Application of FBG Sensors to Monitor the Ice-Induced Vibrations of Platform Structures

The rapid expansion of the optical fiber telecommunication industry due to the explosion of the Internet has substantially driven down the cost of optical components, making fiber optic sensors more economically viable. In addition, the rapid development of fiber-optic sensors, particularly the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors offers many advantages and capability that could not be achieved. In the past few years, fiber Bragg grating sensors have attracted a lot of interest and they are being used in numerous applications. In this paper, FBG sensors were successfully applied in monitoring ice-induced vibrations of platform structures. First it was asked to optimize the quantity and the location of the measuring points by analyzing the JZ20-2NW platform with ANSYS. Then, FBG sensors were set up on the platform when it was being built on land. The data was collected and continuously monitored throughout the entire winter season. This paper shows that it is possible to monitor the strain respond underwater by the FBG sensors.