Monitoring of fibre reinforced composites with embedded optical fibre Bragg sensors, with application to filament wound pressure vessels

Application of Optical Fibre Sensors to Measuring the Mechanical Properties of Composite Materials and Structures

“…(Sulatisky et al, 2010), to exert pressure on the legislative bodies to introduce regulations reducing the current high safety factors for the manufacture of pressure vessels when a continuous structural health monitoring is employed. As already mentioned, standard NDE methods are not suitable for the on-line monitoring of such objects and can be used only for periodic inspections (Foedinger et al, 1999;Degrieck et al, 2001). A system of sensors should ensure the assessment of the technical condition of the high-pressure cylinder during both its production and (above all) its long use.…”

“…The research in this field, e.g. (Foedinger et al, 1999;Degrieck et al, 2001;Kang et al, 2006;Hernández-Moreno et al, 2009;Sulatisky et al, 2010;Błażejewski et al, 2010;Glisic & Inaudi, 2004;Frias et al, 2010), shows that the best of the offered solutions is to use optical fibre sensors for this purpose, since they are characterized by resistance to electromagnetic interference, non-sparking safety, ease of integration with the structure of the composite material and high sensitivity in a wide measuring range. Such sensors, permanently installed on the surface of the vessel or incorporated into the structure of the composite material, enable the continuous monitoring of the structure's technical condition over its whole service life.…”

“…In (Degrieck et al, 2001), the authors investigated the possibility of using fibre Bragg gratings to monitor the strains of components made of composite materials, including laminates and pressure vessels made by winding. The research was carried out in several stages.…”

“…In both tests a change in pressure resulted in a shift of the Bragg wave reflected from the sensor incorporated into the structure of the composite load-bearing layer. It was found that being located directly in the material structure, FBG sensors are ideal for measuring strains in composite materials and in addition, they represent a promising technique for nondestructive testing and evaluating the structural health of composite elements (Degrieck et al, 2001). The suitability of optical fibre (FBG) sensors for monitoring composite pressure vessels, especially taking into account the possibility of integrating such sensors with the loadbearing layer during the manufacture of vessels by winding, is the subject of the paper (Kang et al, 2006).…”

Strain Monitoring and Damage Detection of a Filament Wound Composite Pressure Tank Using Embedded Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

“…A good number of past applications highlight its high feasibility for use in composite structures. There have been several attempts to monitor strains with attached or embedded FBG sensors in filament wound structures [1,[3][4][5].…”