Remote controlled vehicle for inspection of vertical concrete structures

Abstract

Long term operation and maintenance of steam and hydropower driven electric power plants requires periodic inspection of the concrete cooling, containment and impoundment structures to assure safety, and reliability. Currently, inspections of large, vertical concrete structures are performed manually which is time-consuming, costly, and exposes workers to potentially dangerous work environments. To address this inspection technology gap, EPRI researched and evaluated various types of robotic technologies; and developed a crawler device that could be adapted to perform a multitude of concrete inspection tasks. Its payload of advanced NDE instrumentation, computer encoded data and imaging provide unprecedented capabilities to interrogate the interior of concrete structures; and locate and characterize voids, rebar corrosion, and other internal defects. The concrete crawler obviates the need to use scaffolding and supports long-term operation of generating assets by enabling automated, safe, and comprehensive inspections of structures such as cooling towers, hydro dams, and reactor containments.