Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements

In this paper, we analyze the displacements of a geodetic reference pillar due to thermal loading, which typically occurs when the sunlit side of the pillar heats up more than the shaded side. This temperature differential induces bending of the pillar, resulting in the horizontal displacement of th...

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Main Authors: Robert Močnik, Dejan Zupan, Andrej Pal, Tomaž Ambrožič
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/9/4678
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author Robert Močnik
Dejan Zupan
Andrej Pal
Tomaž Ambrožič
author_facet Robert Močnik
Dejan Zupan
Andrej Pal
Tomaž Ambrožič
author_sort Robert Močnik
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we analyze the displacements of a geodetic reference pillar due to thermal loading, which typically occurs when the sunlit side of the pillar heats up more than the shaded side. This temperature differential induces bending of the pillar, resulting in the horizontal displacement of the screw used for forced centering of the instrument. Measuring displacement in the field is challenging, as it is difficult to thermally isolate the displacement sensor mount from the environment, whereas measuring rotations is much easier. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we measured the inclination of the plate with the forced-centering screw and simultaneously recorded the displacements near the top of a test pillar during a heating and cooling cycle totaling 10 h. During the heating phase, the heated side of the pillar recorded a temperature rise of 25.4 K, which led to a lateral displacement at the top of the pillar of approximately 1 mm. We found excellent agreement between the displacements calculated from the inclination and the directly measured displacements. The deviation between the calculated and measured displacements was less than 0.1 mm, which confirms the precision of the indirect method. Our results demonstrate that using an isolated inclinometer and converting the measured inclination values into displacements provides a representative characterization of the behavior of a pillar for precise geodetic measurements.
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spelling doaj-art-f13b2f7dc90c4c78839f8e813b46ca922025-08-20T03:52:56ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-04-01159467810.3390/app15094678Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic MeasurementsRobert Močnik0Dejan Zupan1Andrej Pal2Tomaž Ambrožič3Mariborski Vodovod d.d., Jadranska cesta 24, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova 2, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 12, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaFaculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova 2, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaIn this paper, we analyze the displacements of a geodetic reference pillar due to thermal loading, which typically occurs when the sunlit side of the pillar heats up more than the shaded side. This temperature differential induces bending of the pillar, resulting in the horizontal displacement of the screw used for forced centering of the instrument. Measuring displacement in the field is challenging, as it is difficult to thermally isolate the displacement sensor mount from the environment, whereas measuring rotations is much easier. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we measured the inclination of the plate with the forced-centering screw and simultaneously recorded the displacements near the top of a test pillar during a heating and cooling cycle totaling 10 h. During the heating phase, the heated side of the pillar recorded a temperature rise of 25.4 K, which led to a lateral displacement at the top of the pillar of approximately 1 mm. We found excellent agreement between the displacements calculated from the inclination and the directly measured displacements. The deviation between the calculated and measured displacements was less than 0.1 mm, which confirms the precision of the indirect method. Our results demonstrate that using an isolated inclinometer and converting the measured inclination values into displacements provides a representative characterization of the behavior of a pillar for precise geodetic measurements.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/9/4678geodetic reference pillarthermal loadingbendingdisplacementsrotationsmeasurements
spellingShingle Robert Močnik
Dejan Zupan
Andrej Pal
Tomaž Ambrožič
Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
Applied Sciences
geodetic reference pillar
thermal loading
bending
displacements
rotations
measurements
title Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
title_full Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
title_fullStr Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
title_full_unstemmed Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
title_short Thermally Induced Displacements and Rotations of Pillars for Precise Geodetic Measurements
title_sort thermally induced displacements and rotations of pillars for precise geodetic measurements
topic geodetic reference pillar
thermal loading
bending
displacements
rotations
measurements
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/9/4678
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AT dejanzupan thermallyinduceddisplacementsandrotationsofpillarsforprecisegeodeticmeasurements
AT andrejpal thermallyinduceddisplacementsandrotationsofpillarsforprecisegeodeticmeasurements
AT tomazambrozic thermallyinduceddisplacementsandrotationsofpillarsforprecisegeodeticmeasurements