EVALUATION OF A RUGGED FBG STRAIN SENSOR SYSTEM FOR MONITORING REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Bagchi et al present an experimental study on the performance of Bragg Grating FOS installed in an epoxy-filled groove in a supplemental FRP bar which is attached to the main reinforcing bar in FRP-reinforced concrete beam specimens. This system is chosen here for the preliminary study as such systems are easily constructed and are suitable for practical use. However, future studies will include other varieties, as described earlier, to identify their relative performance characteristics and advantages. Two beam specimens have been tested in three-point bending with monotonically increasing loads. The study presented here is preliminary in nature and only static tests have been performed under a load level similar to service load conditions.