Fiber Optic Sensors for Bridge Monitoring
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 8, Issue 6
Abstract
Advances in the production of optical fibers made possible the recent development of innovative sensing systems for the health monitoring of civil structures. The main reasons for this development are the reduced weight and dimensions of fiber optic sensors, the strong immunity to electromagnetic interference, the improved environmental resistance and the scale flexibility for small-gauge and long-gauge measurements. These systems can provide high-resolution and measurement capabilities that are not feasible with conventional technologies. In addition, they can be manufactured at a low cost and they offer a number of key advantages, including the ability to multiplex an appreciable number of sensors along a single fiber and interrogate such systems over large distances. For these reasons, it is evident that fiber optic sensors will change the instrumentation industry in the same way fiber optics has revolutionized communications. This paper provides an overview of the intensity modulated and spectrometric fiber optic sensors and techniques to assess the condition of existing structures in order to enhance the durability of the new bridges, increasing lifetime and reliability and decreasing maintenance activities. Application of these sensors to monitoring strain, temperature, inclination, acceleration, load measurements, ice detection, vehicles speeds and weights, and corrosion and cracking of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures will be described.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Ansari, F. (1997). “Theory and applications of integrated fiber optic sensors in structures.” Intelligent civil engineering materials and structures, edited by F. Ansari, A. Maji, and C. Leung, eds., ASCE, Reston, Va., 2–28.
Ansari, F., and Navalurkar, R. K.(1993). “Kinematics of crack formation in cementitious composites by fiber optics.” J. Eng. Mech., 119(5), 1048–1061.
Bergmeister, K., and Santa, U.(2001). “Global monitoring concepts for bridges.” Struct. Concr. J. FIB, 2(1), 29–39.
Cai, D., He, X., and Zhang, L.(2001). “Distributed optical fiber sensing technology for crack detection in the small scale plaster model test of arch dam.” J. Hydraul. Eng.
Casas, J. R. (1999). “Experimental study on the repair and strengthening of existing concrete bridges by CFRP sheets and external prestressing.” Proc., Int. Conf. on Current and Future Trends in Bridge Design, Construction, and Maintenance, P. C. Das, D. M. Frangopol, and A. S. Nowak, eds., Thomas Telford Publ., London, 368–379.
Casas, J. R., and Frangopol, D. M. (2001). “Monitoring and reliability management of deteriorating concrete bridges.” Proc., 2nd Int. Workshop on Life-cycle Cost Analysis and Design of Civil Infrastructure Systems, A. Miyamoto and D. M. Frangopol, eds., Yamaguchi Univ., Ube, Japan, September, 127–141.
Casas, J. R., Ramos, G., Diaz, S., and Guemes, A.(2002). “Intelligent repair of existing concrete structures.” Comput. Aided Civil Infrastruct. Eng., 17, 43–52.
Cruz, P. J. S. (2002). “Monitoring of the bridge over River Ave in the A4 highway.” Rep. No. 02-DEC/E-14, Civil Engineering Department, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal (in Portuguese).
Ferdinand, P., and Rougeault, S. (2000). “Optical fiber Bragg grating inclinometry for smart civil engineering and public works.” Proc., 14th Int. Conf. on Optical Fiber Sensors, A. G. Mignani, ed., IROE-CNR, Italy, SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., 4185, 54–57.
Gu, X., Chen, Z., and Ansari, F.(2000). “Embedded fiber optic crack sensor for reinforced concrete structures.” ACI Struct. J., 97(3), 468–476.
Güemes, A. (2002). “Optical fiber sensors.” “Preconference course: Health monitoring techniques: An overview.” Structural health monitoring, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Paris.
Inaudi, D., Casanova, N., Kronenberg, P., and Vurpillot, S.(1997). “Embedded and surface mounted sensors for civil structural monitoring.” Proc. SPIE, 3044, 236–243.
“Intelligent Sensing for Innovative Structures.” (ISIS). (2002). 〈http://www.isiscanada.com〉 (Jan. 15, 2002).
Krämmer, P., Willsch, M., Theune, N., and Rothhardt, M. (2000). “Novel fiber optic Bragg grating acceleration sensor detection scheme.” Proc., 14th Int. Conf. on Optical Fiber Sensors, A. G. Mignani, ed., IROE-CNR, Italy, SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., 4185, 58–61.
Lee, H., et al. (2000). “New approach to fiber optic weigh-in-motion with multiplexed Bragg grating sensors.” Proc., 14th Int. Conf. on Optical Fiber Sensors, A. G. Mignani, ed., IROE-CNR, Italy, SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., 4185, 58–61.
Leung, C., and Elvin, N. (1997). “Micromechanics based design of optical fiber crack sensor.” Proc., Intelligent Civil Engineering Materials and Structures, F. Ansari, A. Maji, and C. Leung, eds., ASCE, Reston, Va., 150–163.
Matsumura, T., Nakamura, K., and Ueha, S. (2002). “A load cell using an optical fiber Bragg grating with inherent mechanical temperature compensation.” Proc., 15th Optical Fiber Sensors Conf., IEEE Catalog No. 02EX, OFS 2002, Portland, Ore., 347–360.
McKinley, B. (2000). “Large-scale bridge model construction and test results.” BRITE-EuRam Project BE-4871 Millennium: Monitoring of large civil engineering structures for improved maintenance, No. MILL/CU/D4.2/01, European Union, Brussels, Rev. No. 01.
McKinley, B., and Boswell, L. F. (2002). “Optical fiber systems for bridge monitoring.” Proc., IABMAS’02-First Int. Conf., on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, (CD-ROM), J. R. Casas, D. M. Frangopol, and A. S. Nowak, eds., International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Barcelona, Spain, 14–17 July.
Nellen, P. M., Frank, A., and Kenel, A. (2002). “High strain and high strain gradients measured with fiber Bragg gratings in structural enginnering applications.” Proc., 15th Optical Fiber Sensors Conf., IEEE Catalog No. 02EX, OFS 2002, Portland, Ore., 111–114.
Olson, N. G. (2002). “Mechanical and optical behavior of a novel optical fiber crack sensor and an interferometric strain sensor.” PhD thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September.
Pérez, A. (2001). “Fiber optic sensors: Application to the long-term monitoring of civil engineering structures,” MS thesis, School of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia, July.
Rossi, P., and LaMaou, F. (1989). “New method for detecting cracks in concrete using fiber optics.” Materials and structures, RILEM, Paris, 22(132), 437–442.
Schulz, W. L., Udd, E., Seim, J. M., and McGill, G. E.(1998). “Advanced fiber-grating strain sensor systems for bridges.” Proc. SPIE, 3325, 212–221.
Tennyson, R. C., and Mufti, A. A. (2000). “Monitoring bridge structures using fiber optic sensors.” Proc., European COST F3 Conf., on System Identification and Structural Health Monitoring, J. A. Güemes, ed., Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 6–9 June, 511–520.
Udd, E., Seim, J., Schultz, W., MacMahon, R., Soltesz, S., and Laylor, M. (2000). “Monitoring trucks, cars and joggers on the Horsetail Falls Bridge using fibre grating strain sensors.” Proc., 14th Int. Conf. on Optical Fiber Sensors, A. G. Mignani, ed., IROE-CNR, Italy, SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., 4185, 872–875.
Uttamchandani, D., et al. (1999). “Distributed optical fiber sensing in synthetic fibre ropes and cables.” Proc., 14th Int. Conf. on Optical Fiber Sensors, A. G. Mignani, ed., IROE-CNR, Italy, SPIE, Bellingham, Wash., 4185, 8–11.
Vurpillot, S., Gaston, K., Benouaich, D., Clement, D., and Inaudi, D.(1998). “Vertical deflection of a pre-stressed concrete bridge obtained using deformation sensors and inclinometer measurements.” ACI Struct. J., 95, 518–526.
Zako, M., Uragaki, H., and Kodate, K.(1995). “On intelligent structures using optical fiber (crack sensing with optical fiber).” J. JSMS, 44(499), 493–497.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 8 • Issue 6 • November 2003
Pages: 362 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 10, 2002
Accepted: Jan 27, 2003
Published online: Oct 15, 2003
Published in print: Nov 2003
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.