Patent ID: 7646945

Claim:
A pipeline bend radius sensor apparatus comprising: at least one optical fibres comprising a plurality of fibre grating strain sensors; sensor carrier apparatus comprising at least one shaped carrier member, said at least one shaped carrier member is at least part-cylindrical in shape and has an internal surface and is flexible compared to the pipeline to which it is to be coupled, and said fibre grating strain sensors are embedded within said at least one shaped carrier member or are provided on a surface of said at least one shaped carrier member at a plurality of measurement locations, and coupling apparatus for mechanically coupling said at least one shaped carrier member to the pipeline to be measured, said coupling apparatus comprising mechanical clamp apparatus and a plurality of contact pads, with said mechanical clamp apparatus provided at at least one clamp location on said shaped carrier member, and said contact pads are provided on said internal surface of said shaped carrier member within said at least one clamp location, with said sensor carrier apparatus arranged such that said fibre grating strain sensors are located at different angular positions around the periphery of the pipeline and at different distances from the neutral axis of the pipeline, whereby the bend radius or the bend radii of the pipeline can be measured.