Sensors, Vol. 19, Pages 5021: Sensing Properties of Fused Silica Single-Mode Optical Fibers Based on PPP-BOTDA in High-Temperature Fields (Sensors)

The strain of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars at high temperatures is currently difficult to measure. To overcome this difficulty, a method of smart FRP bars embedded with optical fibers was proposed and studied, in which an ordinary single-mode optical fiber was applied as a distributed sensor. In this paper, both the distributed temperature and strain-sensing characteristics of optical fiber were studied based on pulse pre-pump Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (PPP-BOTDA) under high temperature. The temperature and strain coefficients were investigated under a thermomechanical coupling environment with consideration of large strain levels. The experimental results show that the temperature and strain coefficients decreased as the temperature increased, because the properties of silica and coating materials changed with temperature. Then, the formulas for determining the temperature and strain coefficients at high temperatures were introduced and discussed. The excellent sensing performance of the optical fiber indicated that smart FRP bars have the potential for use at high temperatures.