Development and application of a fixed-point fiber-optic sensing cable for ground fissure monitoring

Ground fissure is a serious geological disaster that may endanger the safety of surrounding people and infrastructures. In this paper, the distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) technology is adopted to monitor ground fissures in complicated field environments. A new fixed-point fiber-optic sensing cable (FFOSC) is designed and the corresponding installation method is developed. The results of a laboratory test and a field trial show that the FFOSC has high accuracy and is sensitive to the growth of ground fissures. The results also reveal that the FFOSC is suitable for monitoring not only the cracking widths but also the developing trends of the ground fissures. The FFOSC provides a solid basis for the investigation of ground fissure mechanism and for the mitigation of related geo-hazards. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.