Preliminary Study on the Long-term Stability of Fiber-Optic Sensors

Engineering structures such as bridges, dams or larger buildings are subjected to deterioration over time. Based on the requirement to ensure the structures’ reliability and usability their performance and condition has to be monitored continuously or at least checked periodically. Adding to the range of available system fiber-optic sensors are becoming increasingly popular. In course of this paper the basic characteristics of fiber-optic sensors in permanently installed monitoring systems will be discussed including benefits over other sensor technologies. Since long-term stability is an important property for sensors applied within a permanent monitoring system a study was set up to look into the effects of vibration on the sensors’ stability. The associated experimental set-up and test program will be discussed. Finally first results concerning the long-term stability and applicability of fiber-optic sensors in long-term monitoring systems will be presented.