Identification of Ground Intrusion in Underground Structures Based on Distributed Structural Vibration Detected by Ultra-Weak FBG Sensing Technology

• Main Authors: Weibing Gan, Sheng Li, Zhengying Li, Lizhi Sun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: subway tunnel safety; ground intrusion detection; ultra-weak FBG; distributed vibration; dynamic measurement
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/9/2160

It is challenging for engineers to timely identify illegal ground intrusions in underground systems such as subways. In order to prevent the catastrophic collapse of subway tunnels from intrusion events, this paper investigated the capability of detecting the ground intrusion of underground structures based on dynamic measurement of distributed fiber optic sensing. For an actual subway tunnel monitored by the ultra-weak fiber optic Bragg grating (FBG) sensing fiber with a spatial resolution of five meters, a simulated experiment of the ground intrusion along the selected path was designed and implemented, in which a hydraulic excavator was chosen to exert intrusion perturbations with different strengths and modes at five selected intrusion sites. For each intrusion place, the distributed vibration responses of sensing fibers mounted on the tunnel wall and the track bed were detected to identify the occurrence and characteristics of the intrusion event simulated by the discrete and continuous pulses of the excavator under two loading postures. By checking the on-site records of critical moments in the intrusion process, the proposed detection approach based on distributed structural vibration responses for the ground intrusion can detect the occurrence of intrusion events, locate the intrusion ground area, and distinguish intrusion strength and typical perturbation modes.