R Nkulu Kashale¹, LP Kaja Mukinay², PA Matamba Kaleji²⁺, C Kabwika Kitumbi², P Mabiala Mulomba², B Mandungu Kiese² and O Kawende Kalonda¹ and D Kabeya Ngalamulume²*

¹Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNEL), B.P.500 Kinshasa/Gombe, République Démocratique du Congo
²Commissariat Général à l’Energie Atomique/Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Kinshasa (CGEA/CREN-K), B.P. 868 Kinshasa XI, République Démocratique du Congo
²⁺Dr MATAMBA Kaleji passed away in 2022

*Corresponding Author: D Kabeya Ngalamulume, Commissariat Général à l’Energie Atomique/Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Kinshasa (CGEA/CREN-K), B.P. 868 Kinshasa XI, République Démocratique du Congo.

Received: May 31, 2023; Published: June 28, 2023

Abstract

The Hydroelectric power station of Inga II is constituted by 8 groups of drums turbines to produce electricity of 1420 MW. These drums turbines are sustained by reinforced concrete constructions that, with time of service, present surface and internal cracks. The origin of those cracks at the same height for each group seems to be the distribution of internal vibrations in the concrete due to turbines rotation motion. The reinforced concrete constructions width is 4 m.

For the hydroelectric power station maintenance, in April 2019, a control by ultrasounds was conducted for assessing the depth of visible surface cracks on the reinforced concrete construction. The control consisted in the determination of the uniformity of the concrete by B SCAN. The elasticity modulus and the Poisson's ratio of the concrete are determined by calculation using longitudinal and transverse velocities obtained by concrete A SCAN. All of 8 controlled drums turbines show cracks depth between 15 and 50 cm and measured ultrasounds longitudinal velocities are in the interval [9398 m/s - 9401 m/s], those values are acceptable for the reinforced concrete construction depth of 4 m.

 Keywords: Hydroelectric Power Station; Drums Turbines; Reinforced Concrete; Non-Destructive Testing; Ultrasound

References

1. D.G. Aggelis and T. Shiotani, “Repair evaluation of concrete cracks using surface and through-transmission wave measurements”, Cement & Concrete Composites 29, 700–711 (2007).
2. K. Ohno and M. Ohtsu, “Crack classification in concrete based on acoustic emission”, Construction and Building Materials 24, 2339–2346 (2010).
3. H.-D. Yun, W.-C. Choi, and S.-Y. Seo, “Acoustic emission activities and damage evaluation of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP sheets”, NDT&E Int. 43, 615–628 (2010).
4. L. Golaski, B. Goszczynska, G. Swit, and W. Trampczynski,“System for the global monitoring and evaluation of damage processes developing within concrete structure under serviceload”, The Baltic J. Road and Bridge Engineering 7, 237–245(2012).
5. M.R. Clark, D.M. McCann, and M.C. Forde, “Application of infrared thermography to the non-destructive testing of concrete and masonry bridges”, NDT&E Int. 36, 265–275 (2003).
6. C.-C. Cheng, T.-M. Cheng, and C.-H. Chiang, “Defect detection of concrete structures using both infrared thermography and elastic waves”, Automation in Construction 18, 87–92 (2008).
7. V. Perez-Gracia, F. Garcia Garcia, and I. Rodriguez Abad, “GPR evaluation of the damage found in the reinforced concrete base of a block of flats: A case study”, NDT&E Int. 41,341–353 (2008).74 Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech. 63(1) 2015 Ultrasound monitoring for evaluation of damage in reinforced concrete

8. J. Hugenschmidt, A. Kalogeropoulos, F. Soldovieri, and G.Prisco, “Processing strategies for high-resolution GPR concrete inspections”, NDT&E Int. 43, 334–342 (2010).
9. B.H. Hertlein, “Stress wave testing of concrete: A 25-year review and a peek into the future”, Construction and Building Materials 38, 1240–1245 (2013).

10. S. Iyer, S.K. Sinha, M.K. Pedrick, and B.R. Tittmann, “Evaluation of ultrasonic inspection and imaging systems for concrete pipes”, Automation in Construction 22, 149–164 (2012).
11. J. Hola, L. Sadowski, and K. Schabowicz, “Nondestructive identification of delaminations in concrete floor toppings with acoustic methods”, Automation in Construction 20, 799–807 (2011).
12. Y. Yang, G. Cascante, and M.A. Polak, “Depth detection of surface-breathing crack in concrete plates using fundamental Lamb modes”, NDT&E Int. 42, 501–512 (2009).
13. P. Antonaci, C.L.E. Bruno, A.S. Gliozzi, and M. Scalerandi, “Monitoring evolution of compressive damage in concrete with linear and nonlinear ultrasonic methods”, Cement and Concrete Research 40, 1106–1113 (2010).
14. A.A. Shah and Y. Ribakov, “Damage detection in concrete using nonlinear signal attenuation ultrasound”, Latin AmericanJ. Solids and Structures 9, 713–730 (2012).
15. H.J. Yim, J. H. Kim, S.-J. Park, and H.-G. Kwak, “Characterization of thermally damaged concrete using a nonlinear ultrasonic method”, Cement and Concrete Research 42, 1438–1446 (2012).
16. M. Molero, S. Aparicio, G. Al-Assadi, M.J. Casati, M. G. Hernandez, and J.J. Anaya, “Evaluation of freeze–thaw damage in concrete by ultrasonic imaging”, NDT&E Int. 52, 86–94 (2012).
17. C.-W. In, R. B. Holland, J.-Y. Kim, K.E. Kurtis, L.F. Kahn, and L.J. Jacobs, “Monitoring and evaluation of self-healing in concrete using diffuse ultrasound”, NDT & E Int. 57, 36–44 (2013).
18. H. Su, J. Hu, J. Tong, and Z. Wen, “Rate effect on mechanical properties of hydraulic concrete flexural-tensile specimens under low loading rates using acoustic emission technique”, Ultrasonics, 52, 890–904 (2012).
19. Y. Li, C.-e. Sui and Q.-j. Ding, “Study on the cracking process of cement-based materials by AC impedance method and ultrasonic method”, J. Nondestructive Evaluation 31, 284–291 (2012).
20. R.S. Adhikari, O. Moselhi, and A. Bagchi, “Image-based retrieval of concrete crack properties for bridge inspection”, Automation in Construction 39, 180–194 (2014).
21. M. Rucka and K. Wilde, “Experimental study on ultrasonic monitoring of splitting failure in reinforced concrete”, J. Non-destructive Evaluation 32, 372–383 (2013).
22. V. Giurgiutiu, Structural Health Monitoring with Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors, Academic Press, Amsterdam, 2008.

23. Signal Processing Toolbox TM run under MATLAB7.13 (The MathWorks Inc., Natck, MA, New York).

Citation

Citation: D Kabeya Ngalamulume., et al. “Control of Concrete Structure of Drums Turbines of Inga II Hydroelectric Power Station by the Ultrasound Non-Destructive Testing Method”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.7 (2023): 141-148.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 D Kabeya Ngalamulume., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.