Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2023 May 18;23(10):4856. doi: 10.3390/s23104856.
Distributed structure health monitoring has been a hot research topic in recent years, and optic fiber sensors are largely developed for the advantages of high sensitivity, better spatial resolution, and small sensor size. However, the limitation of fibers in installation and reliability has become one of the major drawbacks of this technology. This paper presents a fiber optic sensing textile and a new installation method inside bridge girders to address those shortcomings in fiber sensing systems. The sensing textile was utilized to monitor strain distribution in the Grist Mill Bridge located in Maine based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA). A modified slider was developed to increase the efficiency of installation in the confined bridge girders. The bridge girder's strain response was successfully recorded by the sensing textile during the loading tests that involved four trucks on the bridge. The sensing textile demonstrated the capability to differentiate separated loading locations. These results demonstrate a new way of installing fiber optic sensors and the potential applications of fiber optic sensing textiles in structural health monitoring.
分布式结构健康监测是近年来的一个热门研究课题,光纤传感器因其高灵敏度、更好的空间分辨率和较小的传感器尺寸而得到了很大的发展。然而,光纤在安装和可靠性方面的局限性已成为该技术的主要缺点之一。本文提出了一种光纤传感纺织品和一种在桥梁主梁内部的新安装方法,以解决光纤传感系统中的这些缺点。该传感纺织品利用布里渊光时域分析(BOTDA)技术监测位于缅因州的磨房桥的应变分布。开发了一种改进的滑子,以提高在受限的桥梁主梁中安装的效率。在涉及桥上四辆卡车的加载试验中,传感纺织品成功地记录了桥梁主梁的应变响应。传感纺织品展示了区分分离的加载位置的能力。这些结果展示了一种安装光纤传感器的新方法以及光纤传感纺织品在结构健康监测中的潜在应用。