Long term structural health monitoring by Brillouin fibre-optic sensing: a real case

We report the results of a long term structural health monitoring (SHM) test campaign performed on a concrete bridge. A one-year test campaign was performed by a portable prototype instrument based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in a single-mode optical fibre. The optical fibre sensor was attached along one arch of the bridge using two types of adhesive for comparison purposes. The attached fibre was able to provide the strain distribution along the structure during the one-year test campaign, with a spatial resolution of 1 m. A crack was revealed and correctly localized by the distributed sensor.