Micro-displacement or bending measurement using a long-period fibre grating in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor

The measurement of micro-displacement or bending using a long-period fibre grating (LPG) in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor is presented. The sensing head is based on a LPG whose attenuation peak changes as a function of its micro-displacement or bending and the fibre optic intensity sensor is referenced in frequency. Two other LPGs were used as rejection filters, located at the output of the optical source to shorten its spectral width. The implemented experimental set-up is described and, the results are presented being considered the measurement range and the intrinsic resolution.     

基于光时域反射计的全分布式光纤漏油传感器

报道了一种基于光时域反射计的全分布式光纤漏油传感器,该传感器能实现分布式实时监测长输油管道,及时发现小型的漏油事件.传感器沿管道铺设,利用光时域反射计实时测量光纤在长度上的损耗变化特点,及时发现并定位管道上的每一处泄漏事件.模拟实验证明了其实际操作的可行性,长期使用的稳定性和各种抗干扰性,能在15 min内发现并定位漏油事件,且定位准确度为3 m.     

喷流耦合式超声位移传感器的设计

本文主要研究一种新型微位移传感器。它用超声波原理进行检测，以喷流的水柱作为超声波传播的介质，可以在恶劣环境下进行位移测量。位移等于超声波传播的速度与超声波从发到收之间传播时间的乘积。考虑到声速会随介质一水的温度的升高而增大，设计时进行了实时温度补偿，提高了系统的精度。     

Quadrature demodulation technique for self-mixing interferometry displacement sensor

A new, to the best of our knowledge, signal processing method based on quadrature demodulation technique is presented for laser diode self-mixing interferometry(LDSMI) displacement sensor. Phase modulation of the laser beam is obtained by an electro-optic modulator (EOM) in the external cavity. Detection of the target's displacement can be easily achieved by sampling the interference signal at those times which satisfied certain conditions. The major advantage of the technique is that it does not involve any complicated calculation and insensitive to the sampling error. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the displacement measurement resolution of the laser diode self-mixing displacement sensor to a few nanometers.     

Fabry-Perot interference-based fiber-optic sensor for small displacement measurement

A simple fiber-optic sensor based on Fabry-Perot interference for small displacement measurement is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A broadband light source is coupled into a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by the surfaces of a sensing fiber end and the measured object. The interference signals from the cavity are reflected back into the same fiber. A small displacement via changes in cavity length can be obtained by measuring the wavenumber spacing of the interference fringes. The experimental data meet with the theoretical values very well. Given the light source bandwidth of 40 nm and the initial distance of 30 μm, the proposed displacement sensing system could achieve high resolution measurement of 16 nm.     

Design and experiments on a wide range fiber Bragg grating sensor for health monitoring of coal mines

The tunnel collapse problem of coal mine is very common and its damage is very serious. It also seriously endangers people's lives and property safety. At present, a variety of instruments are used for tunnel roof structure health monitoring in most of the coal mines at home and abroad. In this paper, a displacement sensor using optical fiber grating technology was designed, which could be used to prevent the problem of coal mine tunnel collapse by monitoring the coal mine tunnel roof displacement. Firstly, finite element analysis was demonstrated to simulate the stress and displacement of coal mine tunnel roof to determine where to install the sensor. Then the characteristics of the fiber Bragg grating sensor were analyzed in detail and the sensor structure was designed according to the actual requirements in the coal mine. At last, the feasibility of the whole system was experimentally verified. The cross-sensitivity of the temperature and displacement issue with FBG sensors could be eliminated by using matched pairs of FBG. The measuring range of 50 mm and the measurement resolution up to 0.06 mm could be obtained with the proposed sensor.     

Fiber-optic distributed sensor based on phase-sensitive OTDR and wavelet packet transform for multiple disturbances location

A novel location scheme based on the wavelet packet transform (WPT) for the phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) is proposed. The wavelet packet energy of the backscattered signal at a time interval over the sensing fiber is provided to discriminate the disturbances regions from other regions. It is insensitive to the frequency drift of the laser. The simultaneous measurement of two disturbances at 5 km and 7 km positions is achieved by the location technique based on the WPT over a 9 km monitored length with a 50 m spatial resolution even when a laser with a frequency drift rate of 230 MHz/min is utilized. During 100 times experiments the false alarm rate is only 2% and the maximum location error is 150 m.     

A new laser displacement sensor based on triangulation for gauge real-time measurement

A new laser displacement sensor has been designed, constructed, and used in a train running at a speed of 64 km/h. The laser displacement sensor is insensitive to ambient light and to temperature. The parameters of the laser displacement sensor are as follows: the measurement range is 20 mm, and the laser displacement sensor resolution is 0.3 mm. All the results show that this new displacement sensor meets the requirement for real-time gauge measurement.     

Stimulated Brillouin scattering as the referencing mechanism of an optical fibre intensity sensor

An optical fibre intensity sensor referenced by stimulated Brillouin scattering is presented. The optical sensor uses Fresnel reflection signal at the sensor fibre end and employs an adequate relationship between Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering and Fresnel reflection to have a referenced optical fibre intensity sensor addressed in reflection.     

Localization mechanisms and location methods of the disturbance sensor based on phase-sensitive OTDR

The mathematic models of the disturbance sensor based on phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) are established. On the basis of the models, the localization mechanisms of the conventional location techniques for phase-sensitive OTDR are simulated. The simulation results indicate that the frequency characteristics of the backscattered signal at disturbance region are different from other regions. According to the results, a novel location method relied on power spectrum analysis is described. The experiment is then conducted over a monitored length of 9 km with a spatial resolution of 100 m, which demonstrates that the described location approach can significantly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to 19.4 dB.     

Sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance sensor using continuous film metallic gratings

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on continuous film metallic gratings is numerically investigated for enhance sensitivity. The results calculated by rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) present that interplays between localized surface plasmons and surface plasmons polaritons contribute to sensitivity enhancement. The sensitivity enhancement factor (SEF), which represents the influence of metallic grating, increased as the grating period decreased. In addition, several reflection dips can be achieved as the period of metallic grating increased. By double-dips method, the sensitivity SPR sensor based on continuous film grating-based is improved into 153.23°/RIU, which is more sensitive than conventional thin film-based SPR sensor in the same condition. The SPR sensor based on continuous film metallic gratings exhibits good linearity.     

Fibre optic displacement sensor for the measurement of amplitude and frequency of vibration

This paper reports the principle of operation, design aspects, experimentation and performance of an extrinsic fibre optic displacement sensor for the measurement of amplitude and frequency of vibration. The device consists of fibre optic transmitter, fibre optic probe, mini-shaker, power amplifier, dynamic signal analyser and photodiode detector. The fibre optic probe consists of two well-polished PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) fibres cemented together along some distance over the length. The sensor is capable of measuring vibration amplitudes ranging from 0.008 to 0.74 mm within a frequency range of 75 to 275 Hz. The sensitivity of the device is found to be 0.893 V/mm over 0.6 to 2.1 mm range and over 2.9 to 5.9 mm range. The simplicity of the design, high degree of sensitivity, dynamic range and the low cost of the fabrication make it suitable for real field applications. With the emerging fly-by-light concept, the fibre optic probe solves many sensing problems in aircrafts. Moreover, accuracy and reliability are the excellent pay-offs of this fibre optic sensor.     

A polarimetric glucose sensor using a liquid-crystal polarization modulator driven by a sinusoidal signal

Rather than using a conventional Faraday modulator, this study adopts a liquid-crystal based rotator to modulate the azimuth of the linear polarized light in a sinusoidal signal for the measurement of glucose concentrations. The tilt angle of the LC director would vary as a sinusoidal-like function; however the modulating frequency in the sensing system is the double of the driving signal. A new signal demodulation algorithm, therefore, is developed that enables the polarization rotation angle corresponding to the glucose concentration to be derived. The standard deviation in rotation angle level of 0.00551° has been obtained, with a 0.998773 correlation coefficient between the reference and the measured values. The proposed measurement method has a minimum resolvable concentration of 0.2 g/dl. Compared to its conventional counterparts, the developed polarimeter potentially has a simpler structure, fewer optical elements, and a cheaper modulator component.     

A Strain Sensor Based on OTDR for Gas Trunk Pipelines

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Demonstration of high extinction ratio modal interference in a two-mode fiber and its applications for all-fiber comb filter and high-temperature sensor

We show that high extinction ratio (>20 dB) modal interference in a two-mode dispersion compensating fiber can be utilized to build a compact, easy-to-fabricate tunable all-fiber optical comb filter. Wavelength tunability over the full free spectral range of the comb filter is demonstrated with an electrical power of 115mW using an on-fiber thin film micro-heater deposited directly on the fiber. In another configuration, the comb filter is used as a temperature sensor with dynamic range of >300 °C and sensitivity of <0.1 °C. The temperature sensor is capable of measuring a temperature as high as 500 °C.     

Compensation for temperature dependence of Stokes signal and dynamic self-calibration of a Raman distributed temperature sensor

This article discusses a powerful calibration technique that compensates for the temperature dependence of the Stokes signal in a Raman distributed temperature sensor. The Stokes signal is conventionally used for normalization since its scattering cross-section is a weaker function of temperature than that of the anti-Stokes signal. The potential of this temperature dependence of the Stokes signal to introduce errors in measurements has received only cursory mention in the literature. We show that this effect degrades the temperature accuracy by as much as 90%. Additionally the heavy fiber attenuation at the operating wavelength also makes calibration non-trivial. The technique described implements a corrective mechanism for this temperature dependence, offers the additional benefit of self-referencing of a heated curve rather than referencing to the fiber at room temperature, and demonstrates the viability of such a system despite the heavy fiber attenuation at the operating wavelength. This obviates the impractical and erroneous approach of storing an initial room temperature profile for subsequent temperature calculation. This dynamic self-referencing adds substantial immunity to the tolerances in the actual numerical values of the Raman wavelengths thereby making the system robust.     

A novel method for simultaneous measurement of current and voltage using one low-birefringence fiber

A novel method for simultaneous measurement of current and voltage employing a single monomode low-birefringence (Lo-Bi) fiber is described. This uses the Faraday effect for detection of current and the Kerr effect for detection of voltage. The waveform of the output light intensity due to the Kerr effect has been detected and the Kerr constant was measured as 5.4×10⁻¹⁶ m/V⁻² at 25°C. Theoretical analysis shows that the current component can be measured free from the influence of the voltage component and the two components can be easily separated.     

Optical fibre sensors for earth sciences: : from basic concepts to optimising glass composition for high temperature applications

This paper reviews the technical evolution of optical fibre sensors relevant to earth sciences with particular reference to high temperature measurements. Optimisation of fibre composition and system design to fully realise the potential of these sensors has led to the substantial advances in both distributed and point sensor systems. Applications of these sensors in the field of earth sciences are discussed to provide a deeper understanding of the potential for monitoring geodynamical and chemical processes in areas of high seismic and volcanic risk.     

Analysis of refractometric fiber optic state-of-charge (SOC) monitoring sensor for lead acid battery

In situ monitoring of the state of charge (SOC) of lead acid battery is important to understand the residual electrical energy. Usage of battery reduces the charge content of the active electrolyte which in turn changes its refractive index. This paper reports refractometric fiber optic sensor developed for on-line monitoring of SOC. The SOC is monitored during discharging phases of the battery using the developed fiber optic sensor probe along with terminal voltage, temperature and depth of discharge using a LABVIEW based data acquisition system. The paper gives the working principle, design and construction details, results and calibration of the fiber optic sensor (FOS) probe. The in situ monitoring capability of the developed FOS is demonstrated in comparison with the contemporary off-line methods of specific gravity and terminal voltage measurements.     

Dynamic analysis and temperature measurements of concrete cantilever beam using fibre Bragg gratings

We analyzed the action of fire, causing degradation in a concrete cantilever beam using dynamic testing. The structure was fitted with two fibre Bragg gratings (FBG) sensors. One of them measured vibration and the other measured the temperature inside of the cantilever beam, while the beam was exposed to fire. A high-temperature probe based on a simple packaging system, which isolates the sensing FBG from any mechanical action, was developed. A low-cost fibre Bragg grating interrogation system, including easy assembly and maintenance, was used for the measurements. The temperature in the cantilever beam increased until 150 °C and a reduction in the strength of concrete was observed through modal analysis. Results reveal a considerable reduction in strength occurs even with exposures to moderate temperatures (less than 90 °C).