Long term strain and temperature measurements on a railway using Brillouin OTDR

Roger Crickmore; M. Ali Allousch; Benjamin Marx; Thibault North; Sebastian Pitikaris; Brendon Purnell; Shane Donohue; Andrew Trafford

doi:10.1117/12.3017424

20 June 2024 Long term strain and temperature measurements on a railway using Brillouin OTDR

Roger Crickmore, M. Ali Allousch, Benjamin Marx, Thibault North, Sebastian Pitikaris, Brendon Purnell, Shane Donohue, Andrew Trafford

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12999, Optical Sensing and Detection VIII; 1299906 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3017424
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2024, Strasbourg, France

Abstract

A distributed temperature and strain sensing (DTSS) system based on Brillouin backscatter was used to measure changes during a 5 month period on an 9km length of fibre optic cable deployed next to a railway line, including on an embankment and a bridge. By measuring the amplitude and frequency of the Brillouin backscatter it was possible to determine both temperature and strain changes. Most of the strain changes occurred slowly over many weeks, however some rapid strain changes occurred on part of the embankment on one particular day. Temperature effects were dominated by the diurnal and seasonal variations of the air temperature. At a number of points along the cable there were small optical losses that varied with time, but the ability of the system to also carry out regular Rayleigh OTDR measurements meant that these losses could be accounted for, so they had minimal effect on the data.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Roger Crickmore, M. Ali Allousch, Benjamin Marx, Thibault North, Sebastian Pitikaris, Brendon Purnell, Shane Donohue, and Andrew Trafford "Long term strain and temperature measurements on a railway using Brillouin OTDR", Proc. SPIE 12999, Optical Sensing and Detection VIII, 1299906 (20 June 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3017424

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available