Patent ID: 8705019

Claim:
A structural material with embedded sensors, comprising: a structural element having an array of linear channels formed therethrough; a plurality of fiber Bragg grating sensors disposed within the array of linear channels; a signal analyzer in communication with the plurality of fiber Bragg grating sensors, the analyzer receiving signals generated by the fiber Bragg grating sensors representative of a magnitude of a strain on the structural element; and a plurality of junctions, each said fiber Bragg grating sensor extending between and communicating with a pair of the junctions, wherein said junctions are in communication with one another, said plurality of junctions and said plurality of fiber Bragg grating sensors being divided into a plurality of planar arrays, said plurality of planar arrays being stacked to define a three-dimensional array, wherein the plurality of junctions and the plurality of fiber Bragg grating sensors of each said planar array alternate with respect to vertically adjacent ones of the plurality of planar arrays.