Sensing optical fiber installation study for crack identification using a stimulated Brillouin-based strain sensor

Abstract

Stimulated Brillouin-based optical fiber sensors have been receiving increasing attention in recent times because of their ability to measure distributed strain at high spatial resolution. This study presents a methodical approach for understanding the structural behavior from measured strain distribution. A stress-transferring model, focusing on the tip of a crack in concrete, with stress transfer from the host structure to the sensing segment on the attached fiber, was investigated. The loss of information due to the limited spatial resolution of the sensor was also analyzed. An experimental study using a notched concrete prism demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model for crack identification, allowing the study to leverage the stimulated Brillouin-based sensor to crack quantification as well as detection and localization.