This paper developed a method to evaluate the strain transfer efficiency of
fibre Bragg grating sensors to host structures. Various coatings were applied to
fibre Bragg grating sensors after being fabricated. They were epoxy, silane
agent and polypropylene, representing different surface properties. A neat epoxy
resin plate was used as the host in which the coated fibre sensors were embedded
in the central layer. The tensile strain output from the FBGs was compared with
that obtained from electrical strain gauges which were attached on the surface
of the specimen. A calculating method based on the measured strains was
developed to quantify the strain transfer function of different surface
coatings. The strain transfer coefficient obtained from the proposed method
provided a direct indicator to evaluate the strain transfer efficiency of
different coatings used on the FBG sensors, under either short or long-term
loading. The results demonstrated that the fibre sensor without any coating
possessed the best strain transfer, whereas, the worst strain transfer was
created by polypropylene coating. Coatings play a most influential role in
strain measurements using FBG sensors
