Ageing management of concrete structure: Assessment of EDF methodology in comparison with SHM and AIEA guides

摘要

Civil engineering structures are monitored more and more closely in order to optimise their maintenance and especially to minimise their probability of failure which could cause major equipment and human catastrophes. The "Structural Health Monitoring" concept has been developing towards this end over the last 20 years. The IAEA published in 2009 a new safety guide entitled "ageing management for nuclear power plants" that aims to give recommendations on the monitoring of nuclear power plants (concrete structures and other equipment). EDF exploits a large number and a wide variety of civil engineering structures (nuclear power stations, bridges, dams, buried pipes, dikes, etc.) and uses a method for monitoring its works that is specific to it. For decades, EDF has been implementing monitoring practices and has been continuously analysing the practices of other clients with a view to improving its own methods and practices, to learn from others or to fine tune its concepts. This is what EDF is now doing for SHM and the IAEA Safety Guide. The aim of this article is to verify that the methodology put in place by EDF for the monitoring of its concrete structures meets the recommendations of the IAEA safety guide No. NS-G-2.12. A comparison with another interesting and widely used methodology, Structural Health Monitoring, is also proposed.