The fiber optic sensors (FOSs) are commonly used for large-scale structure monitoring systems for their small size, noise free and low electrical risk characteristics. Embedded fiber optic sensors (FOSs) lead to micro-damage in composite structures. This damage generation threshold is based on the coating material of the FOSs and their diameter. In addition, embedded FOSs are aligned parallel to reinforcement fibers to avoid micro-damage creation. This linear positioning of distributed FOS fails to provide all strain parameters. We suggest novel sinusoidal sensor positioning to overcome this issue. This method tends to provide multi-parameter strains in a large surface area. The effectiveness of sinusoidal FOS positioning over linear FOS positioning is studied under both numerical and experimental methods. This study proves the advantages of the sinusoidal positioning method for FOS in composite material's bonding.
Keywords: bonding; composite material; distributed sensors; fiber optic sensors; finite element analysis; multi-axial; multi-parameter strain; numerical simulation; structural health monitoring (SHM).