Design and application of the ice force sensor based on fiber Bragg grating

Ice load is one of the most dangerous factors which threaten the health of offshore structures in cold area. The ice-loading model experiment is an effective method to identify the ice load and to evaluate its influence towards structures. Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with advantages of reliability, durability and high accuracy, has become one of the most popular sensing element for structural health monitoring and intelligent materials system. In this paper, a novel FBG ice force sensor is presented and applied in the tests of ice loading on bridge pier model. Its sensing property is theoretically analyzed and calibration experiments are conducted. The research results demonstrate that the FBG-based ice force sensor has advantages of small size, high precision and low influence on the structure, showing great prospect for measurement of ice force in model test.

► We developed a novel ice force sensor based on FBG.
► We demonstrated sensor design and analyzed its measuring principle.
► We did ice force coefficient calibration tests.
► This sensor was applied in bridge pier model experiment.