Evaluation of Signal Stability of Fiber Optic Sensors with respect to Sensor Packaging Methods in Long-Term Monitoring

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are applied in structural health monitoring (SHM) in various application fields because of their ease of multiplexing and capability of performing absolute measurements. Moreover, the packaging methods of FBG sensors accelerate their commercialization rapidly. However, long-term SHM exposes the FBG sensors to cyclic thermal loads, and a investigation is required because it finally leads to the signal instability of the FBG sensors. In this study, the effects of sensor packaging methods two methods are generally used for the FBGs: (bonding both sides of the FBG or bonding the FBG directly on signal stability of FBG sensors are investigated. Tests are conducted on specimens in a thermal chamber, over a temperature range from - 20 degrees C to 60 degrees C for 300 cycles. Signal characteristics such as Bragg wavelength, light intensity and full width at half maximum are examined and are compared with those of the FBG sensors, obtained in a previous study under direct bonding conditions. From the comparison, it is observed that the FBG sensors with bonding on both sides of the FBG demonstrate higher signal stabilities when exposed to cyclic thermal loads during long-term SHM. Consequently, it guarantees more effectiveness when packaging the FBG sensors.