Defective sandwich elements on buildings cause complaints and high costs. In the recently completed “ReSaMon” project, an interdisciplinary team demonstrated how modern sensor technology and machine learning can be used to optimize the production of sandwich elements. Material weaknesses are already detected during the production process. This technology promises a significant improvement in quality assurance and a reduction in complaints and CO2 emissions in the construction industry.

In Germany, more than 20 million m² of sandwich elements are produced every year, consisting of two metallic cover layers and a core of PUR/PIR foam. This construction enables a high load-bearing capacity with a low mass, ideal for lightweight construction, especially in building construction, industrial hall facades and cold stores. However, the phenomenon of bubble formation in these construction elements repeatedly leads to customer complaints throughout the industry, resulting in costs and additional CO2 emissions due to new production and replacement.

Non-destructive and contactless identification of weak points during the production process

In the project “Resource-efficient sandwich elements through non-destructive monitoring for lightweight construction – ReSaMon”, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK), an interdisciplinary project team consisting of industrial companies, sandwich element experts, measurement technology specialists and simulation experts has developed a non-destructive and contactless measurement technology that can identify potential weak points and changes in material properties during production, immediately afterwards and in the installed state. A digital twin of the products was also created, which uses data-based methods to reliably detect and localize defects.

Improving production processes in the construction sector

Sandwich panel manufacturers can benefit by improving their quality assurance, which reduces complaints and CO2 emissions. In addition, further factors influencing the formation of bubbles were identified through interdisciplinary collaboration in discussions and workshops. The preliminary work in “ReSaMon” forms the basis for further research with the consortium in order to reduce the issue of bubble formation in the industry to a minimum and thus avert considerable ecological and economic damage.

More about ultrasonic measurement: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10549941