Forensic Engineering consists on the determination of the cause, or origin of a certain type of damage or failure, such as cracks or other problems. This can be done by performing an inspection and diagnosis of the building that will provide a technical report on the building condition. This document will indicate the best repair and strengthening techniques, taking into account several aspects (type of damage: accidents, explosions, vibrations; structural solution and the other pathologies). In this report, it will also be analysed who is the responsible for the damage.
Forensics Engineering
Our team will analyse and investigate and determine the cause of:
- Structural Failure
- Damage or Collapse
- Fire
- Explosions
- Accidents on the construction site
The method will consist on the following, depending on the complexity of the case:
- Site inspections
- In-situ experimental tests
- Explanation to the clients about what happened
- Prescription of repairing methods
- Cost Repair analysis
- Construction Supervision
The following equipment might be used:
- Thermographic camera
- Reinforcement Bar Detector
- Moisture Detector
- Laser distance Measurer
- Drones
- Schmitt Hammer
Infra-red thermography is the science that allows one to acquire and analyse the temperature obtained with thermal cameras. The amount of energy emitted by a material is related with his temperature. The thermographic cameras enable to read this radiation and transform it, in order to know the superficial temperature of the emitting material.
The thermographic analysis of a building tries to detect the existence of incoherencies in the temperature patterns in the construction elements, when analysed in the same conditions. The difference in these patterns indicates the presence of problems.
These devices allow us to detect and localize problems, in a non-destructive way, such as infiltrations in walls and roofs, lack of thermal insulation in walls and roofs, failure in water reservoirs and pipes, failure in HVAC systems, outlining the pipe network, finding structural elements inside the walls, detection of insects within timber elements, electrical installation system outline, etc.
Thermography is recognized as a fast, economic and powerful tool regarding the inspection of buildings.