USE OF FIBER OPTIC STRAIN SENSORS TO MONITOR FASTENER DAMAGE IN STRUCTURES

摘要

A fastener health monitoring system includes a structure including a first component and a second component, one or more fasteners securing the first component to the second component, and an optical fiber arranged adjacent to the one or more fasteners. The fiber is configured to detect strain on the structure from the one or more fasteners. Strain patterns are derivable from sensed data from the optical fiber, and any deviation in strain value greater than a threshold value at a particular fiber position along the optical fiber is indicative of a missing, damaged, or loosened fastener amongst the one or more of fasteners corresponding to that particular fiber position.