DFOS

DFOS Monitoring System for Learning from the Ground Up (LeGUp) Project

A geothermal network comprising borehole fields was built in Framingham, MA, to supply district heating and cooling. Through this project, LeGUp aims to explore the decarbonization potential of utilizing shallow geothermal as a sustainable energy source. Soga Research Group designed the network monitoring systems for those three borehole fields, and together with HEET team, installed the fiber optic cables and ROTDR interrogators at all three… Read More »DFOS Monitoring System for Learning from the Ground Up (LeGUp) Project

Implementation of DFOS for Cast-In-Steel-Shell Concrete Piles 

The Soga Research Group/Center for Smart Infrastructure, in partnership with Caltrans, progressed with the instrumentation and field implementation of four Cast-in-Steel-Shell (CISS) concrete piles to better understand the geotechnical capacity of soil plugs of large diameter piles. Instrumentation, installation, and testing of four piles took place between June-July 2024. Fiber optic, piezometer, and strain gauge data was collected during various stages of the process including… Read More »Implementation of DFOS for Cast-In-Steel-Shell Concrete Piles 

PHMSA Project: Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for Pipeline Safety Against Fault Movement and Landslides

The Soga Research Group secured funding from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to assess the feasibility of a Distributed Fiber Optic Strain Measurement System for long-term monitoring of buried gas pipelines at risk of ground deformation due to faults and landslides. The project concluded with a final report submitted to PHMSA in August 2024. Six key tasks were completed, including design, laboratory… Read More »PHMSA Project: Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for Pipeline Safety Against Fault Movement and Landslides

DFOS Embedded Ground Anchor Field Testing

A novel DFOS-embedded steel strand tendon ground anchor was developed with embedded fiber optic cables for strain measurement throughout the anchor cross-section. This unique cable configuration enables distributedstrain sensing (DSS) along the steel strand tendon, internal grout, and external grout during pull-out testing and long-term. A full-scale field test with four 60-ft (18.3m) ground anchors in mixed soil conditions was performed, with installation and pull-out… Read More »DFOS Embedded Ground Anchor Field Testing

DFOS Water Pipeline Installation in Hayward Fault Zone

DFOS was deployed on a new 140 m (460 ft) segment of 6-inch Earthquake Resistant Ductile Iron Pipe (ERDIP) in a location within the Hayward Fault Zone in Berkeley, California which had previously experienced water leakage and multiple main break events. DAS monitoring of the fiber optic-instrumented pipeline was performed during pipe commissioning and effectively quantified characteristic acoustic signals during filling, pressurization, and flushing. The… Read More »DFOS Water Pipeline Installation in Hayward Fault Zone