ROAD STRUCTURE AND PAVEMENT FIBER OPTIC MONITORING SOLUTIONS
In the context of aging transportation infrastructures, the need for a better understanding of pavement behaviour at middle age (before and during distress manifestation) requires good quality data on the mechanical response of existing pavement. Strain gauges installed during pavement construction typically have a short service life and can not be used reliably to monitor pavement response after a few months. Operations required to retrofit strain gauges in existing pavements tend to disrupt stress fields in the bound layers and have also typically resulted in unreliable strain data. This major issue was solved by combining the fiber optic technology with the exclusive design of Opsens’ load cell.
The new approach with fiber optic sensors is more attractive for many reasons. Among others, small dimensions, intrinsic immunity to electromagnetic interference and capability to operate in harsh environments make them an attractive alternative to electrical sensors for road pavement response monitoring and similar applications. The new optical load cell also overcomes many of the problems caused by existing technologies – gauge misalignment and displacement due to excessive thermal and mechanical stresses.
Read More...STRUCTURE FIBER OPTIC STRAIN MONITORING SOLUTIONS
Opsens strain sensor can provide the reliability and the accurateness required to monitor critical infrastructure with great efficiency. Its miniature size and high accuracy is perfect to measure any change in dimension due to stress, moving load, creep, temperature change, moisture change or chemical growth.
Impervious to radio-frequency interference, the OSP sensor is the perfect sensing device to monitor strain with high precision in tough testing environments with extreme temperature, high pressure, liquid immersion, and corrosive chemicals.
With a range up to 5000 µe on each axis, the OPS strain sensor combines many advantages for structure monitoring:
- Great temperature operating range (-40 °C to 250 °C)
- Excellent resolution (0.15 µε)
- Precision of ± 3% F.S. for displacement of less than 1000 µε
- Immune to high voltage, and electrical interference.
- Intrinsically safe.
- Long cable runs.
- Long term monitoring.
GEOTECHNICAL FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE MONITORING SOLUTIONS
Opsens OPP-C pressure solution is perfectly tailored to meet the challenge of groundwater monitoring application. Completely sealed, the sensor body is made of stainless steel and can function under adverse conditions of temperature and pressure, and toxic or corrosive atmospheres that can erode metals at a rapid rate with little effect on optical fibers. Because of its dielectric nature, it is not subject to interference from electromagnetic waves that might be present in the sensing environment, thus generating invalid measurements.
The lightweight, miniature and robust sensor is well fitted for subsurface monitoring systems like: measurements of groundwater elevations in wells and streams and Waste water management – pressure monitoring in pumping pipes
Because of its inherent advantages of fiber optic, the OPP-C sensor delivers long term accuracy, durability, low drift and high fidelity pressure measurements in the harshest environments. With a pressure operating range up to 1000 psi, and a resolution of 0.01 psi, the sensor is ideal for geotechnical applications
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