TY - GEN A1 - Loupos, Konstantinos A1 - Damigos, Yannis A1 - Tsertou, Athanasisa A1 - Amditis, Angelos A1 - Lenas, Sotiris-Angelos A1 - Chatziandreoglou, Chistos A1 - Malliou, Christina A1 - Tsaoussidis, Vassilis A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Frankenstein, Bernd A1 - Camarinopoulos, Stephanos A1 - Kalidromitis, Vassilis A1 - Sanna, C. A1 - Maier, Stephanos A1 - Gordt, A. A1 - Panetsos, P. T1 - Innovative soft-material sensor, wireless network and assessment software for bridge life-cycle assessment T2 - Life-cycle analysis and assessmanet in civil engineering : towards an integrated vision N2 - Nowadays, structural health monitoring of critical infrastructures is considered as of primal importance especially for managing transport infrastructure however most current SHM methodologies are based on point-sensors that show various limitations relating to their spatial positioning capabilities, cost of development and measurement range. This publication describes the progress in the SENSKIN EC co-funded research project that is developing a dielectric-elastomer sensor, formed from a large highly extensible capacitance sensing membrane and is supported by an advanced micro-electronic circuitry, for monitoring transport infrastructure bridges. The sensor under development provides spatial measurements of strain in excess of 10%, while the sensing system is being designed to be easy to install, require low power in operation concepts, require simple signal processing, and have the ability to self-monitor and report. An appropriate wireless sensor network is also being designed and developed supported by local gateways for the required data collection and exploitation. SENSKIN also develops a Decision-Support-System (DSS) for proactive condition-based structural interventions under normal operating conditions and reactive emergency intervention following an extreme event. The latter is supported by a life-cycle-costing (LCC) and life-cycle-assessment (LCA) module responsible for the total internal and external costs for the identified bridge rehabilitation, analysis of options, yielding figures for the assessment of the economic implications of the bridge rehabilitation work and the environmental impacts of the bridge rehabilitation options and of the associated secondary effects respectively. The overall monitoring system will be evaluated and benchmarked on actual bridges of Egnatia Highway (Greece) and Bosporus Bridge (Turkey). Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-1-315-22891-4 SN - 978-1-138-62633-1 SP - 2085 EP - 2092 PB - CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Boca Raton ER - TY - GEN A1 - Nguyen, Quyet Doan A1 - Wang, Jingwen A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Depth Profile and Transport of Positive and Negative Charge in Surface (2-D) and Bulk (3-D) Nanocomposite Films T2 - 2nd International Conference on Electrical Materials and Power Equipment (ICEMPE 2019) N2 - In the present study, the charge distribution and the charge transport across the thickness of 2- and 3-dimensional polymer nanodielectrics was investigated. Chemically surface-treated polypropylene (PP) films and low-density polyethylene nanocomposite films with 3 wt % of magnesium oxide (LDPE/MgO) served as examples of 2-D and 3-D nanodielectrics, respectively. Surface charges were deposited onto the non-metallized surfaces of the one-side metallized polymer films and found to broaden and to thus enter the bulk of the films upon thermal stimulation at suitable elevated temperatures. The resulting space-charge profiles in the thickness direction were probed by means of Piezoelectrically-generated Pressure Steps (PPSs). It was observed that the chemical surface treatment of PP which led to the formation of nano-structures or the use of bulk nanoparticles from LDPE/MgO nanocomposites enhance charge trapping on or in the respective polymer films and also reduce charge transport inside the respective samples. KW - LDPE nanocomposites KW - MgO nanoparticles KW - Space charge KW - Charge transport KW - Charge stability KW - Acoustic probing of electric-field profiles KW - Piezoelectrically generated Pressure Steps (PPSs) Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-1-5386-8434-4 SN - 978-1-5386-8435-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEMPE.2019.8727256 SP - 298 EP - 300 PB - IEEE CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Dielectric materials for electro-active (electret) and/or electro-passive (insulation) applications T2 - 2nd International Conference on Electrical Materials and Power Equipment (ICEMPE 2019) N2 - Dielectric materials for electret applications usually have to contain a quasi-permanent space charge or dipole polarization that is stable over large temperature ranges and time periods. For electrical-insulation applications, on the other hand, a quasi-permanent space charge or dipole polarization is usually considered detrimental. In recent years, however, with the advent of high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission and high-voltage capacitors for energy storage, new possibilities are being explored in the area of high-voltage dielectrics. Stable charge trapping (as e.g. found in nano-dielectrics) or large dipole polarizations (as e.g. found in relaxor ferroelectrics and high-permittivity dielectrics) are no longer considered to be necessarily detrimental in electrical-insulation materials. On the other hand, recent developments in electro-electrets (dielectric elastomers), i.e. very soft dielectrics with large actuation strains and high breakdown fields, and in ferroelectrets, i.e. polymers with electrically charged cavities, have resulted in new electret materials that may also be useful for HVDC insulation systems. Furthermore, 2-dimensional (nano-particles on surfaces or interfaces) and 3-dimensional (nano-particles in the bulk) nano-dielectrics have been found to provide very good charge-trapping properties that may not only be used for more stable electrets and ferroelectrets, but also for better HVDC electrical-insulation materials with the possibility to optimize charge-transport and field-gradient behavior. In view of these and other recent developments, a first attempt will be made to review a small selection of electro-active (i.e. electret) and electro-passive (i.e. insulation) dielectrics in direct comparison. Such a comparative approach may lead to synergies in materials concepts and research methods that will benefit both areas. Furthermore, electrets may be very useful for sensing and monitoring applications in electrical-insulation systems, while high-voltage technology is essential for more efficient charging and poling of electret materials. KW - Dielectric materials KW - Electrets KW - Electrical insulation KW - Electro-active and electro-passive dielectrics KW - Nano-dielectrics KW - Charging or poling KW - Charge storage and transport Y1 - 2019 SN - 978-1-5386-8434-4 SN - 978-1-5386-8435-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEMPE.2019.8727276 SP - 91 EP - 96 PB - IEEE CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Kaltenbrunner, Martin T1 - In Memoriam Siegfried Bauer T2 - IEEE electrical insulation magazine N2 - Siegfried Bauer, an internationally renowned, very creative applied physicist, who also was a prolific materials scientist and engineer, died on December 30, 2018, in Linz, Austria, after a one-year battle with cancer. He was full professor of soft-matter physics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, and a scientific leader and innovator across the fields but mainly in the areas of electro-active materials (including electrets) and stretchable and imperceptible electronics. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/MEI.2019.8636175 SN - 0883-7554 SN - 1558-4402 VL - 35 IS - 2 SP - 76 EP - 78 PB - IEEE CY - Piscataway ER -