Protect pipelines, structures, and critical infrastructure with continuous fiber-optic strain monitoring built for engineers, operators, and asset owners who can’t afford unexpected failures.
Why Distributed Strain Sensing Can’t Wait
$1.8B
Global DFOS market value in 2026
12.4% CAGR
Market growth rate through 2035
$189 million
FBG Fiber Optic Strain Sensor market
0.53 m
Small spatial and gauge lengths available with Sintela’s system
What Does Sintela Do?
Sintela provides distributed fiber optic sensing systems that give you a full-length picture of what’s happening throughout your infrastructure—not just at individual monitoring points, but continuously along the sensing fiber.
Our fiber-optic sensing technology turns optical fiber into thousands of virtual sensing locations, providing continuous, spatially resolved measurements of strain and vibration across pipelines, bridges, tunnels, boreholes, dams, and other critical infrastructure.
Sintela’s ONYX™ platform uses quantitative, phase-based Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to continuously monitor changes along the fiber. Depending on the application, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and Distributed Strain Sensing (DSS) can provide insight into dynamic and longer-term changes in asset behavior.
The system collects sensing data continuously, processes it using advanced algorithms, and identifies developing anomalies and changing conditions. Whether you’re monitoring a long-distance pipeline or a critical dam, the system can be configured around your asset, environment, and monitoring requirements.
How Distributed Strain Sensing Works
Fiber Deployment Along the Asset
Optical fiber is installed along, attached to, or embedded within the asset, whether it’s a pipeline, structure, borehole, or geotechnical feature. The installation method is selected to provide the mechanical coupling required for the monitoring application.
Laser Pulse Transmission
Laser pulses travel through the fiber, generating backscattered optical signals along its length. Changes in these signals can be analyzed to determine the location and magnitude of strain, vibration, and other physical disturbances.
Strain Signal Processing
The ONYX™ system processes the optical response to produce quantitative, location-specific measurements of strain and vibration along the sensing fiber.
This transforms the fiber into a continuous sensing network, allowing changes to be identified across large areas rather than only at individual instrument locations.
Anomaly Detection & Pattern Analysis
Advanced processing and analytics compare incoming measurements against baseline conditions to identify tensile and compressive strain changes and patterns associated with bending, deformation, movement, or changing loads.
This helps teams understand not only that conditions are changing, but where those changes are occurring and how they are developing over time.
Real-Time Alerts & Dashboard Visibility
When measurements exceed configured thresholds or abnormal patterns are detected, the system can generate real-time alerts.
Teams can review location, severity, and trend information through the monitoring interface, helping them investigate developing conditions and make more informed asset management decisions.
Why Choose Sintela
Strain sensing is only as good as the system behind it. Choosing distributed strain sensing is a risk decision as much as a technical one.
Sintela brings over two decades of fiber-optic sensing experience to deployments across oil and gas, civil infrastructure, subsea environments, mining, and beyond. Our technology combines long-range distributed sensing with advanced signal processing to provide actionable information across critical assets.
That means greater visibility across your infrastructure, fewer monitoring gaps, and data your team can use to make informed decisions.
- Long-Range Strain Detection
- Real-Time Infrastructure Monitoring
- Built for Harsh Environments
- Scalable Monitoring Integration
- Predictive Maintenance Insights
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is distributed strain sensing and how is it different from traditional strain gauges?
Distributed strain sensing uses optical fiber as a continuous sensor along an asset. Traditional strain gauges provide measurements at specific monitoring points, meaning changes occurring between instruments may not be captured.
Distributed sensing provides spatially continuous coverage along the fiber, with measurement spacing, spatial resolution, and gauge length depending on the sensing technology and system configuration.
This makes distributed sensing particularly valuable for long assets and large areas where installing conventional sensors at every potential risk location would be impractical.
2. What types of infrastructure can distributed strain sensing monitor?
Distributed strain sensing can be applied across a wide range of assets, including oil and gas pipelines, subsea infrastructure, bridges, tunnels, dams, railway infrastructure, boreholes, slopes, and civil structures.
The suitability of the system depends on factors including the sensing objective, fiber installation, cable design, mechanical coupling, environmental conditions, and required monitoring range.
3. How sensitive is Sintela’s distributed strain sensing technology?
Sintela’s ONYX™ technology provides highly sensitive, spatially resolved measurements along the sensing fiber. Depending on the system configuration and application, small spatial and gauge lengths down to approximately 0.53 meters can be achieved.
Strain sensitivity, spatial resolution, gauge length, and measurement range are separate system parameters and are configured according to the monitoring application.
This allows the sensing system to be optimized for applications ranging from localized deformation monitoring to long-range infrastructure surveillance.
4. Can the system work with fiber that’s already installed in the field?
In many cases, yes. Sintela’s systems can use existing fiber infrastructure, potentially reducing the need to install an entirely new sensing network.
However, suitability depends on the application, fiber type, cable construction, installation method, condition, and mechanical coupling between the fiber and the asset being monitored.
For quantitative strain monitoring in particular, effective strain transfer between the asset and sensing fiber is important. Sintela can assess existing fiber infrastructure and determine the most practical deployment approach for the site.
5. How does the system handle false alarms or environmental noise?
Distributed sensing systems operate in environments where temperature changes, machinery, traffic, routine loading, and other background activity can influence measurements.
Sintela uses advanced signal processing, baseline profiling, pattern recognition, and application-specific algorithms to help distinguish relevant events from normal background conditions and reduce nuisance alarms.
Alert thresholds and detection parameters can also be configured around the behavior and risk profile of the specific asset, helping teams focus on changes that require further investigation.
