title: A Review of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors for Civil Engineering Applications.
abstract: The application of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems to civil engineering structures has been a developing studied and practiced topic, that has allowed for a better understanding of structures' conditions and increasingly lead to a more cost-effective management of those infrastructures. In this field, the use of fiber optic sensors has been studied, discussed and practiced with encouraging results. The possibility of understanding and monitor the distributed behavior of extensive stretches of critical structures it's an enormous advantage that distributed fiber optic sensing provides to SHM systems. In the past decade, several R &amp; D studies have been performed with the goal of improving the knowledge and developing new techniques associated with the application of distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS) in order to widen the range of applications of these sensors and also to obtain more correct and reliable data. This paper presents, after a brief introduction to the theoretical background of DOFS, the latest developments related with the improvement of these products by presenting a wide range of laboratory experiments as well as an extended review of their diverse applications in civil engineering structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Barcelona 08034, Spain. antonio.jose.de.sousa@upc.edu.
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrias
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), c/ Jordi Girona 1-3, Barcelona 08034, Spain. joan.ramon.casas@upc.edu.
authors.forename: Joan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Casas
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Construction Projects, Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), c/ Colom 11, Ed. TR5, Terrassa (Barcelona) 08022, Spain. sergi.villalba@upc.edu.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Villalba
keywords: civil engineering; distributed fiber sensing; fiber optics; frequency domain reflectometry; structural health monitoring; time domain reflectometry