Monitoring of transverse displacement of reinforced concrete beams under flexural loading with embedded arrays of optical fibers

Abstract

We present results of an ongoing study of structural health monitoring of concrete elements by means of arrays of telecommunications-grade optical fibers embedded in such elements. In this work, we show a possibility of using this technique for monitoring the transverse displacement of the reinforced concrete beams under flexural loading. We embedded a number of multimode silica-core/polymer-clad/polymer-coated optical fibers in a mold with preinstalled reinforcing steel bars and fresh concrete mix. Then the concrete was compacted and cured. Some optical fibers were broken during the fabrication process. The fiber survival rate varied with concrete grade, compacting technique and optical fiber type. The fibers that survived the fabrication process were employed for the monitoring. They were connected to the optical transmitter and receiver that formed a part of a larger measurement system. The system continuously measured the optical transmission of all optical fibers while the reinforced concrete beams were subjected to incremental transverse loading. We observed a quasi-linear decrease in optical transmission in all optical fibers of the array vs. the applied load and respective flexural displacement. Although the underlying phenomena that lead to such a variation in optical transmission are not clear yet, the observed behavior might be of interest for assessing the transverse displacement of the reinforced concrete beams under flexural loading.