Theoretical and Experimental Investigations into Crack Detection with BOTDR-Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 139, Issue 12
Abstract
Development of a model for the analysis of strain transfer mechanism in Brillouin-based sensors with strain singularities is provided in this study. The main objective of the research pertained to the development of a method for accurate detection of cracks and their locations in sensing with Brillouin-based fiber optic distributed sensors. The work involved formulation of a shear lag–based model considering the elastic as well as elastoplastic stages of the fiber optic coating strains. Feasibility of the proposed approach is evaluated through an experimental program. The experimental program involved use of a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) for distributed measurement of strain and detection of simulated cracks in a 15-m-long beam. The results indicate that the discontinuities in the strain distribution based on the theoretical analysis provide the means to accurately pinpoint the location of simulated cracks. On the other hand, the distortion effect of the BOTDR system due to averaging of the strains over the spatial resolution of the system masked the influence of strain discontinuities. In contrast to the strains acquired through the averaging process in BOTDR, the theoretical computations pertain to the actual distribution of strain along the length of the beam. Optomechanical relationships were also used to simulate the effect of spatial resolution on the theoretical results. The apparent strains obtained in this way were compared with the BOTDR measured values. Because of the measurement noise, the apparent strains based on the theoretical computations provided better information about the location of the cracks.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program under Grant No. 0730259; the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology Innovation Program; and grants from the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2011CB013702 and 2013CB035906). The authors gratefully thank the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51121005 and 51078060.
References
Ansari, F. (2007). “Practical implementation of optical fiber sensors in civil structural health monitoring.” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 18(8), 879–889.
Ansari, F., and Yuan, L. (1998). “Mechanics of bond and interface shear transfer in optical fiber sensors.” J. Eng. Mech., 124(4), 385–394.
Bao, X. (2009). “Optical fiber sensors based on Brillouin scattering.” Opt. Photonics News, 20(9), 40–46.
Bernini, R., et al. (2006). “Identification of defects and strain error estimation for bending steel beams using time domain Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensors.” Smart Mater. Struct., 15(2), 612–622.
Chen, G. D., et al. (2005). “Crack detection of a full-scale reinforced concrete girder with a distributed cable sensor.” Smart Mater. Struct., 14(3), 88–97.
Enckell, M., Glisic, M., Myrvoll, F., and Bergstrand, B. (2011). “Evaluation of a large scale bridge strain, temperature and crack monitoring with distributed fiber optic sensors.” J. Civil Struct. Health Monit., 1(1-2), 37–46.
Farrar, C. R., Doebling, S. W., and Nix, D. A. (2001). “Vibration-based structural damage identification.” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A., 359(1778), 131–149.
Feng, X., Sun, C., Zhang, X., and Ansari, F. (2010). “Determination of the coefficient of thermal expansion with embedded long-gauge fiber optic sensors.” Meas. Sci. Technol., 21(6), 065302.
Glisic, B., and Inaudi, D. (2012). “Development of method for in-service crack detection based on distributed fiber optic sensor.” Struct. Health Monit., 11(2), 161–171.
Horiguchi, T., Shimizu, K., Kurashima, T., Tateda, M., and Koyamada, Y. (1995). “Development of a distributed sensing technology using Brillouin scattering.” J. Lightwave Technol., 13(7), 1296–1302.
Horiguchi, T., and Tateda, M. (1989). “Tensile strain dependence of Brillouin frequency shift in silica optical fibers.” IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett., 1(5), 107–108.
Imai, M., Nakano, R., Kono, T., Ichinomiya, T., Miura, S., and Mure, M. (2010). “Crack detection application for fiber reinforced concrete using BOCDA-based optical fiber strain sensor.” J. Struct. Eng., 136(8), 1001–1008.
Leung, C. K. Y., Elvin, N., Olson, N., Morse, T. F., and He, Y. (2000). “A novel distributed optical crack sensor for concrete structures.” Eng. Fract. Mech., 65(2-3), 133–148.
Li, D. S., Li, H. N., Ren, L., and Song, G. (2006). “Strain transferring analysis of fiber Bragg grating sensors.” Opt. Eng., 45(2), 024402.
Li, Q., Li, G., Wang, G., Ansari, F., and Liu, Q. (2002). “Elasto-plastic bonding of embedded optical fiber sensors in concrete.” J. Eng. Mech., 128(4), 471–478.
Lin, M. W., Abatan, A. O., and Zhang, W. M. (1999). “Crack damage detection of concrete structures using distributed electrical time domain reflectometry ETDR sensors.” Proc., SPIE 3671Smart Structures and Materials 1999: Smart Systems for Bridges, Structures, and Highways, S. Liu, ed., Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), Bellingham, WA, 297–304.
Park, A., Ahmad, S., Yun, C. B., and Roh, Y. (2006). “Multiple crack detection of concrete structures using impedance-based structural health monitoring techniques.” Exp. Mech., 46(5), 609–618.
Ravet, F., Briffod, F., Glisic, B., Nikles, M., and Inaudi, D. (2009). “Submillimeter crack detection with Brillouin-based fiber-optic sensors.” IEEE Sens. J., 9(11), 1391–1396.
Song, G., Gu, H., Mo, Y. L., Hsu, T. T. C., and Dhonde, H. (2007). “Concrete structural health monitoring using embedded piezoceramic transducers.” Smart Mater. Struct., 16(4), 959–968.
Wan, K. T., and Leung, C. K. Y. (2007). “Fiber optic sensor for the monitoring of mixed mode cracks in structures.” Sens. Actuators A Phys., 135(2), 370–380.
Wan, K. T., Leung, C. K. Y., and Olson, N. G. (2008). “Investigation of the strain transfer for surface-attached optical fiber strain sensors.” Smart Mater. Struct., 17(3), 035037.
Wu, Z., Xu, B., Hayashi, K., and Machida, A. (2006). “Distributed optic fiber sensing for a full-scale PC girder strengthened with prestressed PBO sheets.” Eng. Struct., 28(7), 1049–1059.
Yuan, L., and Ansari, F. (1998). “Embedded white light interferometer fiber optic strain sensor for monitoring crack-tip opening in concrete beams.” Meas. Sci. Technol., 9(2), 261–266.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 24, 2012
Accepted: Feb 28, 2013
Published online: Mar 4, 2013
Published in print: Dec 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.