Strain and Lateral Deformation Monitoring of Reinforced Concrete Column using Distributed Fibre Optical Sensor

Abstract

A reinforced concrete frame structure with a large-span curved beam was designed for a stadium. The finite element analyses show that the stiffness and thus the lateral deformation of the column are critical to the performance of the curved beam. Therefore, distributed fibre optical sensors (DFOS) were used to monitor the strain and lateral deformation. The sensors were installed on the reinforcing rebars close to the interior and exterior sides of the column, and the lateral deformation can be estimated based on the double integration method. Monitoring measurements were taken after demolding and when the roof finish construction. The monitoring results show that the column's stress is less than 200 MPa with lateral deformation less than 0.5 mm at mid height of column. Since the rebars are within elastic range and the lateral deformation is small, it is conclude that there are sufficient lateral restraints for the large-span curved beam at the beam-column joints.