Fiber Bragg grating sensors for steel wire monitoring in real-time

Steel wires are widely applied in industrial applications - in most cases as critical components fulfilling high safety requirements in harsh environments (e.g. dockside cranes). In this paper a technique for real-time monitoring of steel ropes applying optical strain sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings is presented. The optical sensors are integrated within the wire strand and replace the core. The strain transmission from the outer wires to the sensors is assured by the mechanical coupling between the optical fiber and the strand. The actual strain load and rope vibrations in the kilohertz range can be determined in real-time.