Distributed Deformation Monitoring for a Single-Cell Box Girder Based on Distributed Long-Gage Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

Distributed deformation based on fiber Bragg grating sensors or other kinds of strain sensors can be used to monitor bridges during operation. However, most research on distributed deformation monitoring has focused on solid rectangular beams rather than box girders—a kind of typical hollow beam widely employed in actual bridges. The deformation of a single-cell box girder contains bending deflection and also two additional deformations respectively caused by shear lag and shearing action. This paper revises the improved conjugated beam method (ICBM) based on the long-gage fiber Bragg grating (LFBG) sensors to satisfy the requirements for monitoring the two additional deformations in a single-cell box girder. This paper also proposes a suitable LFBG sensor placement in a box girder to overcome the influence of strain fluctuation on the flange caused by the shear lag effect. Results from numerical simulations show that the theoretical monitoring errors of the revised ICBM are typically 0.3–1.5%, and the maximum error is 2.4%. A loading experiment for a single-cell box gilder monitored by LFBG sensors shows that most of the practical monitoring errors are 6–8% and the maximum error is 11%.