Feasibility of Fiber Bragg Grating and Long-Period Fiber Grating Sensors under Different Environmental Conditions.docVIP

Sensors 2010, 10, 10105-10127; doi:10.3390/s101110105 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Feasibility of Fiber Bragg Grating and Long-Period Fiber Grating Sensors under Different Environmental Conditions Jian-Neng Wang 1,* and Jaw-Luen Tang 2,* 1 Department of Construction Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliou 64002, Taiwan 2 Department of Physics, National Chung Cheng University, Chia-Yi 62102, Taiwan * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: wangjn@.tw (J.N.W.); Tel.: +886-5-5342601 ext. 4723 (J.N.W.); Fax: +886-5-5312049 (J.N.W.); E-Mail: jawluen@.tw (J.L.T.); Tel.: +886-5-2720586 (J.L.T.); +886-5-2720587 (J.L.T.). Received: 22 October 2010; in revised form: 3 November 2010 / Accepted: 8 November 2010 / Published: 10 November 2010 Abstract: This paper presents the feasibility of utilizing fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and long-period fiber grating (LPFG) sensors for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of infrastructures using Portland cement concretes and asphalt mixtures for temperature, strain, and liquid-level monitoring. The use of hybrid FBG and LPFG sensors is aimed at utilizing the advantages of two kinds of fiber grating to implement NDE for monitoring strains or displacements, temperatures, and water-levels of infrastructures such as bridges, pavements, or reservoirs for under different environmental conditions. Temperature fluctuation and stability tests were examined using FBG and LPFG sensors bonded on the surface of asphalt and concrete specimens. Random walk coefficient (RWC) and bias stability (BS) were used for the first time to indicate the stability performance of fiber grating sensors. The random walk coefficients of temperature variations between FBG (or LPFG) sensor and a thermocouple were found in the range of ?0.7499 °C/ h to ?1.3548 °C/ h . In addition, the bias stability fo