Development of A Novel Adaptive Range Strain Sensor for Structural Crack Monitoring

Ocean platforms that are under complex sea conditions and loads for long periods are prone to fatigue cracks. These cracks may lead to large deformations, even displacement, of the platform, and should be monitored to ensure engineering safety. Cracks are not easily detected in the micro stage and small levels of strain measurement are required to ensure high accuracy. Furthermore, cracks are prone to suddenly developing into large deformations, especially in structural connections in practical engineering. This study developed a novel adaptive range strain sensor for structural crack monitoring that can monitor the whole structural crack propagation process in ocean platforms. The strain sensor is used for micro deformation monitoring through its fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor with high sensitivity. The sensor can automatically adapt to crack fractures and provide warnings through an STM32 single-chip microcomputer (SCM) system when the structure suddenly cracks, causing large deformation. The experimental results demonstrate that the device has high precision in micro measurement with the ability to capture structural fractures. The field application shows the high strain sensitivity of the sensor in crack monitoring, which indicates that the adaptive range strain sensor is suitable for the structural crack monitoring of ocean platforms.