High-sensitivity distributed transverse load sensor with an elliptical-core fiber based on Brillouin dynamic gratings.

Abstract

A high-sensitivity distributed transverse load sensor based on Brillouin dynamic gratings (BDGs) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The principle is to measure the transverse-load-induced birefringence change through exciting and probing a BDG in an elliptical-core polarization-maintaining fiber. A distributed measurement of transverse load is demonstrated experimentally using a 10 m sensing fiber, which features high sensitivity to a transverse load with a measurement accuracy as high as 0.8×10(-3) N/mm at a 20 cm spatial resolution.