ABSTRACT
Monitoring plays an important role in what geotechnical works and investigation are concerned. Either for assessing stiffness on laboratory tests, or for evaluating forces or displacements in the field, instrumentation is of crucial relevance for a wide range of situations. Instrumentation provides critical data for subsurface characterization, determination of soil properties, assessment of groundwater conditions, monitoring of geotechnical structures, validation of design assumptions and research works. Over the last years, a number of different types of mechanical, electrical and optical sensors have been developed for geotechnical monitoring field. Among these, optical fibre sensors feature several important advantages, such as: durability; stability and insensitivity to external disturbances; embedding capability and possibility of distributed sensing over large distances and multiplexing of point sensors that are especially useful for long-term health assessment in geotechnical monitoring. Over time, the range of geotechnical parameters that can be measured using fibre optic sensors has expanded. Optical Fibre sensors are now utilized for monitoring a variety of geotechnical parameters, including strain, deformation, displacement, temperature, pressure, and even pore water pressure. Optical fiber sensors can be applied in slope stability monitoring, landslide detection, tunnel monitoring, foundation monitoring, and offshore geotechnical investigations, among other applications. This paper presents a comprehensive review of applications of optical fibre sensor for geotechnical monitoring.
