Effect of the geometric deformations on the Brillouin scattering in the standard single-mode optical fiber

Abstract

Distributed optical fiber sensors monitor the measured variables over the entire fiber length. Distributed strain and temperature system (DSTS) scans the frequency change of Brillouin scattering which depends on the measured temperature and mechanical stress of the fiber. This paper deals with the effect of fiber geometric deformations on the Brillouin scattering. The points of maximum and minimum deformations were searched using the Brillouin frequency change. The optical fiber was installed into base geometric shapes and deformed by mechanical stress. Standard single-mode fiber G.652.D was used. The aim of this study was to verify if the standard optical fiber originally designed for telecommunication transmissions are suitable for sensor applications with DSTS. It turned out that these fibers are applicable for the deformation measurement and geometrical arrangement has great influence on the measurement sensitivity too.