Development, testing and certification of fibre optic sensors; structural health monitoring by fibre optic sensors; standardization.......................................................
- Adaptation and use of fibre optic sensors technology for long-term monitoring of structures and plants with high level of risks or with special safety requirements
- Integration of fibre optic sensors with low resistant reaction into new materials, into adaptive as well as high-performance materials for characterization of the materials behaviour, and for stress analysis, and early detection of damage
- Use of fibre optic sensors for testing and dimensioning of (load-carrying) supporting members in structures
- Use of fibre optic sensor technique for providing evidence of serviceability and integrity of materials and structure components using dynamic excitation and acoustic emission measurement
- Developtment and/or adaptation of fibre optic sensors for measurement of physical quantities in the presence of electromagnetically interfering facilities or in areas with risk of lightning strike
- Development of highly sensitive fibre optic sensors for safe operation of facilities in electrical power systems
- Development of fibre optic detectors for early detection of partial discharges in high-voltage accessories
- Development of fibre optic chemical sensors for reliable process control as well as for monitoring of chemically-attacked structures
- Evaluation of operational reliability of existing fibre optic data communication lines and fibre optic sensor systems
- Unbiased validation of fibre optic measuring methods, sensors and sensor systems by using unique testing facilties (KALFOS)
- Development of standards and guidelines for fibre optic data communication lines and fibre optic sensors
- Use of distributed fibre optic sensors for structural health monitoring and longterm monitoring of structures and plants of high-risk potential and special safety requirements (dikes, dams, slopes, wind turbines, pipelines, landfills)
- Development of distributed fibre optic sensors and measurement systems based on non-linear effects in silica fibres (stimulated Billouin scattering) and backscattering effects and polymer optical fibres (POF) for monitoring of extended structures, high-risk geotechnical areas and civil infrastructures
- Use of new, high-performance materials and structures with embedded fibre optic sensors (smart materials and smart structures) for early detection and localization of damages (technical textiles, composite materials)
- Development of fibre optic sensors and measurement systems and investigation of innovative sensing optical fibres (fibre Bragg gratings in POF) for medical applications and personal protective equipments
- Investigation of silica and polymer optical fibres for use in smart technical textiles (geotextiles and medical textiles) for geotechnical and medical applications as well as for personal protective equipments
- Monitoring of critical infrastructures with respect to terror attacks (nuclear power plants, radioactive waste deposits) using local and distributed fibre optic sensors (security)
- Investigation of new POF types (microstructures POF) for safety and security applications; evaluation of reliability, operation stability and durability of POF
- Development of new and improved optical measurement and testing methods for investigation of reliability, operation stability and durability of POF sensors; validation of POF measurement methods and systems
- Development of guidelines and regulations for distributed and polymer optical fibre sensors as well as for POF
