Objective Optical fiber sensing systems have gradually became important components of structural health monitoring systems (SHM). A multi-parameter synchronous monitoring technology based on engraved FBG seven-core fiber is proposed, which effectively integrates Raman optical time-domain reflectometry (ROTDR), fiber Bragg grating (FBG), and Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) into one seven-core fiber to address the difficulty of achieving multi-parameter synchronous acquisition with a single-core sensing fiber. The ROTDR sensing core monitors distributed temperature, the FBG sensing core measures point strain, temperature, and vibration frequency simultaneously, and the BOTDA sensing cores perform distributed strain data acquisition. Methods Firstly, the space division multiplexing mechanism of multi-core fiber was thoroughly analyzed. The cross-sectional layout of the seven-core fiber and the composition of the seven-core fiber multi-parameter monitoring system were introduced, and the cores were numbered. The strain, temperature, and natural frequency of the structure were synchronously collected using four cores of the seven-core fiber, considering the symmetry of the cores and the sensitivity of the sensing technology to temperature and strain. Among them, core 7 in the central position was employed to sense the point strain and temperature through FBG sensing technology, while cores 1 and 4 in symmetrical positions were utilized to monitor distributed strain through BOTDA sensing technology. At the same time, core 2 was utilized to measure distributed temperature through ROTDR sensing technology. In addition, the strain measurements of BOTDA and FBG were susceptible to fluctuations in ambient temperature and the shear lag effect of strain transfer layers. The influence of the shear lag effect of strain transfer layers on BOTDA and FBG strain was investigated by finite element analysis and strain transfer experiments. Theoretical analysis and sensitivity coefficient calibration experiments were conducted to analyze the influence of ambient temperature fluctuations on strain measurement values. The strain correction formula that considered temperature compensation and strain transfer rate was established. Finally, the multi-parameter synchronous monitoring experiment of a full-scale steel beam was conducted to test the multi-parameter synchronous sensing performance of the engraved FBG seven-core fiber and the effectiveness of the strain correction formula. The multi-parameter monitoring experiment included two parts: a static graded loading experiment and a free attenuation vibration experiment, which were conducted to verify the static and dynamic working performance of the engraved FBG seven-core fiber, respectively. Before the experiment, the ABAQUS finite element model was established to guide the procedure. The length of the steel beam specimen was 12 m, which met the requirements of BOTDA spatial resolution. During the test, the strain values were collected by strain flower, FBG, and BOTDA. At the same time, the temperature values were monitored by a high-precision thermometer, FBG, and ROTDR. In addition, the natural frequency of the specimen was collected by the accelerometer and FBG. All the measured values of the optical fiber sensing technologies were compared to the measured values of the traditional sensors. Results and Discussions The results showed that the shear deformation hysteresis effect of the strain transfer layers and the fluctuation of ambient temperature led to errors in strain measurement. The strain sensitivity coefficients of FBG and BOTDA were 1.2 pm/10-6 and 0.044 MHz/10-6, respectively. The temperature sensitivity coefficients of FBG and BOTDA were 19 pm/°C and 1 MHz/°C, respectively. Therefore, a temperature fluctuation of 1 °C caused strain errors of 23×10-6 in BOTDA and 16×10-6 in FBG. The stable strain transfer rates of finite element analysis and experiments were 85% and 89%, respectively, which were independent of strain magnitude. The shear deformation hysteresis effect caused the strain measurement values to decrease by 11% to 15%. The shear deformation hysteresis effect of the strain transfer layers and the fluctuation of ambient temperature have a significant influence on the strain measurement results, which cannot be ignored. It was necessary to establish a strain correction formula to improve the accuracy of strain measurement. In addition, the monitoring values of the multi-parameter synchronous monitoring system based on the engraved FBG seven-core fiber were consistent with those of the traditional sensors. The temperature measurement errors of ROTDR and FBG were 0.36 °C and -0.04 °C, respectively. After correction by the strain correction formula using FBG temperature measurement values, the BOTDA strain measurement error was -15×10-6, while the FBG strain measurement error was -0.4×10-6. Compared to the pre-strain correction, the strain accuracy was improved by 12% and 98%, respectively. It was important to note that when the ROTDR temperature measurement values were utilized to correct the strain, the strain error was not reduced, because the ROTDR strain measurement accuracy was poor, and excessive temperature compensation was introduced. The natural frequency of the specimen measured by FBG was 2.18 Hz, which was consistent with 2.19 Hz measured by the accelerometer. Conclusions The multi-parameter monitoring technology based on engraved FBG seven-core fiber achieved the synchronous acquisition of multiple parameters. This technology combined the advantages of point strain, distributed strain, and temperature compensation, without affecting the performance of each sensing technology. In addition, the strain correction formula effectively improved the accuracy of strain measurement. Finally, reasonable suggestions were proposed for the application of engraved FBG seven-core fiber in practical engineering, and future research directions were identified to further optimize the multi-parameter synchronous monitoring system based on engraved FBG seven-core fiber. The study provides new insights into the application of multi-core fiber in structural health monitoring.
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