Strain sensors used in practical applications must provide reliable measurement data. To achieve this, sensor systems must be validated by using experimental facilities that enable physically independent statements about the performance of the sensor components. The paper describes qualification and validation procedures using a special facility to qualify surface-applied strain sensors and to achieve reliable sensor results. Based on examples concerning fibre optic strain sensor patches with and without FBG sensors, the determination of the strain gauge factor also under combined thermal and mechanical loading will be presented. These results are the basis for development of guidelines and standards.
Fibre optic strain sensors used in practical applications have to provide reliable measurements. Therefore, the applied sensor and the sensor systems must be validated experimentally. This can be achieved with facilities which use physically independent measurement systems in order to avoid the influences caused by the application of a reference sensor. This paper describes the testing methods of the specially developed validation facility KALFOS for the qualification and evaluation of surface-applied strain sensors. For reliable sensor results, the performance of fibre optic strain patches with and without FBG under combined thermal and mechanical loading was investigated. Additionally, the strain gauge factor of the fibre optic strain patches with FBG was determined experimentally and compared to the specified strain gauge factor. These results will be the basis for the development of guidelines and standards concerning the application of the sensors.
Static and dynamic pile tests are carried out to determine the load bearing capacity and the quality of reinforced concrete piles. As part of a round robin test to evaluate dynamic load tests, structure integrated fibre optic strain sensors were used to receive more detailed information about the strains along the pile length compared to conventional measurements at the pile head. This paper shows the instrumentation of the pile with extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers sensors and fibre Bragg gratings sensors together with the results of the conducted static load test as well as the dynamic load Tests and pile integrity tests.
A fibre Bragg grating (FBG) strain patch specially adapted for long-term and high-strain applications was developed and characterised. Additionally, in the case of unknown main stress axis, two fibre optic strain rosettes were developed. The design concept for the patch and the rosettes is based on a glass fibre reinforced plastic (gfrp) carrier material. The patches were characterised due to their strain gauge factor and fatigue behaviour. As a result, FBG strain patches with linear strain behaviour and excellent fatigue resistance were developed and can be used as part of a monitoring system for aerospace structures or wind turbine power plants. The rosettes were designed to be small in geometrical size and their strain transfer behaviour was characterised.
Reinforced concrete piles are used in case of structures that are constructed on soft ground to transfer the loads into deeper strata with sufficient bearing capacity. In order to determine the pile’s behavior and possible damage, static and dynamic pile tests are carried out. Dynamic measurements taken from the pile head can show the bearing behavior and structural integrity by using the theory of wave propagation. In order to receive more precise information about the pile features, now, a string of sensors is embedded at different levels of the pile. A fiber optic strain wave sensor, based on the extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI), has already been developed and tested in full-scale field tests by Schallert (2010). It was possible to detect the introduced deformation caused by the static load and the dilatational wave during dynamic loading. Although the full-scale tests were successful, the engineering design of the sensor body left room - from the economical point of view - to be optimized. After laboratory tests with the optimized sensor, a cast-in-situ bored pile has been built at the BAM Test Site Technical Safety in Horstwalde, South of Berlin. Additionally to the EFPI sensors, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, temperature sensors and resistance strain gauge (RSG) sensors are embedded in order to compare the signals with each other. In this paper, the modified sensor and the Setup of the cast-in-situ bored pile along with results of dynamic tests are shown.
A highly resolving fibre optic sensor based on the Fabry-Perot technology has been developed for
integration into concrete piles with the purpose of static and dynamic pile testing as well as monitoring. The
paper presents the design of the sensitive element and first results of large-scale model pile tests.