The 27th Annual Conference of HKSTAM 2024

th
The 19 Jiangsu – Hong Kong Forum on Mechanics and Its Application

Monitoring and Analysis of Pipeline Settlement Deformation utilizing

Distributed Optical Fiber and MEMS Technology

Jin An#1, Dianjun Sun1, Junhao Jing1 and Wan-Huan Zhou*1

1
State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City and Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, University of Macau, Macau, China

*Corresponding author: hannahzhou@um.edu.mo

#
Presenter: mc35029@um.edu.mo
Abstract: Pipeline settlement deformation poses a significant challenge to the stability and
safety of the structure for the Macao East Line project. Therefore, a long-term and effective
monitoring method is needed. In this study, we propose a pipeline settlement monitoring
scheme based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR) and
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies to capture the trend of pipeline
settlement deformation (Guo et al. 2021). Initially, the distributed optic fibre system is
calibrated by fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the
monitoring data. Subsequently, BOTDR technology is employed to monitor the strain
distribution on the pipe surface in real-time (Rajeev et al. 2013), while the MEMS sensor
acquires displacement data during pipe settlement. To verify the feasibility and stability of
the monitoring system, various degrees of pipe settlement were simulated in the indoor
experiment, where the strain was collected by BOTDR and MEMS sensors. Then, a new
data-fusion model was introduced to convert the strain into displacement data. The
experimental results demonstrate that the proposed monitoring system could properly
interpret extremely sparse MEMS data by integrating correlated BOTDR data, thereby more
accurately reflecting the trend and change rule of pipeline settlement and deformation
volume.

Figure 1. Indoor experimental model

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology
(2022A0505030019), Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (File nos.
0056/2023/RIB2; 001/2024/SKL).
References
Guo, Y., L. Xiong, H. Wu, W. H. Zhou, X. Zhou, and H. Liu (2021). “A FBG inclinometer for simultaneous
measurement of horizontal deformation and sudden deformation.” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation
and Measurement, 70, 1-10.

May 4, 2024, Hong Kong

 The 27th Annual Conference of HKSTAM 2024
th
The 19 Jiangsu – Hong Kong Forum on Mechanics and Its Application

Rajeev, P., J. Kodikara, W. K. Chiu, and T. Kuen (2013). “Distributed optical fibre sensors and their
applications in pipeline monitoring. ” Key Engineering Materials, 558, 424-434.

May 4, 2024, Hong Kong