FIBER BRAGG TECHNOLOGY FOR STRUCTURAL MONITORING A CONCRETE PILLAR WITH PREFABRICATED WALLS

ABSTRACT

The paper presents technology of monitoring a reinforced concrete pillar-connector of prefabricated walls. Prefabricated units made from a modified Polytech mortar containing expanded polystyrene derived from recycling were used to build a residential object. Reinforced concrete pillars that serve as wall connectors in Polytech system are load-bearing elements. In order to control the reinforced concrete connector of prefabricated walls under realistic conditions, a control technology was applied that involved introducing fiber Bragg gratings deformation sensors. FBG monitoring method enables constant measurements of deformations of a construction element during its exploitation. This is a big advantage of the measuring system. The most important aspect of this solution are FBG sensors introduced into the reinforced concrete structure. The use of measuring method based on sensors with Bragg’s gratings allows constant analysis of operational safety of a given element both, in the construction phase and during the normal use of the building. Pillar reinforcement in the tested points did not deform identically. Localization of sensors in the controlled units is also important. Tests carried out by means of fiber optic sensors allow to determine the real scope of deformation of the monitored rebars used in the reinforced concrete pillar that is a connector of walls prefabricated in the Polytech system.

Keywords: monitoring, control technology, prefabricated buildings, sensors with Bragg’s gratings.