Development of distributed long-gage fiber optic sensing system for structural health monitoring

The essence of structural health monitoring (SHM) requires an innovative sensing system similar to a human nervous system throughout the whole body to catch comprehensive information without losing structural integrity. In a recent research by the authors, an integrated structural assessment strategy based on distributed strain sensing technologies is proposed [1], which has been dedicated to utilize the strain distribution throughout the full or some partial areas of structures to detect the arbitrary and unforeseen damage. To implement such strategy, a typical distributed fiber optic sensing system is developed by extending the gage length of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and then arranging the long-gage FBG sensors in series. This article summarizes the packaging design and manufacture method of such long-gage FBG sensors and verifies the performance of the developed sensors and the distributed sensing system by using a series connection of long-gage FBG sensors. Combined with the practical application in steel and reinforced concrete (RC) structures, the efficiency and ascendancy of the proposed distributed fiber optic sensing system in SHM are elaborated.