SAFE Expertise
Preventive maintenance: SAFE Expertise
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE: SAFE EXPERTISE
We have developed an internal vibration analysis method to verify the condition of structures in power transmission networks, wind farms and cable transmission pylons.
Applications
Our SAFE expertise has three purposes:
- Assess the general condition of the structure, including ground and structure interaction and detect structural anomalies,
- Determine the remaining lifespan of the structure,
- Optimise structural and foundation reinforcements in the light of new operating constraints.
Our expertise is:
- Global: It means a structure can be monitored as a whole including its interaction with the ground,
- Non-intrusive: It does not cause any degradation and only requires a limited operations pause (maximum 1 hour),
- Predictive: It means the structure’s lifespan can be determined and maintenance can be planned.
How it works
The natural vibrations of the structure are recorded using sensors attached to the structure which act as a stethoscope. Signal processing algorithms are used to determine the structure’s natural frequencies.
These results give a very accurate picture of the current state of fragility and the general uniformity of the structure and its interaction with the ground, without any need for intrusive or destructive testing.
SAFE expertise means that the structure can be studied empirically, not just theoretically.
In the absence of structural design documents, a reverse engineering design from a 3D scan can also be made to match the theoretical model to the one derived from the vibration measurements.
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