simulated fault rupture while buried inside a
hydraulically powered “split basin” filled with 80 tons of
soil.
The test was the first use of the advanced sensors for
the purpose of monitoring buried infrastructure, and
gave an unprecedented look at the pipe’s ability to
elongate and bend while being subject to ground failure.
“It was a fantastic performance. It did really well,” said
Brad Wham, a geotechnical engineering postdoc at
Cornell. “It was able to accommodate 50 percent more
ground deformation than the last design based on
modifications Cornell suggested from our testing four
years ago.”
The sensors drew interest from the attending municipal
engineers, who need new ways to monitor the
performance of underground infrastructure. And as cities
begin to adopt the sensor technologies, more data will
exist not just for infrastructure, but for the surrounding
environment as well.
“You can learn something about sources of subsidence,
corrosion that affect other structures, or something
about the geographic distribution of earthquake or
hurricane damage, which then allows you to make
improved decisions about emergency response,” said
Tom O’Rourke, professor of civil and environmental
engineering and principal investigator of the research
project.
The test also proved that sensors provide valuable
feedback to companies like IPEX that want to advance
the engineering behind new products and improve
systemwide performance.
“This is about having feedback and intelligence for
underground lifeline systems, such as water supplies,
electric power and telecommunications, which provide
the services and resources that define a modern city,”
O’Rourke said. “It’s pretty clear to me that within 20
years there will be intelligence integrated into every
aspect of infrastructure.”
“The vision we have is that our future infrastructure
looks after itself by sensing and adapting to the
changing environment,” said Kenichi Soga, professor at
Berkeley and principal investigator for the Berkeley and
Cambridge teams. “Rapidly developing sensor
technologies and data analytics give us the opportunity
to make this happen.”
The research team is excavating the pipeline and
analyzing the massive amount of data collected by the
sensors. “It’s going to be game-changing,” said Wham,
who added that some of the devices are capable of
recording up to a thousand measurements per second or
more. “We have many, many gigs of data right now for
measurements that were previously unattainable.”
For more information:
Daryl Lovell
office: 607-254-4799
cell: 607-592-3925
dal296@cornell.edu
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated
Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media
interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell
Chronicle story.
Filed Under: press releases Tagged With: Civil
engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell
Geotechnical Lifelines Large-Scale Testing Facility,
Environmental engineering, Infrastructure, Sensors
background information can be viewed and
downloaded at https://cornell.box.com/v/
pipelinetesting. You can also see one of the tests on
YouTube.
ITHACA, N.Y. – Like many of today’s household devices,
modern infrastructure is gaining the ability to collect
and exchange valuable data using wireless devices that
monitor the health of buildings and bridges, for example,
in real time. But wireless systems for underground
infrastructure, such as utility pipelines, are much more
difficult to test in the field, especially during rare and
extreme events such as earthquakes.
Engineers at the Cornell Geotechnical Lifelines Large-
Scale Testing Facility set out to change that by testing
several advanced sensors developed by researchers at
the University of California, Berkeley, and the University
of Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and
Construction. The sensors – which can collectively
measure strain, temperature, movement and leakage –
were installed along a 40-foot section of a hazard-
resilient pipeline being tested for earthquake fault-
rupture performance.
The pipeline itself is innovative, produced by the
company IPEX using a molecularly-oriented
polyvinylchloride material is engineered to stretch, bend
and compress as it withstands extreme ground
deformation similar to that occurring during earthquakes,
floods and construction-related activity. Engineers from
Oakland, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia,
traveled to Ithaca to watch as the pipe experienced a
simulated fault rupture while buried inside a
hydraulically powered “split basin” filled with 80 tons of
soil.
The test was the first use of the advanced sensors for
the purpose of monitoring buried infrastructure, and
gave an unprecedented look at the pipe’s ability to
elongate and bend while being subject to ground failure.
“It was a fantastic performance. It did really well,” said
Brad Wham, a geotechnical engineering postdoc at
Cornell. “It was able to accommodate 50 percent more
ground deformation than the last design based on
modifications Cornell suggested from our testing four
years ago.”
The sensors drew interest from the attending municipal
engineers, who need new ways to monitor the
performance of underground infrastructure. And as cities
begin to adopt the sensor technologies, more data will
exist not just for infrastructure, but for the surrounding
environment as well.
“You can learn something about sources of subsidence,
corrosion that affect other structures, or something
about the geographic distribution of earthquake or
hurricane damage, which then allows you to make
improved decisions about emergency response,” said
Tom O’Rourke, professor of civil and environmental
engineering and principal investigator of the research
project.
The test also proved that sensors provide valuable
feedback to companies like IPEX that want to advance
the engineering behind new products and improve
systemwide performance.
“This is about having feedback and intelligence for
underground lifeline systems, such as water supplies,
electric power and telecommunications, which provide
the services and resources that define a modern city,”
O’Rourke said. “It’s pretty clear to me that within 20
years there will be intelligence integrated into every
aspect of infrastructure.”
“The vision we have is that our future infrastructure
looks after itself by sensing and adapting to the
changing environment,” said Kenichi Soga, professor at
Berkeley and principal investigator for the Berkeley and
Cambridge teams. “Rapidly developing sensor
technologies and data analytics give us the opportunity
to make this happen.”
The research team is excavating the pipeline and
analyzing the massive amount of data collected by the
sensors. “It’s going to be game-changing,” said Wham,
who added that some of the devices are capable of
recording up to a thousand measurements per second or
more. “We have many, many gigs of data right now for
measurements that were previously unattainable.”
For more information:
Daryl Lovell
office: 607-254-4799
cell: 607-592-3925
dal296@cornell.edu
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated
Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media
interviews. For additional information, see this Cornell
Chronicle story.
Filed Under: press releases Tagged With: Civil
engineering, College of Engineering, Cornell
Geotechnical Lifelines Large-Scale Testing Facility,
Environmental engineering, Infrastructure, Sensors
Comentários
Postar um comentário