Modelling for monitoring – When millimetres matter

Author:Renata Barradas Gutiérrez

水电站利用流动water; the most extensively exploited renewable energy resource. Our daily activities and economies depend on a constant supply of electricity; hence, monitoring displacements and deformations to prevent problems related with structural failure, cracks or ageing material in hydroelectric plants is of vital importance.

Pumped storage hydroelectric plants are one of the various ways of extracting energy from water. The biggest hydropower energy sources in Lithuania are the Kaunas Hydropower Plant and the Kruonis Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant (KPSHP). The KPSHP is a pillar for the Lithuanian energy system that has been successfully supplying energy to homes and businesses for more than 20 years. Located close to the city of Kaunas, this state-of-the-art energy facility is the one of the biggest plants of its type in the Baltic region.

这家900兆瓦的水电厂旨在通过调节电压，频率和负载波动来产生电力，平衡消耗，并在紧急情况下补偿能源缺乏。According to Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba, the KPSHP covers 6 per cent of Lithuania’s total electricity demand and is capable of ensuring 94 per cent of the total necessary energy reserves for Lithuania in case of emergency – a deformation in its structure can be fatal to Europe’s Baltic state energy system.

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Going high tech for dam monitoring

为了监视KPSHP，UAB SmartOffice使用Leica Nova MS60多稳态对水力发电厂进行了调查，以收集测量值和结构的点云。收集的3D数据允许UAB SmartOffice分析表面并计算水力发电工厂的垂直性。用点云生成的模型还将作为未来扫描的参考，该扫描将监视大坝的当前状况和变形。

“Scanning with Leica Nova MS60 MultiStation has brought more results than expected. Besides 3D scanning up to 1,000 metres, the main benefits were time saving, accuracy and simplicity,” said Jonas Varnas, general manager at UAB SmartOffice. “Using the MS60 was as simple as a routine using a TPS but combining the precision of TPS measurements and 3D scanning into one system.”

With the MS60 MultiStation, complex sites can be surveyed with overlaid measured points and 3D models in one view, allowing users to perform verticality and deformation checks to identify damage and defects in a more reliable, quicker and complete way. The 3D scan capability of the self-learning MultiStation helps users expand their portfolio of offered services, being able to be used for:

• 施工监测
• quality inspection
• clash detection
• as-built Building Information Modelling (BIM)

KPSHP通过岩土传感器监测，因此不使用大地设备。与其他传感器技术相比，变形信息仅限于几个点，MS60多稳态提供了测量密集量的点的能力，并通过覆盖的TPS测量值对数百万点的位移进行测量。

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检查和比较表面

使Kruonis植物与众不同的原因是它在需求低时期或作为传统的水力发电厂以在白天提供正常能源需求的传统水力发电厂的能力。

These water level changes in the upper reservoir of the dam can cause deformations. The KPSHP authorities, therefore, were interested in analysing the surface and verticality of the dam, identifying places with deformation and comparing the scanned model with the ideal model.

3D Reshaper, an essential software for surveyors working with point clouds, allowed UAB SmartOffice to measure, inspect and compare surfaces displaying deviation information with millimetric accuracy. The modelled surface generated from the point cloud provided an accurate representation of reality to detect millimetric changes in shape for the entire structure.

“3D Reshaper allowed us to do the best shape export, analyse the surfaces with several integrated tools, and permitted our client to inspect surfaces in a very clear way – exactly what our customer was looking for,” said Varnas.

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Monitoring matters

In dam monitoring, millimetre precision is required. The consequences of structural deformations in these structures go beyond multimillion costs. Consequently, deformations should be discovered and monitored in a timely manner to ensure a safe operation and usage, and cost-effective construction and management.