Real-time strain monitoring of a navy vessel during open water transit

In this work we describe the installation of a real-time, fiber-optic strain monitoring system aboard a US Navy vessel undergoing sea trials. The system is lightweight, unintrusive, corrosion resistant, and provides dynamic strain response measurements from direct current (DC) up to 360 Hz. Also described are the data acquisition and subsequent analysis. The goals of the study were to demonstrate a fiber-optic strain monitoring system under real world conditions and to better understand the source of deck cracking above an area housing mission-critical components. The results of the two-day trial indicate that there exist large stresses in the deck plate during normal ship operation. Based on the results, it is clear that ship maneuvers, slewing of the radar located on the deck plate, and insolation-related effects are not the primary source of the observed stress. © 2010 Publishing Technology.

Duke Scholars

Author Liming Salvino Civil and Environmental Engineering