Reliability Analysis of a Seepage Monitoring System Based on Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing

The measuring of seepage and movement is a fundamental element of dam surveillance. Some attempts have been made to provide alternative for seepage monitoring using fully distributed sensing along with optical fibers. The monitoring system offers important information for estimating the safety state of embankment dam. Both management system and upper management of the embankment dam depend on the information. However, this relatively newer monitoring system consists of hardware, software and configuration parts, which may be weak or non-effective within a data processing unit. Hence, reliability analysis of this seepage monitoring is necessary prior to building a standard criterion to decide if a serious seepage happens in the embankment dam. In this paper, the reliability of simulation unit, seepage control unit and sensing unit are analyzed, which is useful to ensure that the monitoring system works effectively.