Distributed fibre optic strain sensing in pavements

• Research unit: FEDRO RBT
• Project number: VSS2014/501

Key words (English)

high resolution continuous strain measurements, new concept of sensors, maintenance, landslide monitoring, dimensioning

Short description (English)

We intend to embed distributed strain sensing cables in newly constructed roads to measure the initial strains as well as the strain changes with time, information that will be used to analyze the physical properties of the structure and to evaluate its deterioration. Two different applications are proposed. The first one consists of placing a cable longitudinally in a pavement, a) to monitor the health of the road structure in view of maintenance works, and b) embedded in a road crossed by a landslide, to provide vital information about landslide stability. The second application consists of creating a squared sensing cell to be placed below the asphalt, which will provide a clear image of the deflection bowl under a certain load. This will be used a) to improve road designs and reduce the costs; b) embedded in specific points (e.g. airfields, parking lots), it will assess their structural health. Fibre Optics sensing is a novel, revolutionary technology, extremely powerful and versatile; it will provide unique data, with a precision never experienced before. Being a relatively new technique, its high potential is still not appreciated enough: this project will also bring fibre optics into real field applications and help its development.

Project aims (English)

The project will apply innovative distributed fibre-optic sensing technology for characterisation of in-service mechanical response of pavements. Thanks to its resistance to corrosion and electromagnetic fields and extremely high quantity and accuracy of data, fibre optics provide major benefits in performing measurements. Specially developed fibre-optic sensing cables will be embedded within the road structure during its construction to create a smart structure able to measure strains directly within the layers, instead of through indirect surface deflection measurements. The measured strains will provide essential information about the health of the structure and also of its surrounding environment, with unprecedented precision.

Berichtsnummer (German)

1654