All-Fiber Optic Sensing for Multiparameter Monitoring and Domain-Wide Deformation Reconstruction of Aerospace Structures in Thermally Coupled Environments
This study introduces an all-fiber optic sensing network based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technology for structural health monitoring (SHM) of launch vehicle payload fairings under extreme thermo-mechanical conditions. A wavelength–space dual-multiplexing architecture enables full-field strain and temperature monitoring with minimal sensor deployment. Structural deformations are reconstructed from local measurements using the inverse finite element method (iFEM), achieving sub-millimeter accuracy. High-temperature experiments verified that FBG sensors maintain a strain accuracy of 0.8 με at 500 °C, significantly outperforming conventional sensors. Under 15 MPa mechanical loading and 420 °C thermal shock, the fairing structure exhibited no damage propagation. The sensing system captured real-time strain distributions and deformation profiles, confirming its suitability for aerospace SHM. The combined use of iFEM and FBG enables high-fidelity large-scale deformation reconstruction, offering a reliable solution for reusable aerospace structures operating in harsh environments.
Authors
- Jiyun Lu
- Shengming Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1004-0199)
- Hanqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2897-6473)
- Quan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9001-6473)
- Hongfu Zuo
- Zifan He
- Xingguang Zhou
Institutions
- Nanjing Forestry University (CN)
- Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (CN)
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Aerospace
- Published
- 2026-01-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace13020135
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Fiber Optic Sensors
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00