Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for Intelligent In-Motion Transportation Condition Monitoring

Safety is the top priority for every transportation system. Although various aspects of transportation infrastructure’s safety have been studied, in-motion monitoring and detection of defect is still a big concern. Understanding the trend of anomalies, and how to monitor undesired conditions are of high interest in transportation. In this study, the technology of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for in-motion rail condition monitoring is studied through experimental testing and simulation modeling. DAS uses fiber optic cables along the track to detect any anomaly indicator. DAS permit the measurement of a desired parameter as a function of length along the fiber. Despite any conventional Nondestructive Testing (NDT) technique where the coverage or scanning area of the sensors are very limited, DAS provides a full, fast and accurate coverage of all section under the test. The objective of this research is to provide an assessment of anomaly detection and monitoring techniques based on DAS for transportation investigation. It presents the experimental evaluations and numerical simulations on the current methodologies in DAS systems. DAS was used to evaluate the transportation traffic condition in a rural area by connecting an available underground dark fiber to the DAS interrogator and system as well as simulated traffic condition in smaller scale in a parking lot. COMSOL Multiphysics software was used to model the interaction of ambient vibration with the fiber optic. Results show that the condition of the transportation can be monitored and detected by DAS with an appropriate accuracy. DAS information can be used for traffic condition monitoring, object tracking and flaw detections in the transportation lines.