Initially developed for applications in the aerospace industry, fiber-optic Bragg grating sensors (FBG) have attracted attention in the civil engineering community. The interest in FBG sensors has been motivated by the potential advantages they can offer over existing sensing technologies. They are, immune to electromagnetic interference, small in size and can be easier to install than traditional electrical resistance strain gauges. They can also be multiplexed, that is, a single fiber may have more than one change. Although field test of FBG sensors have been reported in literature, there is a dearth of information on their installation procedures, their precision in quantifying strains of concrete structures, and robustness requirements for embedment in concrete structures. In particular the harsh environment during the construction of concrete structures is a great challenge in the installation of these fragile sensors. The paper reports on our experiences with FBG sensors in concrete structures. FBG sensor have been sued to quantify strain, temperature and to capture vibration signals. Th result of these studies indicate that, if properly installed, FBG sensors can survive the sever conditions associated with the embedment process and yield accurate measurements of strains and vibration response, so it is possible to benefit from their potential advantages.

Date Published: 13 June 2001
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 4317, Second International Conference on Experimental Mechanics, (13 June 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.429578

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4317:
Second International Conference on Experimental Mechanics
Fook Siong Chau; Chenggen Quan, Editor(s)