Development of a monitoring and warning system based on optical fiber sensing technology for masonry retaining walls and trees

Hong Kong has a long history of applying masonry retaining walls to provide horizontal platforms and stabilize man-made slopes.Due to the sub-tropical climate,some masonry retaining walls are colonized by trees.Extreme weather,such as typhoons and heavy rains,may cause rupture or root failure of those trees,thus resulting in instability of the retaining walls.A monitoring and warning system for the movement of masonry retaining walls and sway of trees has been designed with the application of fiber Bragg grating(FBG)sensing technology.The monitoring system is also equipped with a solar power system and 4G data transmission devices.The key functions of the proposed monitoring system include remote sensing and data access,early warning,and real-time data visualization.The setups and working principles of the monitoring systems and related transducers are introduced.The feasibility,accuracy,serviceability and reliability of this monitoring system have been checked by in-site calibration tests and four-month monitoring.Besides,a two-level interface has been developed for data visualization.The monitoring results show that the monitored masonry retaining wall had a reversible movement up to 2.5 mm during the monitoring period.Besides,it is found that the locations of the maximum strain on trees depend on the crown spread of trees.

Fiber Bragg Grating Pressure Sensor Based on Corrugated Diaphragm

A kind of fiber Bragg grating pressure sensor based on corrugated diaphragm is proposed. The relationship between the central wavelength of reflective wave of FBG and pressure is given, and the expression of the pressure sensitivity coefficient is also given. Within the range from 0 MPa to 0.3 MPa, the experimental pressure sensitivity is 7.83 nm/MPa, which is 2 610 times than that of the bare fiber grating. The experimental results agree with the theoretical analysis. It is indicated that the expected pressure sensitivity of the sensor can be obtained by optimizing the size and mechanical parameters of the corrugated diaphragm.

Packaging and Temperature Compensation of Fiber Bragg Grating for Strain Sensing： A Survey

During last decades, sensor elements based on the fiber Bragg grating （FBG） have been widely studied and developed due to the advantages of immunity to electromagnetic interference, compact size, high precision, and so on. The FBG itself is sensitive to axial strain and temperature variation directly and can indirectly measure these complex physical parameters, such as pressure, displacement, and vibration, by using some specially designed elastic structures to convert them into the axial strain of the FBG. Whether the FBG is fixed on the measured object to measure the strain directly or fixed on an elastic structure body to measure other physical quantities, these types of FBGs could be collectively called as strain sensing FBGs. The packaging of the FBG has important influence on FBG characteristics that directly affect the measurement accuracy, such as strain transfer, temperature characteristic, and spectral shape. This paper summarizes the packaging methods and corresponding temperature compensation methods of the currently reported strain sensing FBGs, focusing especially on fully pasted FBG, pre-stretched FBG with double-end fixed, and metallic packaging. Furthermore, the advantages and drawbacks of different packaging methods have been analyzed, which can provide a reference for future researches.