{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T03:23:39Z","timestamp":1768965819538,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]],"date-time":"2020-07-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1595289600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this paper, Rayleigh backscattering sensors (RBS) are used to realize shape sensing of beam-like structures. Compared to conventional shape sensing systems based on fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, RBS are capable of continuous lateral sensing. Compared to other types of distributed fibre optic sensors (FOS), RBS have a higher spatial resolution. First, the RBS\u2019s strain sensing accuracy is validated by an experiment comparing it with strain gauge response. After that, two shape sensing algorithms (the coordinate transformation method (CTM) and the strain-deflection equation method (SDEM)) based on the distributed FOS\u2019 input strain data are derived. The algorithms are then optimized according to the distributed FOS\u2019 features, to make it applicable to complex and\/or combine loading situations while maintaining high reliability in case of sensing part malfunction. Numerical simulations are carried out to validate the algorithms\u2019 accuracy and compare their accuracy. The simulation shows that compared to the FBG-based system, the RBS system has a better performance in configuring the shape when the structure is under complex loading. Finally, a validation experiment is conducted in which the RBS-based shape sensing system is used to configure the shape of a composite cantilever-beam-like specimen under concentrated loading. The result is then compared with the optical camera-measured shape. The experimental results show that both shape sensing algorithms predict the shape with high accuracy comparable with the optical camera result.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s20144040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]],"date-time":"2020-07-21T06:38:55Z","timestamp":1595313535000},"page":"4040","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Shape Sensing with Rayleigh Backscattering Fibre Optic Sensor"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Cheng","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5106-2197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zahra","family":"Sharif Khodaei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18666","DOI":"10.3390\/s150818666","article-title":"Fibre optic sensors for structural health monitoring of aircraft composite structures: Recent advances and applications","volume":"15","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3646","DOI":"10.1364\/AO.56.003646","article-title":"High-precision real-time 3D shape measurement using a bi-frequency scheme and multi-view system","volume":"56","author":"Tao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. 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