Smart bridge cable integrated with Fiber Bragg Grating sensors

The working status of bridge cables is one of important indications which inflect bridge security state. The cable force is an important parameter to be monitored. There are different kinds of external strain measurement ways adopted to monitor the cable force. However, the cable force can not always be identified in real time. If the strain sensor can be integrated with the bridge cable during fabrication process, the smart bridge cable can be monitored at any time in the process of service. A smart bridge cable system integrated with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors was proposed. To protect the FBG sensors against damage during the fabrication of the cable, FBG sensors were firstly encapsulated FBG strain sensor and FBG temperature sensor. The efficiency of FBG strain sensor was verified on a single bridge steel wire through the tension performance test and fatigue test. To fabricate cables assembled with FBG sensors, several FBG sensors were fixed on the steel wires. FBG sensor signal was safely transmitted out of the cable. The smart bridge cable can sense its own strain and temperature through FBG sensors. The fabrication procedure of smart bridge cable was developed and the self-sensing force property of smart bridge cable was calibrated successfully. Finally, the application of smart bridge cable on the Jingyue stay bridge linked with Hunan province and Hubei province in china was introduced.