Not available / text

An optical fiber sensor is used for identification of a cantilevered beam under conditions of various concentrated mass loadings. A model of the sensor as well as the dynamic system is developed and used to test the reliability of the identification. Input/output data from an experiment is gathered and used in the identification. A survey of the existing areas of damage detection and parameter identification is included, along with suggestions for incorporating fiber optic sensors into existing techniques. The goal of this research was to show that the fiber sensor can be used for identification purposes, and that it is sensitive to parameter changes within the system (in this case concentrated mass changes). / Master of Science