Mechanical modeling and experimental validation of a measuring device for an engineering structure [Modélisation mécanique et validation expérimentale d'un dispositif de mesure pour ouvrage d'art Mechanical modeling and experimental validation of a measuring device for an engineering structure]

The maintenance of civil engineering structures requires regular checks. in this context,the fiber optic sensors have certain potentials for more an efficient automatic or semi-automatic maintenance solutions. the application of this study is about the development of an instrumentation dedicated to measuring vertical load through the support of a bridge. in this paper,we have equipped the central metallic plat of bridge bearings by fiber optic sensors. the microbending loss mechanism is used and the principle of the method is based on the measurement of the light attenuation in the sensor output. the development of instrumentation required firstly the theoretical modeling of the behavior of the sensor embedded in the rubber by the finite element method,and secondly,conducting a series of experiments to validate the models developed. the results of these studies are presented.