Measurement of Pile Load Transfer using Optical Fiber Sensors

광섬유 센서에 의한 말뚝 하중전이 측정

It is essential to measure load transfer mechanism of pile to check the appropriateness of assumptions made for design purpose and to continuously monitor the behavior of pile foundation. Through many attempts to monitor the behavior of super-structure in civil engineering area using several optical fiber sensors have been made, application of optical fiber sensor technology on pile foundation has not been tried up to now. Load transfer of model piles during compression loading was measured by optical fiber sensors and compared with the measurement by strain gauges. Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG) sensor system was used since it has many advantages, such as easy multiplexing, high sensitivity, and simple fabrication. Besides the model pile tests, uniaxial tension test of steel bar and compression tests of mortar specimen were carried out to evaluate the performance of FBG sensors in embedded environments. The shift of refilming wavelength due to the strain in FBG sensor is converted to the strain at sensor location and the dependence between them is 1.28 pm/${\mu}$ strain. FBG sensors embedded in model pile showed a better survivability than strain gauges. Measured results of load transfer by both FBG sensors and strain gauges were similar, but FBG sensors showed a smoother trend than those by strain gauge. Based on the results of model pile test, it was concluded that the use of FBG sensor for strain measurement in pile has a great potential for the analysis of pile load transfer.