Introduction to DIN 4871: Qualification of NDT Personnel in Civil Engineering (NDT-CE)

Abstract

Recently, non-destructive testing in civil engineering (NDT-CE), in particular of concrete components, has successfully mastered the leap from research to practice. Several methods have been established for field inspections to determine the concrete cover of reinforcement or to estimate the compressive strength as well as other parameters related to the concrete material. In addition, the application of nondestructive testing is indispensable, if information about the inner structure - such as the location of rebars and tendon ducts or the damage-related condition assessment to detect grouting defects, honeycombs, delamination, or corrosion - is required. Besides the selection of a suitable NDT method and an appropriate inspection system, the reliability of the results depends largely on the person who applies the non-destructive inspection technique and evaluates the inspection results. To ensure a high quality of non-destructive concrete evaluation as well as to keep the uncertainty caused by the inspection personnel to a minimum, structured, consistent and regulated theoretical as well as practical training of inspection personnel is essential. To close this gap, the subcommittee of education (UA-A) within the committee for NDT-CE of the German Society for Nondestructive Testing (DGZfP) has been reactivated in 2018 to establish uniform training standards for nondestructive concrete inspections in the long term. The subcommittee consists of scientists, practitioners, authorities, and clients. So far, the national standard DIN 4871 “Non-destructive testing - Qualification and Certification of NDT personnel in Civil Engineering (NDT-CE)” was developed and is currently under review. This standard considers the civil-industry-specifics, for example, that standards for NDT of concrete, as well as related product standards with a few exceptions, still do not exist at the moment. Within this presentation, the concept, the connection to ISO 9712 and other standards as well as an overview of the developed German standard DIN 4871 will be presented.

Some developments in the field of non‐destructive testing ‐ new devices and techniques, industrial training and academic education

“…In the last few years, an expert group of the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP) has developed in the frame of the Sub-committee of Education and Training (UA-A) the first standard for training and qualification of personnel in industrial environments of Civil Engineering (CE) [32]. The purpose is to establish standardized training methods for NDT applications in CE as it exists for many other application fields and branches including mechanical engineering.…”

A Past, Present, and Prospective Review on Microwave Nondestructive Evaluation of Composite Coatings

“…Based on [47], GPR is used to check the condition of reinforced concrete structures of bridge decks. Another work [67] stated that almost 90% of the concrete, reinforced, or pre-stressed inspections were undertaken via GPR. The main kinds of the structure under this method of investigation are bridges, structural buildings, and tunnels as GPR has the benefits of fast data acquisition and high reflectivity on different kinds of reinforcement elements.…”

Digitale Bauwerksdiagnose – ein Projekt zur digitalen Transformation

“…Auch bei nachvollziehbarer, rückführbarer Dokumentation ist dieser Umfang für den Auftraggeber und die weiteren Projektbeteiligten nur schwer zu erfassen. Die Digitalisierung bietet vielzählige Möglichkeiten und Chancen, zukunftsfähige Hilfsmittel zu entwickeln, die dazu beitragen, die aktuell fehleranfälligen Prozesse zu optimieren und den Fachingenieur bei manuellen Arbeitsschritten zu entlasten[4]. Einen Ansatz bildet die Methode Building Information Modeling (BIM), die sich den kollaborativen und möglichst offenen Austausch von Informationen zum Ziel setzt.…”