Preliminary Analysis on Environmental and Intrinsic Factors on FBG-Based Vibration Sensors

Abstract

In recent years, optical-based sensors have sparked interest for the many advantages over traditional, electrical-based sensors, such as EMI insensitivity, ease of multiplexing on a single line, resilience to hostile environment and very compact size and global weight saving due to signal cables reduction. Considering said properties, optical sensors offer a compelling alternative to traditional sensing elements. One type of optical sensor is the Fiber Braggs Gratings sensors (FBG), which is a type of sensor that reflects a very narrow band of wavelengths, called Bragg wavelength, while being transparent for others; this behavior is achieved by local variations of the core refractive index. The Bragg wavelength can be easily correlated with physical changes in the sensor itself, due to either physical strain or temperature variation. It should be noted that the achievable measurement accuracy is thus comparable to the Bragg wavelength. However, for any practical application, FBGs need to be bonded to a support or surface; in this case, there is a lack of understanding of the effects of temperature and humidity variations on the combined sensor-glue system. In this work, a setup, intended to characterize the sensitivity of the fiber-glue combination to humidity and temperature will be presented.