Engineering approach to in-situ bridge health monitoring with fiber bragg gratings

In this presentation the feasibility and capability of fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) employed in bridge health monitoring are demonstrated on a real bridge. FBG's wavelength shift depending on strain variance has been tested. The technique of FBG installation on bridges has been developed. 12 FBG strain sensors and 3temperature sensors have been successfully embedded in the prestressed concrete box girder during the construction of Heilongjiang Hulan River Bridge. The prestressing tension process and quasi-static loading process of the girder were monitored with those sensors before it was installed onto the bridge. After the bridge was completed, the FBG sensors embedded have been utilized to monitor the strain shift of the beam under quasi-static load, traffic load and temperature. The results show that the traffic fluxes, possible fatigue damage and deflection of the bridge can be revealed conveniently through strain measurements with these FBG sensors, which provide key information for structural health diagnosis. The fact that the FBG strain sensors have withstood the ordeal of harsh construction process and lasted for more than one year proves that their durability and stability can satisfy the requirements for bridge health monitoring. It is also shown that the FBG strain sensor is more adaptive to long-term structural health monitoring than the electric resistance strain gauge.