• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.547-553
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• 2020

As aging infrastructures increase along with time, the efficient maintenance becomes more significant and accurate responses from the sensors are pre-requisite. Among various responses, strain is commonly used to detect damage such as crack and fatigue. Optical fiber sensor is one of the promising sensing techniques to measure strains with high-durability, immunity for electrical noise, long transmission distance. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) is a point sensor to measure the strain based on reflected signals from the grating, while Brillouin Optic Correlation Domain Analysis (BOCDA) is a distributed sensor to measure the strain along with the optical fiber based on scattering signals. Although the FBG provides the signal with high accuracy and reproducibility, the number of sensing points is limited. On the other hand, the BOCDA can measure a quasi-continuous strain along with the optical fiber. However, the measured signals from BOCDA have low accuracy and reproducibility. This paper proposed a multi-fidelity data-fusion method based on Gaussian Process Regression to improve the fidelity of the strain distribution by fusing the advantages of both systems. The proposed method was evaluated by laboratory test. The result shows that the proposed method is promising to improve the fidelity of the strain.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.385-396
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• 2017

The recent advancements in sensing technologies allow us to record measurements from target structures at multiple locations and with relatively high spatial resolution. Such measurements can be used to develop data-driven methodologies for condition assessment, control, and health monitoring of target structures. One of the state-of-the-art technologies, Fiber Optic Strain Sensors (FOSS), is developed at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, and is based on Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors. These strain sensors are accurate, lightweight, and can provide almost continuous strain-field measurements along the length of the fiber. The strain measurements can then be used for real-time shape-sensing and operational load-estimation of complex structural systems. While several works have demonstrated the successful implementation of FOSS on large-scale real-life aerospace structures (i.e., airplane wings), there is paucity of studies in the literature that have investigated the potential of extending the application of FOSS into civil structures (e.g., tall buildings, bridges, etc.). This work assesses the feasibility of using FOSS to predict operational loads (e.g., wind loads) on chain-like structures. A thorough investigation is performed using analytical, computational, and experimental models of a 4-story steel building test specimen, developed at the University of Southern California. This study provides guidelines on the implementation of the FOSS technology on building-like structures, addresses the associated technical challenges, and suggests potential modifications to a load-estimation algorithm, to achieve a robust methodology for predicting operational loads using strain-field measurements.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2009

We constructed a simple wavelength readout system for a tunable fiber laser which was used for a fiber Bragg grating sensor array system. A quadrature sampling method was used to demodulate wavelength variations of the tunable laser which consisted of a SOA(semi-conductor optical amplifier) and a fiber-optic Fabry-Perot filter. Internal triggers, which have a 90 degree phase period, have been generated by using a double-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer. From Lissajous plots with quadrature sampled data, a mean phase error of ${\sim}2.51$ mrad was obtained. From the wavelength readout experiments, an accurate and fast linear wavelength demodulation has been confirmed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2002

In this paper, we present the simulation monitoring of strain and temperature during and after the cure of unsymmetric composite laminate using fiber optic sensors. Fiber Bragg grating/extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (FBG/EFPI) hybrid sensors are used to measure those measurands. The characteristic matrix of the sensor is analytically derived and measurements can be done without sensor calibration. A wavelength-swept fiber laser is utilised as a lighr source. Two FBG/EFPI sensors are embedded in a graphite/epoxy unsymmetric cross-ply composite laminate in different directions and different locations. We perform a real time monitoring of fabrication strains and temperatures at two points of the composite laminate during cure process in an autoclave. Also, the thermal strains and temperatures of the fabricated laminate are measured in a thermal chamber. Through these experiments, we can provide a basis for the efficient smart processing of composite and know the thermal behavior of unsymmetric cross-ply composite laminate.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.21-26
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• 2003

In this research, the change of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of graphite/epoxy composite laminate under space environment was measured using fiber optic sensors. Two fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been adopted for the simultaneous measurement of thermal strain and temperature. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) conditions with high vacuum, ultraviolet and thermal cycling environments were simulated in a thermal vacuum chamber. As a pre-test, a FBG temperature sensor was calibrated and a FBG strain sensor was verified through the comparison with the electric strain gauge (ESG) attached on an aluminun specimen at high and low temperature respectively. The change of the CTE in a composite laminate exposed to space environment was measured for intervals of aging cycles in real time. As a whole, there was no abrupt change of the CTE after 1000 aging cycles. After aging, however, the CTE decreased a Little all over the test temperature range. These changes are caused by outgassing, moisture desorption, matrix cracking etc.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.607-613
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• 2008

A monitoring system for the subway structures using prestrained FBG sensors fixed with partially stripped fibers was developed. The sensor packages had pre-strain controllable fixtures. Tensile and compressive strain of the structure could be measured without slip. The FBG sensor system was applied to the concrete lining structure in Taegu subway. Near the structure, the narrow tunnel construction, for the electric power cables and telecommunication cables, started. We wanted to measure the deformations of the subway structures due to the construction by the FBG sensor. The applied sensors had the gauge length of 1 meter to overcome the inhomogeneity of the concrete material with enough length. In order to fix tightly to the structure, the partially stripped parts of the sensor glued to the package and slip phenomenon between fiber and acrylate jacket was prevented. Prestrain of the sensor was imposed by controlling the two fixed points with bolts and nuts in order to measure compressive strain as well as tensile strain. The behavior of subway lining structure could be monitored very well.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.125-137
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• 2008

FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) sensors and optical fibers were embedded into CFRP dry preforms before resin impregnation in VaRTM (Vacuum-assisted Resin Transfer Molding). The embedding location was the interface between the skin and the stringer in a CFRP-stiffened panel. The reflection spectra of the FBG sensors monitored the strain and temperature changes during all the molding processes. The internal residual strains of the CFRP panel could be evaluated during both the curing time and the post-curing time. The temperature changes indicated the differences between the dry preform and the outside of the vacuum bagging. After the molding, four-point bending was applied to the panel for the verification of its structural integrity and the sensor capabilities. The optical fibers were then used for the newly-developed PPP-BOTDA (Pulse-PrePump Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis) system. The long-range distributed strain and temperature can be measured by this system, whose spatial resolution is 100 mm. The strain changes from the FBGs and the PPP-BOTDA agreed well with those from the conventional strain gages and FE analysis in the CFRP panel. Therefore, the fiber-optic sensors and its system were very effective for the evaluation of the VaRTM composite structures.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2006

We propose the use of the Gaussian-curve fitting algorithm for the improvement of measurement accuracy in wavelengthscanned Fabry-Perot filter based demodulation systems. The peak locations of FBG sensors were calculated from the fitted curves rather than from distorted PD profiles, resulting in much better measurement accuracy than that of the highest-peak search algorithm. Also, the algorithm was proved to minimize measurement uncertainty of spectrally-distorted grating sensors. From our experimental results, a temperature resolution as small as ${\sim}0.3^{\circ}C$ was readily achieved by use of the Gaussian-curve fitting algorithm whereas the highest-peak search algorithm gave a temperature resolution larger than ${\sim}4^{\circ}C$.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.207-230
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• 2012

Full-scale shake table seismic experiments and low-amplitude vibration tests on a masonry building are carried out to assess its seismic performance as well as study the effectiveness of a new multifunctional textile material for retrofitting masonry structures against earthquakes. The un-reinforced and the retrofitted with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) strips masonry building was subjected to a series of earthquake excitations of increasing magnitude in order to progressively induce various small, moderate and severe levels of damage to the masonry walls. The performance of the original and retrofitted building states is evaluated. Changes in the dynamic characteristics (lowest four modal frequencies and damping ratios) of the building are used to assess and quantify the damage states of the masonry walls. For this, the dynamic modal characteristics of the structure states after each earthquake event were estimated by performing low-amplitude impulse hammer and sine-sweep forced vibration tests. Comparisons between the modal results calculated using traditional accelerometers and those using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors embedded in the reinforcing textile were carried on to investigate the reliability and accuracy of FBG sensors in tracking the dynamic behaviour of the building. The retrofitting actions restored the stiffness characteristics of the reinforced masonry structure to the levels of the original undamaged un-reinforced structure. The results show that despite a similar dynamic behavior identified, corresponding to reduction of the modal frequencies, the un-reinforced masonry building was severely damaged, while the reinforced masonry building was able to withstand, without visual damage, the induced strong seismic excitations. The applied GFRP reinforcement architecture for one storey buildings was experimentally proven reliable for the most severe earthquake accelerations. It was easily placed in a short time and it is a cost effective solution (covering only 20% of the external wall surfaces) when compared to the cost for full wall coverage by GFRPs.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.28 no.7A
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• pp.433-439
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• 2003

In this paper, we proposed a novel true time-delay (TTD) feeder for phased array antennas (PAAs) using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and fibers coated with Cr/Au film. This structure requires less number of FBGs than the previously proposed FBG TTD feeders since one FBG is replaced with a metal film reflector in a strand of optical delay line connected to each antenna element and also provides the flexible wavelength selection since the metal film shows wide reflectance spectrum. A TTD for 10 GHz linear PAAs capable of steering beams in three different directions at 0$^{\circ}$and $\pm$30$^{\circ}$has been built. Experimental results on time delays are in good agreement with those calculated at all the steering angles. A 10 GHz linear array antenna with eight antenna elements red from the proposed TTD has been designed and the far-field radiation pattern or this antenna has been obtained by simulation.