Internships and Post-docs

The RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is increasingly  being used in the civil engineering sector. RFID tags can be equipped with integrated sensors that measure various conditions such as  temperature, humidity, pressure, deformation, etc.

Using the principle of this technology, corrosion sensors developed in collaboration with the University of Western Brittany have been tested  and validated in our laboratory. These RFID tags are installed under the different layers of paint that coat offshore wind turbine towers. They allow for anticipating maintenance and repair work and thus reducing  costs, a key element for improving the service life of these structures.

This postdoc is part of the CAHPREEX Project. Its objective is to evaluate sensors developed to detect corrosion in external prestressed cables and stays. The first phase of the project consists in detecting corrosion inside the external prestressing sheaths. This phase required durability tests on steel plates of different thicknesses. Then, the degradation of the sample is monitored daily using RFID technology.

Thanks to RFID technology, we are able to track the corrosion kinetics of our steel plates, thereby correlating its degradation kinetics with that of the strands of the prestressed cables. The other phases of the project involve monitoring the geometry of the cables and detecting the presence of water at the anchor heads. For these parts, other types of RFID sensors are currently being developed.