Effect of fiber bragg grating sensors installation on pavement responses

With the increasing development of automated driving, particular attention has been paid towards pavement structures with smart monitoring systems. Recently, the strain of massive structures, such as pavements can be measured using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) devices, which proved to be highly suitable for various civil engineering applications. In this study, a 3D finite element model was developed, using ABAQUS software, to investigate the influence of FBG devices on the strain state and distribution of the material in which they are embedded. In the developed model, the asphalt course was assumed to behave elasto-viscoplastic, while the granular materials, were modelled as elasto-plastic. The numerical modeling showed that such devices have no effect on the fundamental aspects of pavement responses. Following the comparison, a parametric study was carried out to investigate the impact of temperature, vehicle speed and tire pressure on a performance progress. The sensitivity analysis indicated that: (a) the predicted vertical compressive plastic strain and the surface displacement decreased with decreasing temperature and tire pressure and with increasing vehicle speed while (b) the predicted horizontal tensile elastic strain at the bottom of the asphalt course decreased with increasing temperature and vehicle speed and with decreasing tire pressure.