Hands-On Training of Non-destructive Testing Using a Mock-Up in the Curriculum of Civil Engineers

Our infrastructure deteriorates progressively and the knowledge about the current condition is crucial to enable proper maintenance. Nondestructive techniques provide the basis for reliable condition assessment and thus, requires talented engineers with corresponding skills. Fortunately, in the curriculum of civil engineers, nondestructive testing gains more and more importance. The challenge in teaching nondestructive testing is to fulfil the requirement that students achieve the learning objective of “Application.” The term “Application” describes the ability that students are able to use nondestructive techniques appropriately. This teaching objective is not achievable in classroom lectures. Thus, the authors developed a mock-up for hands-on learning where students can try several nondestructive techniques such as half-cell potential measurement, Radar, ultrasound, impact-echo etc. Civil engineering students often encounter difficulty with the handling of sometimes very sophisticated devices. The challenge increases even more when the students have to extract the measured data, evaluate them, and relate their results to the condition of the tested object. With the support of the mock-up the authors intended to assist civil engineering students to understand the application of nondestructive techniques. This paper presents the design of the mock-up in combination with the corresponding teaching concept and the first teaching experience.