37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 952EARLY AGE CONCRETE TEMPERATURE ANDSHRINKAGE MONITORING BY USING FIBER BRAGGGRATTINGS1Benjamín Torres*, 1 Ignacio Payá-Zaforteza, 2 Antonio Bueno, 2 Salvador Sales, 1 Jose M.Adam, 1 Pedro A. Calderón1ICITECH, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia.2iTEAM, Universidad Politénica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia*email: bentorgo@upvnet.upv.esKey words: Monitoring, fiber optic sensor, Shrinkage, temperature, early age concrete.AbstractBehaviour and durability of structural concrete is heavily influenced by its reology at veryearlyages and, specially, by the evolution of concrete temperatures and shrinkage. Therefore,it is ofoutermost importance to monitor both parameters.This paper introduces the technologies developed by the research institutes ICITECH(Institutoy Ciencia de Tecnología del Hormigón) and ITEAM (Instituto deTelecomunicaciones y Aplicaciones Multimedia) of the Universidad Politécnica de Valenciain Spain for the measurement of temperature and shrinkage strain in early age concrete. Thetechnology is based on the use of Fiber Bragg Gratings and both experimental works andapplications on real structures will be presented. Specifically, the paper will explain the use ofthe sensors for the monitoring of the pile cap of a bridge foundation of 264 m of volumethat was poured in one phase.The paper compares the measurements obtained by the fiber optic sensors with those given bya conventional electrical sensor and with values found in the literature for similar foundationworks. The analysis of the results confirms the reliability of the developed fiber optic sensorsand their advantages when compared to more traditional technologies.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 321