Advanced methods for the detection of measurement outliers in fibre optic strain measurements for non-destructive monitoring of the structural health of composite over-wrapped pressure vessels of type-IV

To analyse the applicability of fibre optic measurements as a measurement method for structural health monitoring, fibre-optic sensors are placed on the vessel surface. The influence of the surface profile of the vessel on the measurement result is analysed by correlating the 3D scanned surface and measurement results. One outcome is that the measurement is substantially influenced by the surface topography. The surface height can be directly correlated to the strain magnitude, which is also verified by analytical calculations. Outliers and invalid values can be traced back to surface-related influences on the sensor fibre. For the outlier detection, a novel method is presented, which is based on quantitative evaluation criteria and inductive reasoning and enables transient cycle- by-cycle outlier detection adapted to the load case. Based on the results an estimate for the expanded measurement uncertainty is given for of the measurement chain consisting of vessel, adhesive and sensor fibre.