Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Review article

Recent applications of ber optic sensors to health monitoring

in civil engineering
Hong-Nan Li a,, Dong-Sheng Li a, Gang-Bing Song a,b
a

State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Oshore Engineering, Department of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, Dalian University of Technology,
Ganjingzi district, Linggong Road 2, Dalian 116024, China
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-4006, USA
Received 10 January 2003; received in revised form 11 May 2004; accepted 25 May 2004

Abstract
This paper presents an overview of current research and development in the eld of structural health monitoring with civil
engineering applications. Specically, this paper reviews ber optical sensor health monitoring in various key civil structures,
including buildings, piles, bridges, pipelines, tunnels, and dams. Three commonly used ber optic sensors (FOSs) are briey
described. Finally, existing problems and promising research eorts in packaging and implementing FOSs in civil structural health
monitoring are discussed.
# 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Structural health monitoring; Fiber optic sensor; Civil health

1. Introduction
Structural health monitoring has attracted much
attention in both research and development in recent
years. This reects continuous deterioration conditions
of important civil infrastructures, especially long-span
bridges. Among them, many were built in the 1950s
with a 40- to- 50-year designed life span. The collapses
and failures of these decient structures cause increasing concern about structural integrity, durability and
reliability, i.e. the health of a structure throughout the
world.
Currently, there are no foot proof measures for
structural safety. A structure is tested for deteriorations
and damages only after signs that result from fault
accumulations are severe and obvious enough. When
the necessity of such tests becomes obvious, damages
have already exacerbated the systems reliability in
many cases and some structures are even on the verge
of collapse. Though routine visual inspection is manda
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-411-8470-8512x8208; fax: +86411-8470-8501.
E-mail address: hnli@dlut.edu.cn (H.-N. Li).

0141-0296/$ - see front matter # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2004.05.018

tory for important structures in some countries, for

instance, bridges in the US, its eectiveness in nding
all the possible defects is questionable. A recent survey
by Moore et al. [1] of the US Federal Highway Administration revealed that at most 68% of the condition
ratings were correct and in-depth inspections could not
nd interior deciencies considering the fact that visual
examination by inspectors barely exists.
Structural health monitoring (SHM) refers to the use
of in-situ, continuous or regular (routine) measurement
and analyses of key structural and environmental parameters under operating conditions, for the purpose of
warning impending abnormal states or accidents at an
early stage to avoid casualties as well as giving maintenance and rehabilitation advice. This tentatively proposed denition of SHM complements that given by
Housner [2]. This denition emphasizes the essence of
the advance alert ability of SHM.
In general, a typical SHM system includes three
major components: a sensor system, a data processing
system (including data acquisition, transmission and
storage), and a health evaluation system (including
diagnostic algorithms and information management).
The sensors utilized in SHM are required to monitor

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H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

not only the structural status, for instance stress,

displacement, acceleration etc., but also inuential
environmental parameters, such as wind speed, temperature and the quality of its foundation. Since a large
number of sensors will be involved in a health monitoring system, the acquisition, transmission and storage of
a large quantity of data for such continuous monitoring is a challenging task. For instance, raw data are
acquired at a rate of 63.46 MB per hour for the
TsingMa and Kap Shui Mun Bridges and 55.87 MB
per hour for TingKau Bridge [3]. Therefore, many
wireless [4,5], GPS [6] or GIS [7] based data acquisition, transmission methods and data archival and
management architectures [8] were proposed to deal
with this problem. Though it is very important to
embed sensors and collect data successfully for a health
monitoring application, the nal step is to interpret
correctly the data from various types of sensors to
reach critical decisions regarding the load capacity, system reliability, i.e. the health status of the structure [9].
At this crucial step, prognostic and diagnostic algorithms based on modal analysis, pattern recognition
and time series analysis are among the most eective
methods to detect the presence, location, magnitude,
and extent of structural faults [10]. Moreover, the
information analyzed should be user friendly to
improve operation and maintenance management decisions. Another crucial function of SHM is the ability to
alert ongoing dangers or future accidents in advance.
Though it is not a simple task to realize fully such an
appealing scenario, several projects had been undertaken to implement partially SHM systems from
research laboratories to eld applications. TsingMa,
Kap Shui Mun, and TingKau bridges, connecting
Hong Kong and its new airport, are the most noteworthy bridges being heavily instrumented for health
monitoring. Wind load is a major concern of these
bridges as well as temperature, trac load, geometric
conguration, strain, and global dynamic characteristics. Among the 786 permanently installed sensors in
TsingMa Bridge, anemometers, temperature, strain and
accelerometer sensors comprise a major portion. Monitoring results are satisfactory and have veried design
performance [11]. Similar sensors were also used in the
health monitoring system of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
in Japan. The transversal displacement of 5.17 m
monitored in September 1998 agreed well with numerical simulations. Commodore Barry Bridge and BeniciaMartinez bridge of the US are equally important
examples of SHM [12]. In Commodore Barry Bridge,
real-time images and data from nearly 500 channels
combined with its nite element model are used for
maintenance and management of the bridge to the
maximum benet. Other signicant eorts in implementing health monitoring systems include bridges in
Korea, Canada, India and Colombia [13].

Most of the conventional sensors used in the above

mentioned health monitoring applications are based on
transmission of electric signals. Their limitations are
becoming more and more manifest. These sensors are
usually not small or durable enough to be embedded in
a structure to measure interior properties. They are
local (or point) sensors, which are restricted to measure
only parameters at one location and cannot be easily
multiplexed. The long lead lines also pose problems for
large civil structures, which often span several or tens
of kilometers. In some cases, the signals could not be
discriminated from noise because of electrical or magnetic interference (EMI). In addition, various demodulation techniques are required for dierent sensors.
They all add in increasing the inconveniences of conventional sensors in SHM. Fiber optic sensors (FOSs)
are promising sensing alternatives in civil SHM systems
and future smart structures. They exhibit several
advantages such as, exibility, embeddability, multiplexity and EMI immunity [14], as compared with
traditional sensors. The past 20 years have witnessed
an intense international research in the eld of optical
ber sensing. In the following sections, we will describe
this enabling technology and review its health monitoring applications to civil engineering.

2. Three ber optic sensors for structural health

monitoring
The rst ber optic sensor, a closed-loop ber gyro,
was invented to replace mechanical spinning gyros on
the Delta Rocket in 1978 [15]. Conception of such
FOSs originated from ber optic communications.
Optical ber experiences geometrical (size and shape)
and optical (refractive index and mode conversion)
changes due to various environmental perturbations
while conveying light from one place to another. These
phenomena perplexed eorts to minimize such adverse
inuences so that signal transmission is smooth and
reliable. However, it is found that such optical changes
can be employed to measure the external environment
parameters. Optic ber thus found its niche in sensor
applications. Investigations showed that the sensitive
perturbations in temperature, strain, rotation, electric
and magnetic currents, etc., can be converted or encoded into corresponding changes, such as amplitude
(intensity), phase, frequency, wavelength and polarization in the optical properties of the transmitted light.
These changes can be eventually detected by appropriate demodulation systems [16,17]. With rapid advances
in communication and start of mass production of ber
optic cables, ber optic sensing is growing to be a prosperous industry, beneting from the decreasing ber
prices. Many techniques have been devised to provide
solutions to measure a broad range of physical and

H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

chemical parameters. As a consequence, ber optic

based measurement systems have made the transition
from research laboratories to practical engineering
applications, and have found wide applications in aerospace, composites, medicine, chemical products, concrete structures, and in the electrical power industry.
The market volume of FOSs is hypothesized to rise
from US$ 305 millions in 1997 to this years US$ 550
millions [18], among which temperature, strain and
pressure sensors account for about 40% of the total
FOS products [19]. Extensive eorts are now engaged
to realize economic FOSs and associated interrogation
systems and to explore wider engineering applications.
Optical bers, which usually consist of three layers:
ber core, cladding and jacket, are dielectric devices
used to conne and guide light. The majority of optical
bers used in sensing applications have silica glass
cores and claddings, and the refractive index of the
cladding is lower than that of the core to satisfy the
condition of Snells law for total internal reection and
thus conne the propagation of the light along the ber
core only. The outer layer of a FOS, called jacket, is
usually made of plastic to provide the ber with appropriate mechanical strength and protect it from damage
or moisture absorption. In some sensing applications, a
specialized jacket is required to enhance the bers
measurement sensitivity and to accommodate the host
structure.
In general, an FOS is characterized by its high sensitivity when compared to other types of sensors. It is
also passive in nature due to its dielectric construction.
Specially prepared bers can withstand high temperature and other harsh environments. In telemetry and
remote sensing applications, it is possible to use a segment of the ber as a sensor gauge and a long length
of the same or another ber to convey the sensed information to a remote station. Deployment of distributed
and array sensors covering extensive structures and

1649

geographical locations is also feasible. With many signal processing devices (splitter, combiner, multiplexer,
lter, delay line, etc.) being made of ber elements, an
all-ber measuring system can be realized.
Table 1 lists the FOSs available to civil engineering
applications and their categories. One method of
classifying FOSs is based on its light characteristics
(intensity, wavelength, phase, or polarization) that is
aected by the parameter to be sensed. Another
method classies an FOS by whether the light in the
sensing segment is modied inside or outside the ber
(intrinsic or extrinsic). FOSs can also be classied as
local (or point), quasi-distributed and distributed sensors depending on the sensing range. This method of
classication is adopted here to organize the rest of this
section.
2.1. Local ber optic sensors
Many intensity based sensors, such as microbend
sensors, and most of the interferometric FOSs are local
sensors, which can measure changes at specied local
points in a structure. Interferometric FOSs are by far
the most commonly used local sensors since they oer
the best sensitivity. This sensing technique is based
primarily on detecting the optical phase change
induced in the light as it propagates along the optical
ber. Light from a source is equally divided into two
ber-guided paths (one is a reference path). The beams
are then recombined to mix coherently and form a
fringe pattern which is directly related to the optical
phase dierence experienced between the two optical
beams. The most common congurations of such interferometric sensors are the Mach-Zehnder, Michelson
and FabryPerot FOSs [20,21]. Among them, the
FabryPerot (F-P cavity) FOS and the so-called long
gage FOS (LGFOSs) are the two types of local sensors
commonly utilized in civil engineering. FabryPerot

Table 1
Fiber optic sensors for civil structural health monitoring
Sensors

Mesurands

Linear
response

Resolution

Range

Modulation
method

Intrinsic/
extrinsic

Local

FabryPerot
Long gage sensor

Straina
Displacement

Y
Y

0.01% gage lengthc

0.2% gage lengthd

10,000 le
50 m

Phase
Phase

Both
Intrinsic

Quasidistributed

Fibre Bragg grating

Strainb

1 l strain

5000 le

Wavelength

Intrinsic

Distributed

Raman/Rayleigh
(OTDR)
Brillouin (BOTDR)

Temperature/strain

0.5 m/1 C

2000 me

Intensity

Intrinsic

2000 m

Intensity

Intrinsic

a
b
c
d
e

Temperature/strain

0.5 m/1 C

Can be congured to measure displacement, pressure, temperature.

Can be congured to measure displacement, acceleration, pressure, relative ssure and inclination, etc.
Resolution as high as 0.1 l strain.
Resolution as high as 0.2 l strain.
Up to 25 km with spatial resolution of 5 m.

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H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

Fig. 1. FabryPerot ber optic strain sensor.

FOSs, which can provide absolute FabryPerot cavity

length measurements with superior accuracy (Fig. 1),
are based on white-light cross-correlation principle. In
addition to its strain-sensing ability, an F-P sensor can
also measure pressure, displacement and temperature
with dierent congurations. LGFOSs are based on
two low-coherent double Michelson interferometers
(Fig. 2). Both sensors measure the average strain
between two xed points along the gage with optional
temperature compensation. The length of the long gage
sensors ranges from 0.2 to 50 m.
2.2. Quasi-distributed sensors
Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor, which can be
easily multiplexed to measure strains at many locations, is a kind of typical quasi-distributed sensor. A
Bragg grating is a permanent periodic modulation of
the refractive index in the core of a single mode optical
ber. The change of the core refraction index is
between 10 5 and 10 3, and the length of a Bragg grating is usually around 10 mm, which is much shorter
than that of a long period grating (LPG) [22]. This
technology originated from the discovery of photosensitivity of germanium doped silica by Hill et al. [23]
in 1978. Later Meltz et al. [24] devised a more ecient
transverse holographic method, which enormously
increased the scope of FBGs applications. Now the
phase mask technique supersedes the above two methods and is commonly used to form commercially the
in-core gratings [25]. Techniques such as hydrogen

loading and ame brushing can be adopted to enhance

the germanium doped single mode optical bers photosensitivity prior to laser irradiation [26].
The principle of an FBG is described as follows:
When light within a ber impinges upon Bragg gratings, constructive interference between the forward
wave and the contra-propagating light wave leads to
narrowband back-reection of light when the Bragg (or
phase match) condition is satised (Fig. 3). Because of
this, a ber Bragg gating can serve as an intrinsic
sensor. Any local strain or temperature changes alter
the index of core refraction and the grating period, followed by changes in wavelength of the reected light.
Wavelength changes can be detected by an interrogator, which employs edge lters, tunable narrowband
lters, or CCD spectrometers [27,28]. Tunable narrowband lters are commercially popular interrogation systems. Fig. 3 shows the wavelength multiplexing
schemes, principles and wavelength shifts of FBG sensors. There are several major concerns in selecting
FBGs and the associated interrogation systems. For
instance, spectral overlap of the gratings changes adjacent desirable wavelength [29]. For another instance,
sidebands in the measured wavelength, the interrogation lter and the tunable light source also introduce
errors in the system.
Despite these concerns, FBG sensors have a unique
property over other FOSs in that they encode the
wavelength, which is an absolute parameter and does
not suer from disturbances of the light paths. FBG
sensors could be particularly useful when gratings with
dierent periods are arranged along an optical ber.
Each of the reected signals will have a unique wavelength and can be easily monitored, thus achieving
multiplexing of the outputs of multiple sensors using a
single ber (Fig. 3). Currently, up to 64 FBGs can be
theoretically wavelength-multiplexed in one ber, permitting quasi-distributive measurement of strain. FBG
sensors are preferred in many civil engineering applications and have been successfully employed in several
full-scale structures requiring multiple-point sensing
distributed over a long range.
2.3. Distributed ber optic sensors

Fig. 2.

Long gage ber optic strain sensor.

Distributed sensors are most suitable for large structural applications, since all the segments of an optical
ber act as sensors, and therefore, the perturbations
within various segments of the structure can be sensed.
Distributed sensors are based on the modulation of
light intensity in the ber. Fracture losses or local
damages in a structure cause light intensity variations.
Two major distributed sensor methodologies are the
optical time domain reectometry (OTDR) and the
Brillouin scattering. In the OTDR, Rayleigh and
Fresnel scatterings are used for sensing structural

H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

Fig. 3.

1651

Multiplexing schemes, principles and wavelength shift of ber Bragg grating sensors.

perturbations. On the other hand, Brillouin scattering

detects the Doppler shift in light frequency which is
related to the measurements. Distributed sensors have
not found widespread usage in civil structural applications. The main reasons are their insucient resolutions, weak detectable signals, and cumbersome
demodulation systems. However, they have a great
potential in civil engineering due to their inherent
distributive nature.

3. Recent progress of FOS health monitoring in civil

engineering
FOSs oer great potential for SHM applications.
Their signicance to health monitoring applications
stems from the following facts: (1) Long life cycle.
They are made from a very durable material (i.e. silica)
that is corrosion resistant and withstands high tensile
loading (up to 5% elongation, i.e. 50,000 le); (2) High
temperature endurance. They can measure temperature
v
v
from 200 to 800 C with a silica core and 1500 C
with a sapphire core. The measuring resolution can be
v
better than 0.1 C; (3) Flexibility. They can be applied
to complex surfaces and dicult-to-reach areas

(i.e. around the circumference of a round object, along

sharp corners or across welds), capable of both local
and distributive measurements (ranging from 1 mm to
tens of kilometers); (4) Immunity to EMI. They can
operate in electrically noisy environments and can
transfer sensing data over a long distance without EMI
contamination; (5) Electrical isolation. They are nonconductive and suitable for embedment with minimum
impact to the host structure; (6) Quasi-distributed or
distributed sensing capacity. They can perform in-situ
sensing at multiple locations required by health monitoring of large civil structures and can be easily multiplexed by time or wavelength methods; (7) Economy.
They are already cost-competitive against conventional
sensors and their prices will still decrease with the rapid
development of ber optic communication industry
and wide exploration of FOSs.
Integration of FOSs with civil infrastructure for
SHM is an active research eld. While the benets of
long term structural monitoring are yet to be fully
realized, several applications have been demonstrated
to date. In these applications, optical time domain
reectometry, Bragg gratings, FabryPerot and the
LGFOSs have eectively complemented or even

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H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

replaced some sensors. The rest of this section will

review these demonstrations.
3.1. Buildings
FOSs have been successfully applied to buildings for
strain and temperature measurement. Early in 2001,
four long gage Bragg grating sensors were installed
across, above and under the primary arch of the
Cathedral of Como in Northern Italy to identify any
signicant structural deterioration to protect this signicant cultural heritage built in 1396 [30]. These four
sensors were installed using surface mounting brackets.
The sensor installed across the arch had a total gauge
length of 7 m with a spring mechanism and the rest all
have a gauge length of 100 mm. Each sensor has two
serially connected Bragg gratings. One grating
measures strain, while the other monitors temperature.
Displacement resolution of 0.1 lm and temperature
v
resolution of 0.1 C were achieved with the technique
of ber FabryPerot tunable lter demodulation system. The eight-month period measurement showed that
the temperature was consistent with seasonal variation
and the displacements were not substantial. Along with
the high resolution of FOSs, the advantage of embeddability is often exploited in health monitoring.
Recently, in Japan, 64 FBG sensors were embedded in
a 12-oor steel frame building with the damage tolerance construction technique, which employs dampers
to absorb seismic energy [31]. These embedded sensors
can measure relative displacements, strains, and temperatures. They were multiplexed in six single optical
bers to monitor the performance of these dampers.
In addition to the applications of local and quasidistributed monitoring systems, well distributed ber
optic sensing also became a reality. In Korea, a single
mode optical ber of 1400 m was bonded on the
surfaces of a 4-storey building to monitor temperature
distribution. The optical signals were demodulated
by the stimulated Brillouin optical time domain reectometry (BOTDR). Continuous monitoring results
showed that the temperature distribution at night
generally uctuated less than that at noon and the
v
temperature normally changed up to 4 C in one day [32].
One challenge in the application of FOS in building
monitoring is to measure the tip displacement of tall
buildings. This parameter is necessary to evaluate the
safety of a building, but dicult or expensive to
measure by traditional sensors.
3.2. Piles
Piles are very important to support structures and
protect buildings from shocks or earthquakes. In
December 2001, 30 FBG sensors were multiplexed into
six optical ber arrays for driving test monitoring of

two composite marine piles [33]. Among them, four

arrays consisting of six FBGs along the pile were used
to monitor the strains and two arrays consisted of
three FBGs were used to monitor the temperatures.
The FBG sensors were interrogated by an unit using
ber FabryPerot tunable lter technology. The piles
tested are 60-ft long with a diameter of two ft. A threepoint bending test was performed to ensure the survivability of al the FBGs and the insensitivity of the
FBG temperature sensors to mechanical strain. Then,
driving tests were conducted and real-time monitoring
showed that apparent bending existed in the pile.
Although the survivability of FBGs in pile driving was
veried, the ber lead of a strain-sensing array was
broken and the readings of the FBG temperature sensor suered from strain cross-sensitivity.
Similar pile drivings were conducted to test the foundation of a new factory, which requires a highly stable
base, in the Tainan Scientic Park, Taiwan [34]. All the
six tested piles had the same dimension with a diameter
of 1.2 m and a length of 35 m. Nine 4-m LGFOSs were
utilized in the compression and pullout tests of a pile
to measure the strain and load eccentricity. Sixteen 4-m
LGFOSs were installed in parallel on the opposite side
of a pile to monitor the average curvature, which were
used later to compute the horizontal displacement by
double integration. From the above tests, Youngs
modulus, longitudinal strain, vertical displacement and
force in the piles were measured. In addition, properties of soil, critical strain when crack occurs in the pile,
ultimate load capacity of a pile, and failure mode in
the interface of soil and pile were also measured. The
sensors and demodulation system were provided by
Smartec SA.
3.3. Bridges
Bridges, especially concrete bridges, are the most
monitored civil structures by FOSs. Intelligent Sensing
for Innovative Structures (ISIS, Canada) has equipped
up to six bridges with ber optic sensing systems that
allow remote monitoring since 1993 [35]. In its
rst instrumented bridge, Beddington Trail Bridge
(Alberta), 18 out of the 20 FBG sensors, which were
originally installed, are still functioning after ve years
of operation. At rst, these FBG sensors, demodulated
by a grating-ber/laser system in conjunction with a
Burleigh Jr. wavemeter with a resolution of only about
40 le, were used to monitor the stress relaxation in
the steel and the carbon ber reinforced polymer
(CFRP) tendons. Then by a more advanced ber optic
grating indicator (FLS3500RTM), a strain resolution
of 1 le was achieved and dynamic responses of a low
speed truck could be measured to estimate roughly the
weight of the truck and its driving direction [36].
Among the six bridges, the Taylor Bridge (Manitoba)

H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

was fully instrumented. The CFRP girders of the

Taylor Bridge were attached to 63 FBG sensors and
two multi-Bragg sensors, which were close to the 26
conventional strain gages for comparison. The FBG
sensors at the mid-span, demodulated by a 32-channel
ber optic grating indicator (FLS3500R), were to
measure the maximum strain, while the sensors at the
girder ends were designed to monitor the transfer
length of pre-stressing tendons. Sixty percent of the
properly sealed strain gages malfunctioned due to
excessive moisture resulting from steam curing process,
while the FOSs were not aected and all survived. This
demonstrates again the FOSs compatibility with
concrete and its potential as preferred sensors in SHM.
In Taylor Bridges remote monitoring system, the
online strain or temperature data can be accessed in
the engineers oce by logging onto the acquisition
computer at the bridge site through a modem and a
phone line [37]. Therefore, the conditions of the bridge
can be continuously monitored in a remote oce using
a desktop computer. The other four bridges integrated
with FOSs are the Crowchild Trail Bridge (Alberta),
the Salmon River Bridge (Nova Scotia), the Jore
Bridge (Quebec) and the Confederation Bridge (Prince
Edward Island/New Brunswick). In these bridges, all
the installed FOSs performed well.
In Switzerland, the Siggenthal Bridge with an arch
span of 117 m was built over the Limmart River in
Baden in 2000. Fifty-eight LGFOSs, whose gage length
ranges from 3 to 5 m, were embedded in pairs near the
top and bottom surfaces of the concrete arch slab during construction. Each pair consisted of two identical
sensors and were installed parallel to the arch length to
monitor the deformations of arch segments. From the
measured deformation of each arch segment, concrete
deformations, the curvatures in the vertical plane and
perpendicular displacements of the whole concrete arch
during both the construction and in-service period were
determined. A portable reading unit (SOFO) was intermittently set near the arch feet of the bridge to check
the LGFOSs. Preliminary monitoring results showed
that the daily temperature uctuation during summer
had particularly large inuence on the arch and should
be taken into consideration during the bridge design
phase [38]. Also in Switzerland, the Versoix Bridge was
equipped with 104 such LGFOSs to monitor long term
deformations of the bridge.
The Viaduc des Vaux Bridge is another bridge that
has been monitored by FOSs [39]. A total of 12 FBG
sensors were attached to the interior walls of a section
of a box-girder at the push and pull stage during the
construction period, and the primary goal was to measure the resulting strain on the box-girder web due to
transverse loads induced by the pier during the launch.
The data obtained not only indicated that design tolerances were not exceeded but also provided useful

1653

records of unique diagnostic events such as the curvature defects present in the sliding shoe device.
Although FOSs have been embedded or attached to
many concrete bridges, steel structures equipped with
FOSs are not so common. This may be is attributed to
the fact that it is almost impossible to embed an FOS in
a steel structure element. Surface-bonding, at present, is
the only way to integrate an FOS with a steel structure,
and the benets of utilizing FOSs in such situations are
not evident. The Waterbury Bridge in Vermont, the US,
is such an example [40]. This bridge is a 67 m steel truss
bridge spanning the Winooski River. Thirty-six chloride
FOSs were embedded at various points along the bridge
to monitor the chloride penetration into the deck. The
chloride sensor is based on the interaction between the
chloride ions and a solgel lm, which is positioned
between the inputoutput ber. The lms transmission
characteristics changes in terms of color (from milky
white to pink); thus overall bers transmission change
and chloride ions concentration are determined.
Another 16 FBG strain sensors were placed at points of
the reinforcement bars with maximum strains to monitor the strain variations. Their eorts showed that
instrumentation of FOSs may cost up to 10% higher in
certain cases.
3.4. Highway trac monitoring
Although FOSs embedded in the Beddington Trail
Bridge is intended for long term SHM and therefore
employ low rate data sampling system, they can still
weigh vehicles running slowly. However, these FOSs
are inadequate for trac monitoring, such as classifying vehicles, on a regular highway without trac interruption since the FOSs used for such purposes demand
a high-sampling-rate data acquisition system in
addition to high measuring sensitivity [41].
A trac sensor is basically a sensor embedded on the
surface of a road to detect trac ow. The dynamic
testing system developed by Udd et al. can achieve less
than 0.1 micro-strain resolution with a dynamic range
of 400 micro-strain at 10 kHz sampling rate, which can
satisfy such trac monitoring requirements. They
installed 28 specially designed FBG trac sensors (26
survived) in surface-cut slots of the Horsetail Falls
Bridge in the Colombia River Gorge National Scenic
Area of the United States [42], and tested the monitoring system by running vehicles of dierent weights at a
speed of 1018 km per hour. Then, ve long gage FBG
sensors were installed in the I-84 freeway to test the
ability of these sensors as vehicle classier and counter
[43]. Over half a years monitoring showed that the
sensing systems are sucient to discriminate tractor
trailer and buses, and even the trac in adjacent lanes
in some cases. The amplitude of the signal appears to
be closely proportional to the vehicle weight, the speed

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H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

of a vehicle and its driving direction are determined by

the separation of peaks and their order of appearance
in adjacent FBG sensors.
In the above tests, the FBG sensors displayed many
obvious advantages over traditional loop inductors,
piezo-ceramic weigh-in-motion systems and regular
vehicle monitoring devices because of its immunity to
radio and electrical interference. In addition, the FBG
sensors have the potential to act as road parameter
sensor (humidity, ice, temperature, etc.) and they can
be integrated into one FOS intelligent transportation
system for infrastructure maintenance planning, trac
surveillance, trac monitoring, and road tolls.
3.5. Pipelines
Not only can average strains be measured, but
cracks can also be monitored by FOS. Yasue et al. [44]
detected cracks of a concrete pipe by attaching a continuously distributed ber optical sensor with a bend
conguration to its interior surface during loading
tests. This special design improved the spatial resolution of BOTDR, and small cracks, which are beyond
the ability of a traditional strain gage, could be identied. Another approach to detect a crack formation
and propagation is to use a kind of zig-zag sensor
monitored by an OTDR [45]. The backscattered optical
power in the ber decreased obviously if crack opening
developed beyond 0.1 mm. This sensor has the ability
to detect cracks that intersect the ber at an angle
v
other than 90 .
FOSs can also monitor cracks or accidents that occur
in long pipelines. In Indonesia, a 110 km pipeline was
equipped with a vibration sensor to monitor its integrity
and to alert ongoing damages because of third party
interference from excavation equipment, theft, landslide
or earth movement [46,47]. Based on the principle of
modal-metric interference eect, the vibration monitoring unit pinpoints the location of anomaly by detecting
the changes of backscattered light characteristics caused
by disturbances of ber compression, elongation or
twist. In October 1998, the system operator was alerted
of a major event that caused damages to the pipeline at
46.81 km. Upon further inspection, it was discovered
that a landslide had occurred and a section of 24-inch
pipeline was fully exposed. This system can monitor a
ber of length up to 50 km with a resolution of 0.1 km.
The monitoring technology demonstrated its unique
potential in health monitoring of long pipelines since
such accidents to pipelines could not be easily detected
by other conventional methods.
Moreover, new types of leakage detecting sensors are
being developed to exploit this huge potential market.
It is reported that several novel FBG based pressure,
ow, and seismic sensors could be used in reservoir, oil
and gas pipeline, and well-drilling applications [48].

3.6. Tunnels and dams

Tunnels and dams are large civil structures to utilize
FOSs. The Champ Baly tunnel, built by the cutand-cover method, connects Lausanne with Bern in
Switzerland. FOSs were used to measure the behavior
of dierent components of the tunnel (foundations and
vaults) [49]. The 4-m long gage displacement sensors
were embedded on the rebars in two adjacent sections
of the tunnel before concrete pouring. One section was
built of ordinary concrete, and the other one of high
performance concrete. In the ordinary concrete section,
six sensors were installed in the foundation, and three
in the vault. The reading unit was placed in the tunnel.
Although one sensor in the foundation was damaged
during the pouring, the monitored displacements in
about seven months clearly showed three periods of the
concrete deformation process: dormant period, thermal
swelling period, and shrinkage period. This result was
consistent with that measured by thermocouples. In
addition, one sensor detected a 50-lm crack opening at
the interface of the foundation and the vault, which
was caused by dierent thermal stress between two
parts and was later visually conrmed.
Dams are also important infrastructures where FOSs
can be used. Two FOSs with gage lengths of 30 and
39 m, respectively, were mounted side by side with previously installed rod extensometers inside the Emosson
Dam in Switzerland [50]. Creeping of the sensor of 39 m
rendered its measurement uselessness. The only sensor
that survived not only showed excellent agreement with
the rod extensometer but indicated more sensitivity of
small hysteresis in more than one years monitoring. In
the Luzzone Dam in Switzerland and the Winooski One
Dam in the US, the ssures between concrete blocks
were monitored by LGFOSs and vibrations were
measured by statistical model FOSs, respectively.

4. Existing problems of FOSs in health monitoring

systems
In summary, FOSs have been successfully applied to
many civil engineering structures to monitor relative
displacements, cracks, and weight in motion as well as
to measure strain and temperature. Most of these
applications utilized one or several of the signicant
advantages of FOSs, for instance, their embeddability,
their EMI immunity, and their multiplexing ability.
However, several disadvantages of FOSs limit their
range of applications. Optical bers are fragile and are
subjected to breakage during packaging, transportation, especially during installation to the host structures. In one of the FOSs applications carried out by
the authors, three FBGs are multiplexed to measure
the temperatures at three locations along an under-

H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

1655

ground heat pump system and three out of the six ber
splicing joints were damaged and had to be re-spliced.
Other practical issues of integrating FOSs with civil
structures are strain and temperature cross-sensitivity,
ingress and egress problems and local material properties surrounding the optical bers [51].

formed in its surface. For a single-mode ber, macrov

bending at an angle beyond 90 will result in the total
lost of the optical signal. In many cases, it is impossible
to take remedial actions if a ber is broken at the
ingress and egress. FOSs at ingress and egress need
special protection.

4.1. Strain and temperature discrimination

4.3. FOSs packaging

Cross-sensitivity of strain and temperature exists in

most FOSs. FBG sensors are used as examples to
address this problem since they are widely used in civil
engineering. Both strain and temperature induce reected Bragg wavelength shift; therefore, their contributions have to be separated for accurate measurements
of each variable. Several schemes have been proposed
for discriminating strain from temperature inuence.
The simplest one is called reference ber method,
which uses a dummy reference Bragg grating subjected
to the same thermal environment but free from mechanical load. The strains are obtained by the multiplication of the ber strain coecient with the dierence
between the two reected Bragg wavelength shifts.
Another approach is based on the birefringence eect
caused by transverse loadings [52]. Using this method,
the strain can be evaluated by averaging shifts of the
two reected wavelengths and the temperature can be
assessed by the dierence between the wavelengths of
adjacent waves. This method is not practical since
transverse loadings do not always exist. Other approaches include the two-collocated-FBG method [27],
which is based on the wavelength dependence of the
strain-optic and thermo-optic eects. However, this
method requires a wide wavelength range and often
demands two interrogation systems.
Currently, the investigation of simultaneous measurements of strain and temperature using FBG strain
gages is very active. The combination of an FBG sensor with an LPG sensor to measure both strain and
temperature, taking advantage of their dierent sensitivities and responses, has been reported by Kersey
et al. [27]. There are still other methods at research
laboratory stage, for instance, the harmonics method,
superimposed FBG and polarization-rocking lter
method, and dual-diameter FBGs method [28].

FOSs have to be embedded into dierent host materials subjected to various conditions; therefore, sensor
packaging is of great importance. Eective sensing
demands a compliant mechanical contact between the
ber and the host structure to ensure an appropriate
transfer measurands of interest into light signals; however, an additional protection has to be used to isolate
the delicate bare ber from water and alkaline and
from damages caused by the host structure. The protection scheme of the ber in the sensing region diers
with dierent host materials. Experiences from recent
applications showed that polymide coated bers and
epoxy were possible to secure an excellent mechanical
coupling between the bers and the anchorages in concrete structures [53]. In addition, the thermal expansion
coecient of the sensor packaging should be approximately equal to that of the host structure to avoid
possible slippage between the interfaces.
Moreover, the installation of Bragg gratings on base
structures requires longitudinal uniform bonding.
Otherwise, the non-uniform bonding of the gratings
will cause several reected Bragg wavelength peaks
when the gratings are strained. In such a situation,
accurate strain measurement will be impossible.
Generally, the survival rate of FOSs during installation is about 90%; therefore redundant sensors
should be used for critical measurements and careful
planning is required. During installation, all-ber components, especially connections, should be delicately
handled. Mechanical and thermal fatigue as well as
chemical aggression will also decrease the life of FOSs.
Special attention and various measures have to be
taken to relieve these adverse eects on optical ber
health monitoring.

5. Summary
4.2. Ingress and egress problems
For FOSs embedded in concrete structures, the portion of bers at the locations where FOSs enter or exit
a structure needs adequate protection prior to their
deployment. An adequate protection is used to prevent
the brittle optic ber from breakage. In addition, this
protection also ensures a satisfactory light transmission
since light can be easily lost if the ber is bent or
clamped in such a way that micro-bends or ripples are

This paper presents a review of recent research and

development activities (Since 1998) in SHM of civil
structures using FOSs. Although the progress of ber
optic health monitoring is impressive, it is yet to reach
its full potential especially in terms of market exploitation. One of the exciting elds wherein FOSs and
health monitoring are expected to play a signicant role
is smart structures and intelligent systems. This is where
the real challenge lies even in the case of FOSs and

1656

H.-N. Li et al. / Engineering Structures 26 (2004) 16471657

control schemes [54]. In smart structure applications,

composite materials, ber optic sensing systems, piezoelectric actuators and microprocessor based control
schemes seem to oer the best advantages in the future.

Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the joint support of the
Natural Science Foundation of LiaoNing (no.
20032120), support of the Construction Administration
of LiaoNing (no. 02001), and Young Teachers Foundation of Dalian University of Technology.

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