Damage Detection for International America's Cup Class Yachts Using a Fiber Optic Distributed Strain Sensor

Akiyoshi SHIMADA  Hiroshi NARUSE  Kiyoshi UZAWA  Gaku KIMURA  Hideaki MURAYAMA  Kazuro KAGEYAMA  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E86-C   No.2   pp.218-223
Publication Date: 2003/02/01
Online ISSN: 
DOI: 
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: PAPER
Category: Optoelectronics
Keyword: 
BOTDR,  health monitoring,  yacht,  

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Summary: 
This paper describes a method for assessing the structural integrity of International America's Cup Class (IACC) yachts using a fiber optic distributed strain sensor. IACC yachts are made of advanced composite materials designed for high stiffness and lightness, however, a number of critical accidents have occurred during sailing. So we developed a health monitoring system and applied it to two Japanese IACC yachts to measure the distributed strain by using an optical fiber sensor installed in their hulls. We then estimated the three-dimensional distributed strain and compared the results with simulated data obtained by finite element analysis (FEA) to confirm the designed strength of these yachts.