Systems and methods for scour monitoring with fiber optic sensors
AssigneeUniversity of Houston System
InventorsGangbing Song, Xuan Kong, Siu Chun Michael Ho
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A scour monitoring system may provide a housing that is separated into multiple segments that are fluidically isolated from each other. The scour monitoring system may be position adjacent to a structure to be monitored for bridge scouring. Each of the segments may provide a water-swellable material positioned near or in contact with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) cable. If water penetrates a segment, the water-swellable material may expand to deform the FBG cable. The wavelength of the FBG cable may be monitored periodically for changes, thereby providing moisture detection when a change in wavelength is detected.
Claims19
A scour monitoring system, the system comprising:
- at least one standard unit, wherein the standard unit comprises
- a bottom housing,
- a top cover with one or more openings,
- a sensor chamber formed when the top cover is secured to the bottom housing, wherein the one or more openings only allow water to enter the sensor chamber when soil is scoured away, and the openings are a sole pathway to the sensor chamber when the top cover is secured to the bottom housing,
- a fiber cable longitudinally positioned in the standard unit to pass through the sensor chamber, wherein a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is provided for a portion of the fiber cable, and
- a water-swellable material positioned in the sensor chamber, wherein the water-swellable material is positioned to deform the FBG when water is absorbed by the water-swellable material.
A method for scour monitoring, the method comprising:
- obtaining baseline readings in dry conditions for a scour monitoring system, wherein the system includes two or more sensors, having a predetermined separation distance, wherein the two or more sensors comprises
- a first sensor unit, wherein the unit comprises
- a bottom housing,
- a top cover with one or more openings,
- a sensor chamber formed when the top cover is secured to the bottom housing,
- wherein the one or more openings only allow water to enter the sensor chamber when soil is scoured away, and the openings are a sole pathway to the sensor chamber when the top cover is secured to the bottom housing,
- a fiber cable longitudinally positioned in the standard unit to pass through the sensor chamber, wherein a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is provided for a portion of the fiber cable, and
- a water-swellable material positioned in the sensor chamber, wherein the water-swellable material is positioned to deform the FBG when water is absorbed by the water-swellable material;
- and
- a second sensor that comprises
- a fiber cable positioned in a sensor chamber, wherein a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is provided for a portion of the fiber cable, and
- a water-swellable material positioned in the sensor chamber adjacent to the FBG, wherein the water-swellable material deforms the FBG when water is absorbed by the water-swellable material;
- deploying a scour monitoring system in a desired location;
- and
- periodically monitoring wavelengths of the two or more sensors for a change in wavelength.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.