Surface structure monitoring with plastic optical fiber

A sensor was designed using a plastic optical fiber to study the potential of detecting structural deformities and corrosion of metallic surfaces, in particular for applications in constricted areas such as pipes. The principle of the sensor is based on the collection of scattered light reflected by the surface imperfections. Several types of metallic materials in various surface profiles and stages of corrosion have been studied. The sensor was able to determine the position of ridges on the surface and corroded regions in all cases evaluated in the study. A sensitivity of 100 mV/mm was detectable for proximity and a vertical resolution of 1 mm has been measured.