Distributed Acoustic Sensing Reveals Structural Reinforcement of an Earthfill Dam after Curtain Grouting

Miao Yu, Miao YU, Pengfei Liu, Hao Meng, Peng He, Bin Yang, Sili Yuan, Le Pan, Yuxin Zhao, Ziyue Liu, Mingcai Chai — Earthquake Science, 2025

Abstract

This study presents the application of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) fiber-optic technology to monitor structural changes in an earthfill dam following curtain grouting intervention. By deploying DAS alongside traditional seismometers, we conduct a comparative analysis of both sensing modalities under operational dam conditions. Our results demonstrate that DAS effectively captures structural reinforcement signatures post-grouting, revealing changes in seismic velocity and wave propagation characteristics that are consistent with improved dam integrity. The work establishes DAS as a viable, high-spatial-resolution complement to conventional monitoring for dam safety assessment.

Status: Submitted to Earthquake Science (under review, 2025)

Contribution: Co-first author (†). Led DAS data processing, seismic velocity analysis, and comparative evaluation with conventional seismometers.

Significance for EB-1A: This work represents a pioneering application of distributed acoustic sensing in dam structural health monitoring — bridging fiber-optic sensing technology with geophysical inversion methods to enable continuous, high-spatial-resolution dam safety assessment. The study directly contributes to critical infrastructure protection at scale.