BAA Call 010 ARAP0007.pdf

BAA 692M15-20-R-00004

White Paper Call 010

Designing and Implementing an Embedded Acoustic Sensor System for Monitoring

Subsurface Damage in Concrete Test Pavements at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF)

January 17, 2024

This Call for white papers is being issued in accordance with FAA Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 692M15-20-R-00004, which was posted on FAACO.com on December 05, 2019 and last updated on sam.gov on January 17, 2024. Respondents must refer to the document entitled 692M15-20-R-00004 Rev R17, Amendment 016 in conjunction with this Call to prepare and submit their white paper. All instructions set forth in the 692M15- 20-R-00004 Rev R17, Amendment 016 solicitation document apply to the Call. This Call provides supplemental information and specific criteria to the Government requirements. Information included herein applies to this Call only.

The FAA has an immediate requirement in support of research Topic Number:

ARAP0007 Designing and Implementing an Embedded Acoustic Sensor System for Monitoring Subsurface Damage in Concrete Test Pavements at NAPTF as described below. White papers submitted under this call are due by close of business on February 27, 2024. White papers received after that date will be considered under the BAA Topic related to this Call, however, selection of the technologies may already be complete for the specifics of this Call.

Topic Number: ARAP0007:

Designing and Implementing an Embedded Acoustic Sensor System for Monitoring Subsurface Damage in Concrete Test Pavements at NAPTF

Technical POC: David Brill; David.Brill@FAA.gov

Copy: 9-ACT-AAQ-600-BAA@faa.gov

Background:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will construct a full-scale test of airport concrete pavement at the NAPTF, designated Construction Cycle 10 (CC10). This five-year test aims to observe the accumulation of structural damage within the concrete pavement, starting as small cracks at the slab or joint bottom and progressing to the surface due to traffic. The primary objective is to gain knowledge into the development of internal fatigue damage before it becomes evident at the surface. Hence, it is imperative to deploy a system of embedded sensors capable of detecting and monitoring internal concrete damage. The FAA has identified coda wave interferometry (CWI), an analysis of ultrasonic wave patterns in concrete, as the technology of choice. CWI analyzes the tail end of the signal (coda) for repeatable patterns sensitive to changes in structural properties, making it suitable for monitoring structural deterioration in concrete. Although CWI has been demonstrated in laboratory settings and used for structural health monitoring in European concrete bridge structures, its application in concrete airport pavements has not been tested.

The NAPTF, established in 1999, offers a unique facility for full-scale pavement testing under heavy aircraft traffic. With a rail-based test vehicle simulating aircraft up to 1.3 million pounds and a fully automated data acquisition system, NAPTF is crucial for developing and enhancing FAA procedures for airport pavement design. Test data informs FAA Advisory Circulars (AC) 150/5320-6G and 150/5335-5D, as well as the FAARFIELD computer program. More information is available at: https://www.airporttech.tc.faa.gov/NAPTF.

Purpose:

The purpose of this Topic is to custom-design, produce, and install a system of in-pavement sensors and data collection system (DCS) at the NAPTF. The system should be capable of detecting and monitoring internal structural damage in the CC10 concrete test pavement using CWI principles.

Requirements:

The FAA would like white papers for designing, producing, installing, and analyzing a CWI-based instrumentation system for the NAPTF to address the specific research parameters listed below, however, submittals are not limited to these requirements:

The total concrete (Portland Cement Concrete) surface area for the research and testing is 310 × 52.5 ft, divided into 3 distinct test items of 90 ft in length, separated by short transition areas. The FAA recognizes the impracticality of instrumenting the entire test area and plans to instrument one representative slab within each test item, with a possible additional slab for control purposes. The instrumented slabs are 18 ft long × 17.5 ft wide, with thicknesses ranging from 13.5 to 15.5 inches. All slabs are plain concrete (no reinforcement) with doweled joints. The system must insonify (i.e., cover) the entire slab area and must be capable of localizing cracking or other structural damage within the slab that is not visible at the surface.

Systems should be capable of surviving the five-year life of the FAA Construction cycle as any sensors and in-pavement electronics will be inaccessible once installed.

Systems must be designed to avoid conflicts with other in-pavement sensors (e.g., strain gages, corner displacement sensors, thermocouples, etc.).

The DCS must be housed in a separate enclosure and function independently of the existing NAPTF DCS. DCS must be able to connect to the local NAPTF ethernet network. (The NAPTF network is an isolated system and cannot be accessed from the internet.)

Conduct research, testing, data analysis, and required maintenance during system installation, up to two years after installation to determine the feasibility of utilizing CWI to detect structural damage in airport concrete.

Period of Performance/Rough Order of Magnitude:

Efforts up to 3 years will be considered, with continued efforts based on FAA discretion, performance, and results. Annual funding, subject to availability, is anticipated for these efforts, with a Rough Order of Magnitude not to exceed $200,000.00 per project, per fiscal year for any awards under this announcement.