Development of an electrical time domain reflectometry (ETDR) distributed strain sensor

In this paper, a detailed description for the ETDR distributed strain sensing mechanism of a coaxial cable was presented, and a signal calibration algorithm for interpreting ETDR signal waveforms was developed. In addition, a prototype coaxial ETDR distributed strain sensor with improved signal sensitivity was presented. The ETDR signal responses of the prototype sensor subjected to a concentrated lateral compression load and distributed axial tension load were experimentally tested. The test results showed that the prototype sensor has a substantially improved signal sensitivity over a commercial RG-174 cable of comparable size. It was also shown that the relation between the impedance change of the sensor and the applied axial tensile strain depends primarily on the mechanical stress–strain response of the sensor. From the test results, it was demonstrated that this relation could be empirically established with the aid of the calibration algorithm.