Experimental investigation of bond and crack behaviour of reinforced concrete ties using distributed fibre optical sensing and digital image correlation

•Reinforced concrete ties were successfully instrumented with fibre optical sensing.•The novel instrumentation gives unmatched insights on the structural behaviour.•Local and average bond stresses were studied.•The influence of load cycles, relative rib area and bar diameter on bond is studied.•The influence of typically neglected design parameters on bond was shown.•Meaningful insights on the behaviour of embedded reinforcing bars were gained.