Application of long-gauge fiber optic measurement system: Long Gauge Fiber Optic Sensor

A novel Long Gauge Fiber Optic Sensor (LGFOS) system and Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) concept are developed and tested in this Master's thesis. Advantages over existing strain measuring devices include immunity to EMI and relatively small size, as well as lower cost (standard single mode fiber). Performance of this innovative sensor is evaluated and discussed in uniform and variable strain distribution load cases. Field tests are conducted to apply sensors to practical structures.; Successes and improvements are presented in the thesis. Major developments in research involve improved sensor installation techniques such as pre-tensioned sensors, stripped sensor fiber coating, and adhesion. Accurate and precise results in tension tests of LGFOS are achieved while compression results show significant improvement using new sensor installation techniques and upgraded instrumentation. The major achievement is a conceptually working 3-sensor SDM system which is described in this thesis.