SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

T9-1-d-1

STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING

WITH FIBER OPTIC SENSORS
Takao MIKAMI1, Takao NISHIZAWA2
1
Ishikawajima Inspection & Instrumentation Co. Ltd.,
Yokohama 236-0004, JAPAN
E-mail: t_mikami@iic.ihi.co.jp
2
Ishikawajima Inspection & Instrumentation Co. Ltd.,
Yokohama 236-0004, JAPAN
E-mail: t_nishizawa@iic.ihi.co.jp

ABSTRACT:
The safety of civil structures requires periodic or continuous monitoring to allow the planning
of maintenance interventions and possibility of repairs. The current methods such as
triangulations, water levels, mechanical extensometers and so on, require specialized
operators. The resulting complexity and costs limit the frequency of these measurements.
In many civil structures, the deformations are the most relevant parameter to be monitored.
Strain monitoring gives only local information about the material behavior. A complete
understanding of the structures behavior requires the measurement of deformations based on
long-gage sensors.
A monitoring system based on the use of long-gage fiber optic sensors, was developed by a
Swiss company. This paper describes the characteristics of the system and some test results.

1. Introduction
The security and maintenance of civil structures such as bridges, tunnels, dams requires
periodic monitoring, maintenance and restoration. Excessive and non-stabilized deformations
are often observed. Accurate knowledge of the behavior of the structures is becoming more
important as new structures become lighter and as an increasing number of existing bridges
are required to remain in service beyond their theoretical service life. Monitoring both in the
short and long term, helps to increase the knowledge of the real behavior of the structure and
in the planning of maintenance intervention.
In the long term, static monitoring requires an accurate and very stable system.
Currently available monitoring transducers such as inductive and mechanical extensometers,
GPS or accelerometers are not always sufficiently stable. The result is that fiber optic sensors
have gained in importance for structural health monitoring. They are the ideal choice for
many applications, being easy to handle, dielectric, immune to electromagnetic disturbances
and able to accommodate deformations up to a few percent.
A Swiss company (SMARTEC) has developed a long term monitoring system based on low
coherence interferometry, which has already been applied successfully in several bridges,
dams and other civil engineering structures in Europe, North America and Asia. This system
is named SOFO, the French acronym of Surveillance dOuvrages par Fibres Optiques(or
structural monitoring by optical fibers).
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this system for structural health monitoring, we
performed some tests in our laboratory and on a suspension bridge.

-1-
 SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

2. The SOFO Fiber Optic Monitoring System

The SOFO sensor consists of a pair of single mode fibers installed in the structure to be
monitored (Fig. 1). One of the fibers, called a measurement fiber, is contained in a pipe,
attached at the two ends of the measurement zone and pre-tensioned in between. The other
fiber, called a reference fiber, is placed loose in the same pipe. All deformation of the
structure will then result in a change of length difference between these two fibers.
To make an absolute measurement of this path imbalance, a low coherence double Michelson
interferometer is used. The first interferometer is made of the measurement and reference
fibers, while the second is contained in the portable reading unit. This second interferometer
can introduce, by means of a scanning mirror, a well-known path imbalance between its two
arms.

SOFODB PC

SOFO Optical
reading Unit Switch Standard Sensors

Modem

Membrane Sensors
Coupler

Modem Mobile Mirror

A/D Other SOFO Sensors (Force, T,)
Data-logger
Micro Controller

RS232 Photo- LED

Diode Bridge Data Acquisiton Units

SOFObus
Fig. 1 SOFO system

Because of the reduced coherence of the source used (the 1.3 micron radiation of an LED),
interference fringes are detectable only when the reading interferometer compensates for the
length difference between the fibers in the structure to better than a few microns.
If this measurement is repeated at successive times, the evolution of the deformation in the
structure can be followed without any need for continuous monitoring. This means that a
single reading unit can be used to monitor several fiber pairs in multiple structures.
The precision and stability obtained by this setup have been quantified in laboratory and field
tests to 2 micron (2/1000 mm), independently from the sensor length over more than 6 years.
Even a change in the fiber transmission properties does not affect the precision, since the
displacement information is encoded in the coherence of the light and not in its intensity.
The sensors are adapted to direct concrete/grout embedding or surface mounting on existing
structures. The passive region of the sensor is used to connect it to the reading unit and can be
up to a few kilometers long. The reading unit is portable, waterproof and battery powered,
making it ideal for dusty and humid environments as found on most building sites. Each
measurement takes about 7 seconds and all the results are automatically analyzed and stored
for further interpretation by the external lap-top computer.
The measurements can be performed either manually by connecting the different sensors one
after the other or automatically by means of an optical switch. Since the measurement of the
length difference between the fibers is absolute, there is no need to maintain a permanent
connection between the reading unit and the sensors. A single unit can, therefore, be used to
multiple sensors and structures at the desired frequency.
The main characteristics of the SOFO system are shown in Table 1.

-2-
 SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

Table 1 Specifications of SOFO System

Parameter Characteristics
Gage length 20cm to 10m for standard sensors
Up to 50m with special (long) sensors
Cable length Up to 5 km
Resolution 2m, independently from gage length
Dynamic range of the sensors 1% elongation, 0.5% shortening for standard sensors
Precision Better than 0.2% of the measured deformation
Measurement speed Less than 10 seconds per measurement
Stability Drift not observable at least 6 year

3. Laboratory Tests
The structural health monitoring in long term requires very stable and an accurate system.
We have, therefore, conducted the following experiments in order to verify the low
temperature sensitivity and the precision of the SOFO system in our laboratory.

3.1 Temperature Sensitivity Test

A 50cm SOFO sensor bound up with a ribbon heater was mounted on a mechanical
displacement table as shown in Fig.2. The SOFO sensor was heated up from 26.4 to
52.8 by the ribbon heater. In order to evaluate the temperature sensitivity of the SOFO
sensor itself, the test was performed in a short time not to heating up the mechanical
displacement table. The surface temperature of the sensor protection tube was monitored by a
digital thermometer. Fig. 3 shows the test result.
The defined temperature sensitivity of the sensor based on a theoretical calculation is 0.5
m//m. There was a temperature rise of 26 in this test which may cause a thermal
expansion of the reference fiber corresponding to a drift of 26 in compression. During
heating up, a maximum drift of 20 in tension was observed as shown in Fig. 3. It is
considered that the sensor could not respond to the rapid temperature change. During natural
cooling down, the sensor response was well because of the gradual temperature change. In
actual structures, the temperature change is generally slow. We can, therefore, conclude that
the SOFO sensor has low temperature sensitivity.

SOFO Reading
Personal Computer
Unit

Mechanical 0.5m-SOFO sensor bound

Disp. Table up with a ribbon heater

Thermometer
Temperature Controller

Fig.2 Temperature Sensitivity Test of SOFO Sensor

-3-
 SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

60 100
Tube Temp.
Tube Temerature 50 80
Strain
40 60

Strain
30 40

20 20

10 0

0 -20
2002/5/29 2002/5/29 2002/5/29 2002/5/29 2002/5/29 2002/5/29
14:45 14:52 15:00 15:07 15:14 15:21
Time

Fig.3 Temperature Sensitivity Test Result

3.2 Precision of SOFO System

The thermal expansion coefficient of a steel pipe was measured in order to verify the
precision of the SOFO system. A 50cm SOFO sensor was installed in the axial direction on a
steel pipe (1016mm, h 615, t 9.5 ) as shown in Fig. 4. The steel pipe was put in a constant
temperature room and the room temperature was changed gradually from 10 to 25. The
displacement of the sensor and the metal temperature of the pipe was measured every
30minutes. The test result is shown in Fig. 5. The slope of the interpolation line corresponds
to the thermal expansion coefficient. The slope is 1.02E-5 which has been accepted generally
as the thermal expansion coefficient of carbon steel. In addition the data scattering is
surprisingly small. The SOFO system showed its high measurement precision at various
temperatures.

0.20
Steel Pipe
0.15 = 0.0051/500= 1.02E-5 /
0.10
Displacement (mm)

0.05
y = 0.0051x - 0.0932
0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15

-0.20
0.5m-SOFO
-0.25

-0.30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Metal Temperature ()

Fig. 4 Test Model Fig. 5 Test Result

-4-
 SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

4. Test on a Suspension Bridge

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the SOFO system for structural health monitoring, we
conducted a test on a suspension bridge. The tested suspension bridge has a center span of
about 500m and consists of a truss girder.
Two 5m-sensors were placed on the upper and lower transverse members in parallel at the
center span. The distance between the upper and lower members is about 9m.
Thermocouples were set near the sensor anchor points to monitor temperature variations of
the transverse members as shown in Fig.6.
The measurements were performed for almost one day under traffic loading between March 6,
2001 and March 7, 2001. The test result is shown in Fig.7. The data were taken every one
minute. During the day the higher deformation variations due to the passage of vehicle are
clearly visible. The deformation variation of the lower member is much larger than that of the
upper member.
The maximum deformation variation of the
5m-SOFO lower member corresponds to 42MPa in stress
Anchor amplitude. This test was conducted during
only one day. If equipped with sensors for long
term, the health state of the bridge can be
evaluated. If equipped with sensors at three
Thermocouple different locations on the center span, we can
get beam curvatures at each location and then
the displacement of the truss girder can be
calculated through the curvature analysis
[1][2].
Fig. 6 SOFO sensor on the Upper
Truss Member

Fig. 7 Test Results on a Suspension

Bridge

-5-
 SEWC2002, Yokohama, Japan

5. Summary
A monitoring system (SOFO) based on the use of long-gage fiber optic sensors, was
developed by a Swiss company (SMARTEC). In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the
SOFO for structural health monitoring, some preliminary tests were performed. As a result, it
was confirmed that the temperature sensitivity and the measurement precision were both
satisfactory and available for structural health monitoring.

6. Acknowledgments
We appreciate Dr. D. Inaudi and Dr. S. Vurpillot (SMARTEC) for their advice. We would also
express appreciation to Dr. M. Koyanagi and Mr. H. Miyata (OBAYASHI CORPORATION)
for their cooperation.

7. References
[1] VURPILLOT S., KRUEGER G., BENOUAICH D., CLEMENT D., and INAUDI D.,
Vertical Deflection of a Pre-Stressed Concrete Bridge Obtained Using Deformation
Sensors and Inclinometer Measurements, ACI Structural Journal, September-October
1998, pp. 518-526.
[2] INAUDI D., VURPILLOT S., CASANOVA N., and KRONENBERG P., Structural
Monitoring By Curvature Analysis Using Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors, Smart
Mater. Struct. 7 (1998), pp.199-208.

-6-