Gauge factors of fibre Bragg grating strain sensors in different types of optical fibres

Abstract

Gauge factors of fibre Bragg grating (FBG)-based strain sensors that had been inscribed into three different types of optical fibres, which differ in core diameters and doping concentrations, were determined at room temperature with high accuracy. Repeated measurements were carried out with several samples of each type of fibre to allow statistical evaluations. For each type, the gauge factors were measured in two configurations: when the bare fibres were glued on a specimen at the location of the FBG and when they were vertically suspended and not bonded to any structure at the location of the FBG. By combining the results of both configurations, the strain transfer ratio of the gluing process and the strain-optic coefficient, peff, of the different types of fibres were determined. The strain-optic coefficient was found to vary up to 1.5% for the different types of optical fibres. The strain transfer ratio was obtained to be close to unity (>99%), showing the high quality of the gluing technique employed. The investigations demonstrate that highly accurate strain sensing is possible with fibre-optic strain sensors. The results are important for the development of accurate and reliable attaching techniques for coated sensor fibres and fibre-optic sensor patches.