Research Projects

Objective: Nondestructive Testing of submerged structures is a niche area and not much research has been carried on it, but the need for same is huge. In this project an attempt will be made to make use of advancement in robotics and employ underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV) in NDT of submerged concrete structures. The sensors for contact based NDT techniques (acoustic) and optical methods will be integrated with ROV and an unmanned integrated underwater testing platform (IUTP) would be created. This will reduce the risk associated with human interventions and also enable creation of complete set of data for the condition assessment.

Summary: Critical structures such as bridges and jetties use concrete as the main building material. Although made from a durable material many of these large assets have begun to age and are in need of for periodic inspection to ensure their integrity. Based on information available in the literature it is felt that there is a need to develop autonomous methods inspection/testing systems using advance NDT (optical, acoustic, ultrasonic measurements) for assessing status of the structure. Current inspection routine involves setting up and sending divers to reach the bottom tip of the submerged structures. Moreover, for safety reasons, operations must be stopped and special precautions must be taken when human operators are conducting inspections. Automation of inspection will create a system which assess the environmental conditions such as chemical, thermal or radiation levels in underwater locations which are a major challenge that can be economically inspect large concrete structures rapidly and saving huge amounts currently spent during the manual periodic inspections. The system will help in addressing problem associated with the bridge piers of railways and roadways, power generation industry such nuclear, thermal, hydro-industry, bridges and other critical infrastructure.