You are on page 1of 39

Non Invasive Technologies, Inc

More Than a Billion$ of Potential Savings in the US Alone Using the EFS Technology

State of Bridges
Report by the Federal Highway Administration
The continued economic strength and growth of the United States is intimately linked to the strength and reliability of our highways and bridges. The American public is experiencing the effects of an aging and deteriorating highway system. Increased delay, discomfort, and congestion, along with reductions in safety and service, are frequent. service, Highway agencies are struggling to cope with the increasing demands on their highways, and deteriorating bridges are becoming more severe choke points in the system.

State of Bridges
US bridges 25% of the US bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the Federal government. Average design life of a bridge is 50 years; average age of U S bridges is currently greater than 50 years older in Europe. One bridge fails each week in the U.S. closure or collapse. Leads to increased congestion and subsequent pollution, economic losses, and loss of life.

Minnesota Bridge Collapse


(August 2007)
Fatigue cracking one of the leading suspected causes of the failure. Bringing the aging infrastructure problem to the forefront. Congress debating how to act to protect the public.
Possibility to mandate specific technologies for various bridge problems.

The Mianus River Bridge, CT


I-95 Critical East Coast Interstate Interrupted commerce and transportation for months. Had been inspected one week prior. Collapse killed three Injured dozens Collapse ultimately a result of a growing fatigue crack.

The Mianus River Bridge, CT


I-95 Critical East Coast Interstate Interrupted commerce and transportation for months. Had been inspected deficiencies prior.

National Transportation Safety Board cited:


one week

in the State of Connecticut's bridge safety Collapse killed three Injured dozens inspection and bridge Collapse ultimately a maintenance program.
result of a growing fatigue crack. crack.

The Technologies
The CHIP The Fatigue Growth Sensor
The existing technology that will be exploited by the company is the Fatigue Growth Sensor (FGS). A second, complementary technology, the CHIP, is under development. Patents to protect both of these have been applied for to provide world-wide worldprotection.

Over a Billion$ of Potential Savings in the US Alone Using the FGS Technology
Learn the status of the crack immediately Learn the status of similar details on the bridge Prioritize repairs Repair only what is needed Verify the repair immediately Combined Process Options
Test Drill stop Verify effectiveness

Different from the Others


Visual Inspection is most used inspection method. 90% of cracks are missed, according to the FHWA.

The Other Methods: Eddy Current

Other commonly used methods, Ultrasonics including eddy current and ultrasound, cannot find cracks as small as those FGS Radiography can. Magnetic Particle Only FGS finds growing cracks; if a crack is not growing, no signal is produced. Thus, only FGS can verify if a repaired crack is still growing or not. Not dependent on sound, signal to noise ratio not a problem.

Dye Penetrant Acoustic Emission

FGS System Background


The FGS system is a nondestructive fatigue crack inspection system. FGS System includes: electrolyte-filled sensors, a electrolytePotentiostat Data Link (PDL), an Access Point, and special software.

The FGS System - Background


Based on Univ. of Pennsylvania invention; developed in the early 1990s, in part through sponsorship of the US Air Force. Internal and external verification (Rockwell Scientific); Validation studies conducted in both laboratory and field (including the AAR FRA TTCI facility, and SIPS Program). Can detect cracks as small as 0.001 in. in lab. Detects crack growth activity and crack growth precursors. Adds significant value to all inspection and predictive maintenance programs

Similar to an EKG
Like an EKG:
EKG (electrocardiogram) - a test that records the electrical activity of the heart, shows abnormal rhythms.

FGS The Fatigue Growth Sensor


Constant voltage applied between structure and electrode Current response due to mechanical loading -> FGS signal Presence of a crack alters the current flows

Normal EKG

Abnormal EKG

Normal FGS

Abnormal FGS

Fundamentals of FGS
Uses passivation of the metallic surface to measure fatigue damage:
Sensor polarizes area, creates passive film. In growing cracks, cyclic loading breaks down passive layer. Micro-plasticity at crack tip changes amount of exposed Micrometal. As new metal is exposed, new, additional passive forms which signal. film changes FGS

The Differential FGS Set-up Set An FGS sensor array is applied to an area of interest and crack detection occurs under or around the sensor. The Crack Measurement Sensor (CM) is placed over the tip of the crack. The Reference Sensor (R) is placed in the same stress field, but where there is no crack.

The FGS System Hardware


FGS Sensors Measurement & Reference Customizable size, shape, geometry PDL (Potentiostat Data Link). Precisely controls sensor array voltage Measures the current flow for the two sensors (indicator of crack condition) Controls Data Acquisition Rate and Data Collection Times; Stores Data Locally Wireless and battery powered Access Point- Transmits data from PDL to PC Point-

Typical Bridge Installation

Surface Preparation

Sensor Installation

Hardware Installation

Wireless Access Point

Data Acquisition

Example Installations

Basics of Data Interpretation


Differential FGS used.
Comparison of CM and R Sensors.

Ratio of the CM sensor and R sensor data used as first decision metric -> Energy Ratio. Special software uses specially designed algorithm to determine growth activity. Possible Output No Growth Microplasticity (Future Initiation) Active Growth

The FGS System - Software


Frequency content and magnitude differences indicate crack condition. Algorithm preliminarily indicates crack activity status. Results = Energy Ratio
No growth<1.5 1.5<Potential growth<1.9 1.9<Active crack growth

Predictive Capabilities:
Threshold Lab Verifications
Controlled environment Precise measurements Dynamic Input Theoretical comparisons

Experimental Setup

Crack

22

Fatigue Data

23

Crack Growth Data

24

Laboratory Testing Procedure


Specimen Polished and Pre-cracked. Pre Crack length measured on polished surface. Loads are determined for DK below and above DKth threshold. Tests are conducted at each of the various DK for 10 minutes and FGS data is collected. Post data collection samples are fractured and the crack length measured.

Fracture Surface

FGS and Threshold Bridge Loading

27

FGS and Threshold

28

Energy Ratio
Energy Ratio = Ratio of Areas Under Crack Measurement and Reference Measurement Curves

Energy Ratio = 1.16 (K = 2.54 ksi in

Energy Ratio = 2.4 (K = 17.25 ksi in


30

Improving the Standard of Care


Federal Highway Administration Reliability of Visual Inspection Study of 49 State DOT bridge inspectors.
Multiple fatigue crack indications at multiple locations All at obviously fatigue sensitive locations Inspectors correctly identified the crack indications less than 10% of the time. That means 90 out of every 100 fatigue cracks are missed by conventional methods Also repairs are being made 4 out of 5 times at areas which do not require it (80% false positives).

Frequency Domain Output


Location 1a: No Significant Activity, ER=1.3 Typical Active Sample Energy Ratio = 3.1

Conclusions
FGS provides additional, more useful, more accurate information for decisions. Almost immediate repair verification. Predictive information available for fatigue critical locations. Integrate with FASTRAN II.
Find hotspots in all structures
Bridges, aircraft, offshore platforms, ships, shipping cranes

Next Steps for Product Improvement


Crack growth rate. Localized stress excitation method. Develop fracture mechanics methodology to transfer FGS into FASTRAN based code. Develop Long Life electrolyte. Evaluate Parameters for 7075 AL.
Polarizing voltage Threshold correlation curves

Approximate Inspection Costs


Costs are based on number of areas to be inspected. Inspection crew can cover up to ten crack locations in one shift, depending on ease of access. For a simple two span bridge cost will be approximately US$15,000.

Many Hundreds of Millions of Potential Savings in the US Alone Using the EFS Technology
Potential savings from deployment of the FGS system was analyzed by one U.S. state to be about $110M. Deficient bridges throughout the U.S. total about 150,000 (out of the total number of bridges in US which is about 600,000). The $110M savings for that one states deficient bridges, extrapolated to the total number of deficient bridges in the entire U.S., would be about $1.6Billion.

Management
Robert M. Bernstein CEO NIT Inc & Co-Chairman NIT Inc & NIT BR CoS.A. Leonard Berg, CEO NIT R&D Inc & Co-Chairman, NIT Inc & NIT BR CoS.A. Brian Austin, President, NIT R&D Inc William Berks, Executive Vice-President NIT Inc Vice Eric Winkler, Executive Vice President and Director of Marketing of R&D Steve Swearingen, Chief Technology Officer, NIT R&D Inc Monty Moshier Ph.D., Chief Technologist, NIT Inc Lon T. Berg, Vice President NIT R&D Inc & Treasurer

Non Invasive Technologies Inc


11693 San Vicente Blvd, # 914 Los Angeles, CA 90049

Tel: + 1 310 384 2428

E-mail: info@noninvasivetechnologies.com www.noninvasivetechnologies.com

You might also like