Systems and methods for scour monitoring with fiber optic sensors
AssigneeUniversity of Houston System
InventorsGangbing Song, Xuan Kong, Siu Chun Michael Ho
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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.
Claims20
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 entry to the sensor chamber is only provided by the openings,
- 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 fiber cable positioned 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.