Experimental testing of post-tensioned concrete girders instrumented with optical fibre gratings

Abstract

The integration of optical fibre strain sensors in concrete structures in order to measure deformations has proven to be successful in several applications. Examples of monitored structures by the Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research are a concrete girder bridge over the Ring Canal by Ghent, a Quay wall at the Ring Canal and a trough girder containing a railway track of a bridge [1,2]. Based on a joint research project the feasibility of integrating Bragg grating sensors in concrete in order to statically and dynamically monitor 17.6 m long prestressed concrete girders has been investigated. During the project 3 post-tensioned concrete girders were tested, submitting them to static and dynamic loading conditions and monitoring the structural behavior with several types of measuring devices, including accelerometers, Bragg gratings, Fabry-Perot gratings, deformeters, crack microscopes, etc. The obtained test results demonstrate the feasibility of optical strain sensors for both static and dynamic measurements. Though it was demonstrated, in the case of dynamic monitoring, that optical strain measurements can be used to directly measure the modal strains, the project also demonstrated that for prestressed concrete the variation in dynamic parameters was insufficient for adequate dynamic monitoring and related damage diagnostics.