Accurate high-resolution fiber-optic distributed strain measurements for structural health monitoring

The viability of fiber-optic frequency-domain Brillouin strain sensing for accurate high-resolution structural health monitoring, is demonstrated. High performances have been achieved by applying an iterative reconstruction algorithm which correctly takes into account the influence of the acoustic wave involved in Brillouin scattering. The quality of the reconstructions was confirmed by finite-element method (FEM) numerical simulations. A number of experiments with an aluminum beam under different load conditions are presented, demonstrating the potential benefits resulting from the use of SBS-based sensors in a wide range of structural health monitoring applications.