Degrieck, Joris

Lammens, Nicolas

Luyckx, Geert

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

SMARTFIBER: Miniaturized sensor technologyfor smart composite structuresNicolas LammensSupervisor(s): Joris Degrieck, Geert LuyckxI. INTRODUCTIONComposite materials are being increasinglyemployed in industry. Their superior designflexibility and fatigue performance make themattractive replacements for traditional materi-als. In order to increase safety, and explore thelimits of these new materials, sensors could beembedded. Optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBG)are ideal for this purpose. However, the manualprocedure of embedding the brittle fibers, re-sults in high process times, risks of fiber break-age and limited placement accuracy. Addition-ally, the fiber entry point is extremely fragile.The EU-project, SMARTFIBER, aims to over-come these and other issues, in order to in-crease the uptake of optical fiber sensing tech-nology in industrial environments.II. FBG TECHNOLOGYFBGs are microscopic mirrors inside opti-cal fibers. When broadband light is launchedinto the fiber, only a small part is back-reflected(Fig. 1). Due to strain sensitivity of the FBG,the reflected wavelength will vary with strain.Figure 1. Reflection spectrum from an FBG.—————————————————–N. Lammens is with the Department of MaterialScience and EngineeringTraditional fibers have diameters of 125µm(≈ the thickness of a human hair). This is stillan order of magnitude larger than the averagereinforcement fiber (6µm) (Fig. 2).Figure 2. An optical fiber embedded in compositematerial.SMARTFIBER will reduce the diameter ofthe FBGs below 60µm, decreasing the distor-tion of the composite. Research will be doneto determine the necessary properties for thecoating to minimize spectrum distortion, whilemaximizing adhesion between the optical fiberand the composite material.III. MINIATURIZED READ-OUT UNITThe read-out unit will be miniaturized in or-der to be embedded inside the composite. Re-search will be performed to optimize the shapeof the unit to avoid loss of strength. Wirelesscommunication and power transmission will beincluded.Placement of the fibers and read-out unitwill be automated using automated fiber place-ment.IV. CONCLUSIONSMARTFIBER will enable fully automatedembedding and miniaturisation of FBGs andread-out unit. The near future will focus on op-timizing the read-out unit’s geometry to limitthe influence on composite strength.

SMARTFIBER: miniaturized sensor technology for smart composite structures

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2972899/file/2972901.pdf

SMARTFIBER: miniaturized sensor technology for smart composite structures

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography