Efficient fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Pe'rot sensor multiplexing scheme using a broadband pulsed mode-locked laser

A pulsed broadband mode-locked laser (MLL) combined with interferometric interrogation is shown to yield an efficient means of multiplexing a large number of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) or fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP) strain sensors with high performance. System configurations utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM) permit high resolution, accuracy, and bandwidth strain measurements along with high sensor densities. Strain resolutions of 23-60 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) at frequencies up to 800 Hz (expandable to 139 kHz) and a differential strain-measurement accuracy of +/- 1 mu epsilon are demonstrated. Interrogation of a low-finesse FFP sensor is also demonstrated, from which a strain resolution of 2 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) and strain-measurement accuracy of +/- 31 n epsilon are achieved. The system has the capability of interrogating well in excess of 50 sensors per fiber depending on crosstalk requirements. A discussion on sensor spacing, bandwidth, dynamic range, and measurement accuracy is also given

Polarization properties of interferometrically interrogated fiber Bragg grating and tandem-interferometer strain sensors

Lead sensitivity in low-coherence interferometric fiber-optic sensors is a well-known problem. It can lead to a severe degradation in the sensor resolution and accuracy through its effect on the fringe visibility and interferometric phase. These sensitivities have been attributed to birefringence in the various components. In the current work, an analysis of the polarization properties of fiber Bragg grating and tandem-interferometer strain sensors, using Stokes calculus and the Poincare sphere, is presented. The responses of these sensors as a function of the birefringence properties of the various components under different illuminating conditions are derived. The predicted responses demonstrate very good agreement with experimentally measured responses. These models provide a clear insight into the evolution of the polarization states through the sensor networks. Methods to overcome the lead sensitivity are discussed and demonstrated, which yield a differential strain measurement accuracy of 18 n epsilon - rms for a fiber Bragg grating sensor

Efficient large-scale multiplexing of fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensors for structural health monitoring applications

Fiber Bragg gratings have been demonstrated as a versatile sensor for structural health monitoring. We present an efficient and cost effective multiplexing method for fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensors based on a broadband mode-locked fiber laser source and interferometric interrogation. The broadband, pulsed laser source permits time and wavelength division multiplexing to be employed to achieve very high sensor counts. Interferometric interrogation also permits high strain resolutions over large frequency ranges to be achieved. The proposed system has the capability to interrogate several hundred fiber Bragg gratings or fiber Fabry-Perot sensors on a single fiber, whilst achieving sub-microstrain resolution over bandwidths greater than 100 kHz. Strain resolutions of 30n epsilon/Hz(1/2) and 2 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) are demonstrated with the fiber Bragg grating and fiber Fabry-Perot sensor respectively. The fiber Fabry-Perot sensor provides an increase in the strain resolution over the fiber Bragg grating sensor of greater than a factor of 10. The fiber Bragg gratings are low reflectivity and could be fabricated during the fiber draw process providing a cost effective method for array fabrication. This system would find applications in several health monitoring applications where large sensor counts are necessary, in particular acoustic emission

Ultra-high-sensitivity two-dimensional bend sensor

A multicore fibre Fabry-Perot-based strain sensor interrogated with tandem interferometry for bend measurement is described. Curvature in two dimensions is obtained by measuring the difference in strain between three co-located low finesse Fabry-Perot interferometers formed in each core of the fibre by pairs of Bragg gratings. This sensor provides a responsivity enhancement of up to 30 times that of a previously reported fibre Bragg grating based sensor. Strain resolutions of 0.6 n epsilon/Hz(1/2) above 1 Hz are demonstrated, which corresponds to a curvature resolution of similar to 0.012 km(-1)/Hz(1/2)

Comparative analysis of the DFB fiber laser and fiber-optic interferometric strain sensors

The DFB fiber laser strain sensor is shown to provide an improvement in the minimum detectable length change by a factor of 275 at 2 kHz for an applied strain when compared with an interferometric sensor interrogated by at equivalent DFB laser. This corresponds to a strain resolution enhancement by a factor of 18, if the strain is applied over, 10cm length of fiber. The ability of the fiber laser sensor to operate in its thermodynamic noise limit is shown to be the primary reason for this enhanced sensitivity. Thermodynamically limited noise performance is demonstrated with three interrogation methods