Influence of Humidity on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

We demonstrate the influence of the relative humidity (RH) on the wavelength of fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGS), performing tests with five FBGS at different humidity and temperature conditions. These tests were performed in a climate chamber whose RH changes according to a scheduled profile from 30% to 90%, in steps of 10%. These profiles were repeated for a wide range of temperatures from 10 degrees C to 70 degrees C, in steps of 10 degrees C. Two different types of instrumentation methods have been tested, spot welding and epoxy bonding, in two different materials, steel and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). We discuss the results for each type of sensor and instrumentation method by analyzing the linearity of the Bragg wavelength with RH and temperature.

Optimization study of the structural HACFRA composition (Self Compacting Concrete Steel Fiber Reinforced)

The interest of HACFRA (self compacting concrete reinforced with steel fibers), is the combination of the residual strength increase and cracking decrease compared to plain concrete by the introduction of steel fibers in the mass with the advantages of the self-compacting. The paper presents an analysis of the influence of different components of the HACRFA and provides their selection, refered to the granular skeleton and to different steel fiber types and amount, in order to obtain an optimization of its features and structural behavior.