This Conference focuses on applications of optical fibers in hostile environments. As the introductory paper in this Conference, this communication will trace the evolution of applications of fibers in hostile environments and explore some of the motivations for these applications. A few key examples will be used

Lyons, P. B.

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LA-lJR -86-1249Loa Alnmos Nahord Labor@tory iB Ofmrmlad b) It,,s Unlvarolfy of Collfor I I,’ for the Wd16d Stmes f)apm’fme~l of Energy ur.~r contract W-7405 .ENG.38——TITLE: FIBER OPTIC APPLICATIONS IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTSLA-uR--86-1249DE86 010190AUTHOR(S): PETER E. LYONSWfBMITTEDTO: OPT(3’86lIEI.D IN PARIS, FRANCI;, MAY 13-15, 1986..l)lS(’l,AIMttR“Ihi, rcprwt WIM prcpmd u’. :In Htcollnl ufworh sponsored hy un IIgcIcy (If Ihc Ilmtcd SIIIICS(hn:!nmcnl. Nci!h,w Ihc !I,litd :M (ilwcrnmcnl m)r uny rt~cncy 1,.-rm)f, 11111;Iny of Ihmrcmph.vrc-, nmkr~ .mv wmimrly. cqrIeA w implied, lw MSSUIIIC!IIIIYICRIIIIulhlll!! llr IC$IMMIWhihiy III. lh~ mwumcy, umnplcwncm, or uwrulncxi of :Iny inhunmlion, uppmn!m, prmlutt, 01proms Iirnchwcd, 01 rcprc~cn!~ thnl ilk IIW would 11111mflin~c privutcly IIWIWII IIplIIS, kcfcrrxwc h,. rin III wry qwxifk vommcrcinl PI <. ICI, pr~ncss, III wxvicc hy Irmlc nilnw, Irmlcnmrh,mnnulrwturcr, m otherwise Ilum n{)l nctcmnrlly cwrslilulc or IIIIply IIn cnthmcmrnt, Icc~mI-mcmlnliim, or rnvorinn hy Ihc IInikd SI:IIM (iovrttlmcru or nny n~cncy Ihcrcd I’hc vinwsrml t!pinilms of Im!horn cnprcwcd herein do IIIN nccenwwily ~IIIIC or rcllcul IIIIW or !hc[lnilml hlnlc~( i,lvcrnnlcnl ornny nKencylllcrcol.Byaccal)lancc r,ffhlnn!llcla fh-uuhlmfm! rocqfmtnslhnf fha U:l [lovnrnn.nrl rnfnlf!& nmnnmnclunlvB, roynlfy. frmllc~nBo !opubl18h otronrnduL@Ihmpuhlmhed fnrrrl o! Ihm cmurllmlmm III h) slluw olhnrn 10 do so, lo? US Clovnrnm@nl IIUIIXMCW7hP IORAlnmon Nnfmllnl lnbofnloIv rm!unsls Ihnl lha puflh~hnr IrlamIly lhln arllcleanwo!t ~@rlormolfl l!!dofl h~~usplcacoflh@Us D@parlmanl nflr!arUyl—ILIOSAl&MiTilOSLosAlamos,NewMexico87545Los Alamos National Laboratory\DISTMBIJTIONOFTI119UOCUMENTIS UNLIMITED,ALFIREP OPTICS APPLICATIONS IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTSApplications l)CS Fihres Optiques En Environnement HostilebyLyons, Peter B.1,os Alilmt)+i Nilti(lnil] l.ilboriltor~1’, 0. HOX ]66’] MS Ff)171,11s Al;lmos. NM 87545L!SAI.1In 1983, 455,000 km of cabled fiber were prqduced in the u. s. , and4this product on increased to 1,465,000 km in 1985.In that same year, theU. S, market for fiber cable and related components reached $50014.kl%iletelecommunications have undeniably provided the impetn-m for this explosivegrowth, the ready avail~bility of fiber optic technology has allowed fiberoptics to be considered fo:- divrrse appli(.ntions, far removed fromconventional telccommunica:ions.This Conference focuses on applications of optical fibers in hostileenvironments. As the introductory pnper in this Conference, thiscommunication will race the evolution of applications of flher~ in hastileenvironments and explore some of the motivations fnr these applications, Afew key examples will be used,11, K.-’ At~ri h t {’ s of FIher nntjr~Fiber optics offer a very high bandwidth trnnsmissfon m~dium withmul?i-mude fibers providing capability well above 1 Gllz over km lengths.Sirgle mode fibers further Incroasc thr available bandwidth. Fnr manyapplications, fiber optics cnhles nre lowrr in cost thnn coaxial cahl;s andLi thenr costs are normalized in some mnnner for hnndwidth cnpnhility, fIIJr;”optics are clearly a lender,presented from 8 countries. Over half of these papers have dealt with fiberoptics in radiation environments, for applications in nuclear teszing,accelerator experiments, nuclear power plants, and military environments.Other subjects with lnrge numbers of papers have inciuded EMI and thermalenvironments, blast and shock experiments, and space and airplaneqpplicationsm Other related conferences and papers have stressed a range ofmanufacturing, chemical sensor, and utility distribution applications.Three International Conferences on Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS) have beensponsored by ~he IEEE and OSA with the Fourth Conference scheduled later in1986. At the 1985 OFS conference, 55 pap~rs trea~ed many aspe+cts of sensoroperatiorl, Furthermore, th? SPIE has orga:lized three conffirences on “FiberOptic and La~er Sensors”, in 19C3, 1984, anll 191?5. The latest conference inthis series fentured 64 papers on a very wide range of sensor systems, manycharacterized by hostile environments,Each applicntlon Ims hem driwn by one or more of the attributes offiber optics discussed ill Section 11, For ●xample,a) Nuclear testing - High bandwidth data must be tran.mittcil over kmdistances to isolate instrumentation from blas~ and radiationinteractions. Furthermore!, many critical parameers can be sensedthrough opLical phenomznfi,b) Military applira~ions: Light-weight, portabl~, rugged datrntransmission ~ystems are frequcnt]y requirrd. &MP resistance canprotect critirnl componcn:~,d) EM1’ tcs[Ing . Thr trnnsmlsslnn syst~m must bv immun~ from EM].An all-optical system provldecl an elcgnnt solution. An o- “IcalsiEnal was introduced oil the axis with wavelength chosen tofluoresce the UF6 gas. An opt[cal system imaged different gasvolumes into an array of optical fibers which ●xited thecentrifuge on the axis. These fibers werr coupled to detectorstuned to detect UF6 fluorescence. Since [he fluorescenceIntensity and decay time are functions of temperature andpressure. Ek: ~esulting signals were used as a non-intrusivediagnostic.b) St nn c1 Shock Diag Iltlstic sElectrical sensors for shock usually use shorting electrical pindetectors. with care, these elcctricnl pins and r;le conncctinEroax cable can be made reasonably small , about 1 mm in diameter,Howover, even these dimensions, incorprrratvr! in larF,r nurnl]ers, catls+rious]v prrturh a measuremwn~. Furthcrrnore, explnslves arefrt=quentl;~ the ohjccr under rast and introduction of conductorsinto an rxplosivo can lend LO spark initiation.An nll-optjcnl systrm has greatly simplified this poblem. A gns-f~lled micro-bnlloon on a flher js used. Shock henting of the ~nsprrwidcs a lumlnous signal ~,1 thr fiber. Any spark hnzar sdare.-emovcd and the resulting sensor is fnr les% intrusive ,v. Mdi aticm FJf~c t~As summarized earlier in this paper, more than half Lhe paperspresented at conferences of this title have de~lt with radiation effects, asdo most of the papers at this particular conference. In addition to theseconferences, two large working groups are devoted to these concerns, theU.S. Tri-Servires Working Group on Radiation Effects in Fiber Optics and theNATO Task Group on Radintion Effects in Fiber Opt!.cs. The latte)’ group iscoordinating measurements on three test fibers to demonstrate consistency inradiation-induced absorption data among laboratories. Under the auspices ofthe NATO group, a standard get of tes: conditions is being developed.Rrferenct=s:[1][2][3;[h;[!)1[(,][7][u]I(II[I(I1

Fiber optics applications in hostile environments

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Fiber optics applications in hostile environments

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