Analysis of strain transfer between surface-bonded plastic optical fibers and concrete

Plastic optical fibers (POFs) have many advantages compared with conventional optical fibers for sensing and monitoring applications in civil engineering. The monitoring capability of POF sensors depends on the strain transfer characteristics between POFs and host materials to a great extent. Theoretical analysis is performed to develop the strain transfer relationship between surface-bonded POFs and concrete. Besides, finite-element method is conducted for verification, and the main influencing parameters are studied respectively. The calculated results demonstrate that the effect of strain transfer is more significant when the POF is bonded close to the surface of concrete and the length of the adhesive layer ought to exceed 300 mm simultaneously, and the width, thickness, and shape of the adhesive layer have slight impact on the strain transfer.