Optical fiber feasibility study in Accelerated Pavement Testing facility

The presented research has been carried out within the European project Intelligent Roads (INTRO). The major objective followed was to assess the potential of optical fiber for pavement monitoring in comparison with classical strain gauges. Thus, both measurement devices have been tested under the same conditions in a full scale Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) at LAVOC. This facility allows the user to control different parameters such as loading configuration and temperature and, as a matter of facts, limit the disturbances. A total number of 10 strain gauges and 8 optical fibers have been installed and tested for various conditions. This study showed rather consistent and comparable results for both optical fiber and strain gauges measurements. The comparison with calculated deformation also highlighted the consistency of the measurements results. The sensitivity of the measurement system has also been highlighted and permitted to conclude with some recommendations for further developments.